Mercedes-Benz G-Class review: The sensible status symbol SUV
The Mercedes-Benz G-Wagen has preened and flexed in so many rap videos, my teenage son assumed the ‘G’ stood for ‘Gangster’. Imagine his disappointment, then, when I dutifully pointed out the name is a contraction of the German word Geländewagen – literally translated as ‘go-anywhere car’.
Were his eyes not already glazing over at this point, I might have explained how this German 4×4 started life as a rugged vehicle for commercial and military use, then did some social mountaineering in the late 1980s, eventually becoming the luxury SUV of choice for celebrities from Kim Kardashian to Pope Francis.
So, what is the enduring appeal of the G-Wagen – now officially named G-Class – and how does it stack up against a Range Rover, or indeed high-society SUVs such as the Aston Martin DBX707 and Bentley Bentayga?
Make mine a G500
Most of the G-Wagens that line the monied streets of Mayfair are the AMG G63 model. With a 585hp V8 and snorting side pipes, it’s the G at its most extroverted and obnoxious: the spec most likely to backdrop a bass-quaking ode to money and guns.
The third and current ‘W465’ iteration of the G-Class, launched last year, is also sold as the 579hp electric G580 and 367hp diesel G450d, but it’s the 449hp petrol G500 I am driving here.
Despite weighing in at a not-inconsiderable £146,095, it’s almost the most affordable G-Wagen on sale – and my pick of the range, too. How’s that for actionable consumer advice?
From a great height
My test G500 is painted black, with dark-tinted rear windows and a black leather interior. However, thanks to conventional exhaust pipes and modest 20-inch wheels, it has less visual swagger than a G63. Slab-sided and unashamedly utilitarian, I can’t help loving how it looks.
Even in a world where the majority of new cars are SUVs, the G-Class still feels XL-sized. You clamber up using the side step into a driving position that looks down on lowly crossovers. The windscreen is a flat pane of glass, with the front wings marked out by the G’s trademark top-mounted indicators. For such a large vehicle, it’s remarkably easy to place on the road.
The monster-Merc isn’t as roomy inside as you might think, though, as part of its width is due to those bolt-on wheelarch extensions. There’s enough headroom for a pontiff’s mitre, but legroom in the back is limited for taller adults, while the 640-litre boot is tall and relatively narrow.
Get ready to rumble
In terms of tech, the G is light years beyond its simple Geländewagen roots. A beautifully built dashboard features the latest MBUX infotainment system, with crisp graphics and seamless Android Auto or Apple CarPlay smartphone compatibility. Unlike some other modern Mercs, the central touchscreen doesn’t feel oversized and overbearing, plus there is a pleasing provision of proper physical switches – including for the off-road differential locks.
Fire up the six-pot engine and it emits a surprisingly V8-like rumble, although it won’t wake your neighbours like a G63. Then you simply engage Drive via a column-shift lever and enjoy the experience. For all its faults, the G-Wagen makes even the school run feel like a special-ops mission.
Faults? Well, it’s fair to say this isn’t the most dynamic of SUVs. Its steering might be a vast improvement on the vague, meandering G-Wagens of old, but the heavy-duty ladder frame chassis always feels one step behind. You soon learn to slow down and make progress at a more relaxed pace. The G500 doesn’t like to be rushed.
When G-Wagen beats GTI
That doesn’t mean it’s slow, though. With 449hp, plus an extra 20 horses from its mild-hybrid system, the G500 will blast to 62mph in 5.4 seconds: half-a-second quicker than a Volkswagen Golf GTI. In a vehicle weighing 30kg shy of two tonnes, that feels more than adequate.
The six-cylinder engine is usefully more efficient than the V8, too. A quoted 25mpg fuel economy is achievable in everyday driving, although the need for super unleaded fuel bumps up the bills. At an average cost of 152.7p per litre (RAC fuel price report, January 2025), filling the 70-litre tank will set you back £106.89.
Sadly, I didn’t get a chance to drive the Mercedes off the beaten track, but there’s no doubt it’s as unstoppable as ever. A new Offroad Cockpit camera system – similar to the ClearSight Ground View tech used by Land Rover – even simulates a transparent bonnet on the central screen, so you can see the ground around the front wheels.
Verdict: Mercedes-Benz G500
Overall, the G500 feels less agricultural than the diesel and more characterful than the EV version. It’s also less, well… gangster than the G63. Unless you happen to be a rapper or a 13-year-old boy, that’s probably a good thing.
Can Mercedes-Benz justify a £30,000 premium over the similarly powerful Range Rover P460e plug-in hybrid? Objectively, no – but the G-Wagen exists in a strange, slightly perverse sphere of its own. And for those who really want one, only a G-Wagen will do.
Tim Pitt writes for Motoring Research
PRICE: £146,095
POWER: 449hp
0-62MPH: 5.4sec
TOP SPEED: 130mph
FUEL ECONOMY: 25.0mpg
CO2 EMISSIONS: 257g/km