How much space is there?

• More spacious than a similarly sized hatchback
• Sliding rear bench standard
• But boot space is disappointing

We like the B-Class, but we’re a little disappointed by its overall practicality. In terms of passenger space, it’s better than a hatchback with a similar footprint, but can’t get near a van-based MPV like a Citroen Berlingo.

Even so, there’s easily enough room for two tall front-seat occupants, while the rear seats offer a good amount of room in the B-Class. The outer rear seats have a useful amount of legroom – even with a tall driver and passenger – plus headroom is adequate for anyone under 6’3”.

The tall body helps here, as does the ability to slide the rear bench back to increase legroom, a feature that’s standard on all models. As is often the case, however, the middle seat is best kept for kids. It’s quite narrow and the central tunnel running through the car robs any kind of foot room on offer.

Boot space and storage

The loadbay itself – while a bit high – is a useful shape with a flat floor and lots of handy extras such as a 12-volt socket, shopping bag hooks, netting and straps for larger items. An electric tailgate is standard, and seats that split 40:20:40 are standard on AMG Line Executive trim and up. All trims get the sliding rear bench that can be pushed forward to boost bootspace and the expense of rear legroom.

At 445-litres with the seats up, the diesel B-Class has a smaller boot than diesel versions of the BMW 2 Series Active Tourer. Petrol B-Class models get a smaller boot on account of their mild hybrid systems, weighing in at just 420-litres. In both cases, a full-size pushchair with changing bag will almost fill the boot and could necessitate the removal of the parcel shelf.

Storage capacity in the cabin is generous thanks to two large door pockets up front, a deep armrest compartment, decent-sized glovebox and two sizeable central cupholders. Meanwhile, rear seat passengers benefit from moderate-sized door pockets plus 12-volt and USB sockets. But if the ultimate in practicality is what you’re after, a Volkswagen Touran is better, let alone the Berlingo.

Is it easy to park?

Its compact exterior dimensions and impressive manoeuvrability make it a doddle to drive in town, and parking won’t be too much harder than a regular hatchback. The large windows and standard-fit reversing camera boost visibility, although the sharply raked nose can be hard to judge. Thankfully, all-round parking sensors are also standard.

Safety

• Five-star Euro NCAP score
• Excellent adult and child protection
• Long list of safety and driver assistance tech

The B-Class received the same five-star rating as the mechanically-similar A-Class in 2019. Although tests have been made tougher since, this is still an exceptionally safe family car.

As standard, the B-Class comes with an active brake assist system, active lane-keep assist, an attention assist system, a full suite of airbags, automatic lights, speed limit assist, a tyre-pressure monitoring system and Isofix points in the rear seats.

You can boost the safety and driver assistance kit count significantly by specifying the Driving Assistance package, which includes:

• Active blindspot assist – warns of cars in a blindspot and intervenes if the driver tries to change lanes
• Active braking assist with cross-traffic function
• Active distance assist – adaptive cruise control
• Active emergency stop assist – autonomous emergency braking
• Active lane-change assist
• Active speed limit assist – reads traffic signs and adapts cruise control accordingly
• Active steering assist – keeps you in the lane
• Evasive steering assist – supports driver in evasive manoeuvres if the driver moves to avoid a pedestrian detected by the car
• Pre-Safe Plus – detects rear-end collisions and locks brakes to avoid being shunted forwards
• Route-based speed adjustment – adapts speed before curves, junctions and roundabouts 

Unfortunately, this well-priced system is only available on top-spec AMG Line Premium Plus models.

Watch the Euro NCAP crash test video