We live in a time where crossovers are key

So brands are introducing a ton of new name plates to make sure they have something for everyone

This all-new Mercedes GL B is one of those models

Filling the space between the swoopy GLA and GL c with something boxier and unique

Now of course this review is only possible thanks to our friends at James Motor Company

So make sure to visit their dealership or check out their website if you are looking for any new Mercedes

So with that all said, let's see if this is the Mercedes crossover to get

So starting things off here with the exterior styling any similarities

It shares under the skin to other Mercedes models is certainly not reflected in the way. It looks

Besides for the flagship G Wagon

This is the only Benz that could be characterized as boxing which is seen particularly in the very upright grille design

This is the standard front end

but there is also an AMG line package offered which

Substantially changes not just the grille, but also the lower bumper areas

However, as far as the headlights their design stays the same no matter which model you choose as

You can tell these are fully LED headlights and for $900 you can add adaptive abilities and auto dimming

Standard models also have fog lights. But the AMG line does without them

As far as the rest of the styling you can really tell just how squared off things are especially in the sight profile

now dimensionally

this is sized much closer to the GLC than the GLA since it's only

1.7 inches shorter though something about the styling does make it look smaller than it actually is and

Then around back it is pretty rugged to look at with black cladding a large rear window and

LED tail lights that set low down on the body

And then finally at the bottom you do have a chrome piece with two integrated exhaust outlets

So all in all the styling of this GLB will not be everybody's cup of tea

But that's exactly the point

It is designed to appeal to a different person than the GLA, which is something I think will be successful at doing

And moving on to the wheels there are quite a few options as you'd expect

You can probably tell that these are the base

18-inch alloys but there are also three 19's options and two 20-inch options available

Heading up to the mirrors they are always heated but power folding and auto-dimming are part of the premium package

Additionally blind spot monitoring is further available for five hundred and fifty dollars

Now in regards to the other safety systems

Mercedes does also throw an automatic forward emergency braking with pedestrian detection as standard equipment and

Then choosing the drivers assistance package will give you active Lane Keeping Assist

Evasive steering assist and active BSM as well as the advanced adaptive cruise control system called active distance Assist Distronic

But anyways guys that's all there is to look at here on the outside

So now let's go ahead and see how much space and luxury is inside the cabin before we take it out for a test drive

So on the new GLB you do have mercedes latest key fobs

however

You are going to have to pay extra if you want the smart entry system as far as remote start that is include a standard

For three years via the mercedes meaning application

Now of course stick it inside the actual vehicle

So if all you have to do is just grab the handle since there is a sensor

And your ears will electrically fold out as well

All right, so taking a look here inside this brand new GLB

You're gonna notice there is some family influence from that new a-class and CLA that were introduced earlier in the year

Now talking about your color and material options. You do have quite a few since this is a Mercedes after all

So what you're going to start out with is the in VTech synthetic leather, that's what we have here. That's it

and of course a standard

You've got the option of black or macchiato colour schemes and then we go for the AMG line

You can choose between never gray or black with dynamic inserts

You also have the option of real leather

That comes in some different color

So you have black and Bahia Brown and then the AMG line has two-tone black and red or titanium grey

And then finally in regards to your different trims

You have the spiral look trim or carbon structure trim standard and then optional wood two different varieties

Now turning over here to your dorm it is very nicely appointed especially since this is the base glv

We have leatherette that goes all through here as well as across the upper part with the double stitching detail. So it looks pretty nice

Here we have some of that standard wood trim or excuse me. Standard spiral look trim

And then as far as our seats here, this is the 12 wave power adjusting seat with three person memory seating

That is of course standard equipment

You also notice we have seat heating that's available for a little under six hundred dollars and you can also add seat ventilation as well

Where your windows are one touch automatic

We come over here to the seat itself, like I said, this is the mb-tex synthetic leather

Does have a nice look you also notice you have your lumbar support as well as a manual thigh extension?

Now beyond the door trim as far as the rest of the material quality you have a pretty good selection

Even though this is considered an entry level bins

So across your upper dash here. This is all going to be finished and a soft touch plastic

You've got some more of this nice-looking trim. You also have a piece of

I guess imitation aluminum, but it looks very very realistic

Altar here is piano black trim

And then your heart touch plastics, there are some down through here. But like I said, they're reserved for all the lower areas

So you don't really touch all that often?

And everything does fit together very well

Of course you do have standard push-button start

And when you start up here you're going to notice

Not one, but two displays now these two displays are part of your brand new MB UX system. Just like in the a-class

So what you have standard is two seven inch displays, but if you go for the premium package, which our model does have

Both of these displays get upgraded to ten point two five inches to make this very nice long looking seamless looking display

Now focusing on the gauges here exclusively

This is the latest version

So what you do is just control with this little touch sensitive pad and all three of these sectors. Here are fully customizable

So you can just swipe through and as you can see, you've got a ton of different things you can put into each section, basically

Even swipe over here and change different display modes, like for instance now we are in a full-screen mode kind of futuristic looking

So like I said in past Mercedes with this system, this is one of the very best

Reconfigurable gauge clusters in the business because there's just so many different options

Now you could also get a head-up display. But on this lower end model, we do not have it

Now coming back to your steering really do have electric power assisted steering and all models will come with a leather wrap steering wheel

As you can see you do have like I said, they touch sensitive buttons

Up here for this side and then these are for the other display

We also do have standard rain sensing wipers on every model

And the steering wheel itself is manually tilt and telescoping heating is available as a two hundred and fifty dollars standalone option

Now as far as the shifter just like every Mercedes model you've got the column-mounted shifter

So for drive you just push down

As you can see we do have paddle shifters. These are standard across the board

And then for reverse you just push up the opposite direction

Now in this specific model here we do have the regular back up camera with active trajectory

however, if you go for the driving assistance package

You'll have a 360-degree camera system as well as the ability to automatically park in both vertical and parallel parking spots

and for park just press the P and

There is an electronic parking brake right over here

Now kind of related to that shifter is the amount of storage you have here in this vehicle because

It's out of the way. So it frees up all this area in the center console

So we'll start out just right underneath here as you can see. This is quite large

It goes down a really decent amount of space there and it is felt lined

There is one USB port inside of it as well

Up in front of that. You kind of have some blank space if you have your cup holders right here

And then you have a really large bin up here in the front. This is also very deep. It has nice

rubberized material right there

So things won't slide around and then you've got a 12-volt outlet as well as your second USB type-c port

Wireless charging is also available as a standalone option

All right, so heading back here this is your MB UX controller one of these several ways you can control the system

What I'll focus on is not that but our audio controls right over here now

On standard on the base model, which is what we have here is a pretty much an unspecified

Sound system. They don't really go into the details about it. But you also have the ability to get a

590 what twelve speaker BER mister sound system if you want to have a more powerful system

But let's go ahead and sample this standard version

So overall, I have to say sound quality of this system is very good certainly doesn't sound basic or anything like that

All right, so now we'll go ahead and roll on up here to our dual zone automatic climate control system

This of course is very simple. It looks pretty much identical to what we saw on the a-class

So you just adjust your temperature with this toggle right there and it does appear if they're on the display

Most of the controls are located physically here

However, there are a few that you'll have to press the menu button for and that's where it will all come up here digitally

So you can make adjustments up here if you prefer to do that for whatever reason

Now this model here does not have the advanced ambient lighting with 64 colors, but if you did have that

Of course, you'd having ambient lighting all around the cabin, but the coolest trick would be that these vents would be lighted as well

So when you adjusted the temperature to be hotter, they would glow red and colder if they would glow blue

All right, so now that brings us up here to our ten point two five inch main MBU X display

So we'll go ahead and take a look through a few of the features

now we'll be

Super detailed about it in this video because we will have a dedicated tech help video

Available if you want to learn more about the system and a link to that is going to be in the video description

But basically this is just the all-new system

You have brand new graphics everything about this system is brand new

Like I mentioned a big thing about it is it's a touch display

You can control on the steering wheel the touchpad or via some really really good AI voice commands

what I mean by AI is you can just talk to it with phrases like your hey Mercedes that's the launch phrase and

Then it will respond to different types of queries that you ask it in natural language

Of course, you do have standard apple carplay and android auto both onboard

On this particular model, we're missing navigation. That's part of a additional package the multimedia package

But when you select the optional navigation system, you will get the augmented reality

navigation

Which as we've shown you and a few other Mercedes models

basically

it just shows you a live camera feed of what you're looking at out in the street and then overlays the

Instructions right on to it different arrows and street numbers and things like that very very neat. Very handy system

Now coming on up here

We do have the optional auto dimming mirror you could do also have optional garage door openers, which we do not have

And then looking up here you'll actually notice we are missing a moonroof

There is no standard sized moonroof offered so you go straight to a panoramic option available for $1,500

But anyways guys that is going to conclude all of the front areas here in this all-new GLB

So now go ahead and hand it off to Mason who will check out the back seats

So checking out the new GL B's rear door trim surprisingly you are going to have materials that do follow through from the front

So all this area is leather padded and even the upper portion is also a soft touch leather route with stitching going through

Down below that you have your door handle as well as a large amount of drawer storage. I

Do want to point out before I get in that the seats can slide back and forth

Now here in the center area even though this is a cheaper mercedes-benz product they don't really skimp on the features

So all GL B's will come with a rear vents as standard equipment

Down below that you have this little storage compartment and further below that you will find these pop-out outlets

So you have a 115 volt household stock outlet back here as well as two USB type C's

And here in the center area

You have any their traditional armrest with pop-out cupholders in the end

And up top, of course you do have an assist crypt as well as a cookbook

Now as far as the rear legroom is concerned in this new GLB

This is one of the areas that I'm actually very impressed with it actually comes in larger than the Mercedes

GLC at 38 inches of rear legroom and 39 inches of rear headroom

Which is quite a bit larger than its main rivals like the Audi q3

It's actually about 2 inches larger than that

And as you can see behind Dru sitting position I have about I would say

10 inches of rear legroom and my feet definitely don't have any issues sliding up under the seat. So I'm definitely very comfortable back here

Now one of the things that I that is very unique about this car is that you can actually get a third row option

As you can tell this particular model does not have that third row option

However, if you do get that, I would expect the third row to have a pretty small amount of space. It's rated at 29 inches

And also it's worth noting that if you get that third row, the second row is reduced by two inches as well

Now heading around to the tailgate a power one is standard across all GL B's

And it's also hands-free if you opt for the premium package

So all you have to do is wait for it under the bumper to open it up

And once inside the gops trunk you are going to find a surprisingly good amount of space

you're going to find 24 cubic feet of space behind the second row seats and that expands to

57 cubic feet if you fold the segment row now how that compares to other mercedes-benz models

That's right in line with the GLC and quite a bit above its main rivals once again

however, if you opt for the third row option

It is worth noting that you're gonna have five cubic feet of space

If behind that third row, if you go for that option and down below we do have a good carpeted floor board