Mercedes B Class W256 Advice

[CDALY]

Hello All, I am hoping some of you with experience in the B class second generation 2011-2018 (?).

My misses is about to buy her first car since we now have a new born. It needed to be a good combination of compact yet good room for a car seat and boot space - with a low lip for lifting the pram in and out.
We had a look at loads of options and she landed on a B class as her fav, for £8-10k it really was the nicest small family car to sit in.

I have a few questions:
Engines - Petrol v Diesel,I was thinking diesel for lazy low down torque. The petrol sound low on power but I read their torque is a pretty flat 200nm starting at a low 1250 which sounds like it might just be OK.
B180 and B200 are both 1.6 so I assume a B180 can be mapped exactly like a B200??

Are the diesels really loud from the interior? If we do little miles and short runs will we run into DPF troubles?

Test driving is really difficult right now most dealers want full payment to buy the car with a refund if you dont like it - NO TEST DRIVES. So we want to really nail the specs to test drive 1 or 2.

I read that 'active parking' comes standard, but a dealer told me it didnt... is there any way to tell from pictures if the cars have it? She 100% wants help parallel parking haha would it be all cars with parking sensors also have active parking because some don't even have the sensors? I cant find any answers to this.

She wants Auto, its dual clutch, I have never driven one and only know the old horror stories of the VW that kept breaking any information on the Merc DCT?

All comments welcome!

[ZX10R NIN]

Does your wife do 10k or more a year? Will she be doing lots of short journeys? If the answers are no/yes then I'd say you need a petrol.

[CDALY]

I doubt she would be doing 10k a year to be fair. I just hope the 120hp petrol is good enough to move the thing. I think under powered cars can be a little dangerous on the motorway and pulling out into traffic.

[S54Love]

Looked at B-Classes a few years ago, off the top of my head:

SE spec comes with parking sensors, not sure if it's automatic parking however, but no reversing camera. Sport comes with a reversing camera, but no parking sensors as standard.

When it comes to engines, I know family who own a A180 diesel and a A200 petrol, so it should be the same engines. I've heard that the 180 diesel can be a bit sluggish (0-62 in over 11 seconds), and I the 200 feels quick enough but I don't think a 200 petrol comes in under £8k.

Might just be typical internet talk, but I've heard that the DCT can be jerky although I've never tried it.

[CDALY]

?

S54Love said:

Looked at B-Classes a few years ago, off the top of my head:

SE spec comes with parking sensors, not sure if it's automatic parking however, but no reversing camera. Sport comes with a reversing camera, but no parking sensors as standard.

When it comes to engines, I know family who own a A180 diesel and a A200 petrol, so it should be the same engines. I've heard that the 180 diesel can be a bit sluggish (0-62 in over 11 seconds), and I the 200 feels quick enough but I don't think a 200 petrol comes in under £8k.

Might just be typical internet talk, but I've heard that the DCT can be jerky although I've never tried it.

Thanks for the reply! Is the A180 is the lower 109 bhp CDI version and the A200 is the 150hp petrol? I have been through nearly every car on sale tonight haha so much more diesels available. Only 1 x B200 petrol.
I am wondering if its worth worrying about, as the engines are basically the same but a different state of tune, I could get the 180 and have it remapped?

[CDALY]

S54Love said:

Looked at B-Classes a few years ago, off the top of my head:

SE spec comes with parking sensors, not sure if it's automatic parking however, but no reversing camera. Sport comes with a reversing camera, but no parking sensors as standard.

When it comes to engines, I know family who own a A180 diesel and a A200 petrol, so it should be the same engines. I've heard that the 180 diesel can be a bit sluggish (0-62 in over 11 seconds), and I the 200 feels quick enough but I don't think a 200 petrol comes in under £8k.

Might just be typical internet talk, but I've heard that the DCT can be jerky although I've never tried it.

also our budget is ,£10k

[S54Love]

CDALY said:

Thanks for the reply! Is the A180 is the lower 109 bhp CDI version and the A200 is the 150hp petrol? I have been through nearly every car on sale tonight haha so much more diesels available. Only 1 x B200 petrol.
I am wondering if its worth worrying about, as the engines are basically the same but a different state of tune, I could get the 180 and have it remapped?

Ah, I think they own the newer 1.5 A180d and the 150hp A200 petrol. The older 1.8 is a Mercedes diesel, and the newer 1.5 is a Renault/Nissan(?) engine.

My preferred spec would be a Petrol Sport model; no diesel DPFs to worry about and Xenons as standard but a quick glance on the good old AT shows that no Sports have parking sensors on any of them in your budget. The 'problem' is, is that a lot of buyers surprisingly have opted for the manual which is why manuals would easily be in budget but an automatic is much more difficult.

How set are you on having the automatic parking? To be honest, I have them and I have never used it. Okay, that's a lie - I've used it once but then gave up halfway through - I preferred just doing it myself!

Edited by S54Love on Saturday 30th May 23:17

[CDALY]

S54Love said:

Ah, I think they own the newer 1.5 A180d and the 150hp A200 petrol. The older 1.8 is a Mercedes diesel, and the newer 1.5 is a Renault/Nissan(?) engine.

My preferred spec would be a Petrol Sport model; no diesel DPFs to worry about and Xenons as standard but a quick glance on the good old AT shows that no Sports have parking sensors on any of them in your budget. The 'problem' is, is that a lot of buyers surprisingly have opted for the manual which is why manuals would easily be in budget but an automatic is much more difficult.

How set are you on having the automatic parking? To be honest, I have them and I have never used it. Okay, that's a lie - I've used it once but then gave up halfway through - I preferred just doing it myself!

Edited by S54Love on Saturday 30th May 23:17

Exactly, when you start narrowing down theres actually not many sport petrol Autos. A few SE specs but she doesn't want an SE. It might end up being the 1.8 merc diesel if we cant find any petrols. I finally found a dealer who will let us test drive, its a manual, B200 Diesel so will see how that goes, if it sounds like a tractor when cruising a motorway ride it will be petrol.


As for the auto parking, I am not into it at all, but the misses has ruined many of wheels so if it helps save the diamond cut alloys its a good feature for her haha also the parking sensors will benefit all other drivers

What I cant find out is if the parking sensors and auto parking both come together or you can have sensors without the parking feature.

[ZX10R NIN]

Here's a nice B200 Sport

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/202...

If you decide a diesel works for you then I'd say take a show your wife these, they're the same car as the GLA & imo these have the nicer interior (you'll recognise the Mercedes dash nav etc) & you can get one with every bit of spec your wife wants for a £600 over spend & you get the more grunty 2.1d.

2.2d (it's the Mercedes 2.1d but they badge it as a 2.2d) Q30 at 10k a year your wife is on the verge the diesel is quiet enough inside to never bother you & no more gruff than many modern GDI engines.

Q30 Premium in Touch (to get a feel for the interior look at the 2nd link.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/202...

Or a 155 petrol but you'll have to haggle & stretch the budget but these car are a clear leap ahead of the B Class plus you're still getting all the Mercedes reliability but without paying for the badge & you get a newer car.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/202...

If your wife can live with a manual then there are these Premium 1.6T's in budget:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/202...

or a 155bhp SE

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

[CDALY]

ZX10R NIN said:

Here's a nice B200 Sport

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/202...

If you decide a diesel works for you then I'd say take a show your wife these, they're the same car as the GLA & imo these have the nicer interior (you'll recognise the Mercedes dash nav etc) & you can get one with every bit of spec your wife wants for a £600 over spend & you get the more grunty 2.1d.

2.2d (it's the Mercedes 2.1d but they badge it as a 2.2d) Q30 at 10k a year your wife is on the verge the diesel is quiet enough inside to never bother you & no more gruff than many modern GDI engines.

Q30 Premium in Touch (to get a feel for the interior look at the 2nd link.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/202...

Or a 155 petrol but you'll have to haggle & stretch the budget but these car are a clear leap ahead of the B Class plus you're still getting all the Mercedes reliability but without paying for the badge & you get a newer car.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/202...

If your wife can live with a manual then there are these Premium 1.6T's in budget:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/202...

or a 155bhp SE

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

Thanks for the reply mate. We did check those out, I had a huge list prepared and she slowly chopped it away until we landed at a B Class. The rear was too difficult with awkward baby seats. The b class rear seats have large openings, low boot lip and good square space.

Question for all...
If we were to look at a diesel, what’s the way to go in terms of refinement/performance trade offs?
OM651 1.8 or OM651 2.2. is the 2.2 more tractor like compared to the 1.8? Would either take well to a map?
The OM607 1.5 is a Renault engine, is this a bad thing? It’s low on power but if it’s a good engine I guess it could be mapped too.

[ZX10R NIN]

All respond well to a map the 2.1 & 1.8 are around the same when you're talking NVH so in truth I'd go for the one with more grunt.

The 1.5d is a good unit but you have to work it harder than the other two.

[CDALY]

ZX10R NIN said:

All respond well to a map the 2.1 & 1.8 are around the same when you're talking NVH so in truth I'd go for the one with more grunt.

The 1.5d is a good unit but you have to work it harder than the other two.

Cheers, followed advice and got a 2.1D AMG Line premium plus.
All the reviews make you think the sport is a horrid ride... nothing of the sorts!
One happy misses

[ZX10R NIN]

CDALY said:

Cheers, followed advice and got a 2.1D AMG Line premium plus.
All the reviews make you think the sport is a horrid ride... nothing of the sorts!
One happy misses

Glad you got sorted & have a happy OH

[dmsims]

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