Drive Notes: 2024 Mercedes-Benz GLB35 AMG 4Matic

by Tim Healey

Published: March 6th, 2024

drive notes 2024 mercedes benz glb35 amg 4matic

Every time I drive an AMG-massaged Mercedes-Benz crossover/SUV, I get a sense of déjà vu.

They're all quick, fun to drive, and bestowed with the latest in Mercedes-Benz dash tech. That last bit means lots of screen space, enough customization options to make your head spin, and haptic touch that mostly works.

Here is my short-take snapshot of the 2024 Mercedes-Benz GLB35 AMG 4Matic.

Pros

This little one can move. Floor it, and after a half-second of thinking it over, the powertrain will comply and catapult you forward in a manner that's relatively rare among compact luxury crossovers. You can even seen how much of the 302 horsepower and 295 lb-ft of torque you're summoning via one of the screen options.
MBux infotainment works well, though there can be too many menus. The "hey Mercedes" voice assistant generally understood my asks, but occasionally failed.
Rear headroom isn't bad, but you can notice a subtle slope.
It's cool that these cars have a "car wash" mode.
Mercedes has the best haptic-touch buttons out there. They're still not perfect, and I sometimes wonder if this tech should even be used in cars, but if one has to use it, this is as good as it gets at present.
Slapping the dial into Sport or Sport+ brings about a growling engine and some sharp handling.

Cons

I don't love the dainty column shifter that feels like it will break if you sneeze on it.
There was some low-speed clunkiness from the powertrain. Not sure if the hybrid assist was acting up or if the eight-speed DCT transmission was confused, but it wasn't Mercedes smooth.
Engaging either Sport mode similarly causes wonky powertrain behavior at low speeds and light throttle.
Sixty-eight grand seems too high, even for an AMG-massaged Mercedes. That's as-tested, to be fair, but the base price was a still dear $59,050.
Apple CarPlay sometimes would not connect.
As much as I like MBux, changing radio sources or channels requires too much menu-diving. Please, automakers, please, make certain functions simple, no matter how dazzling your infotainment tech is. Tuning radio stations or changing audio sources should be quicker and easier.
Wet roads led to seriously squeaky brakes. The binders still felt stout, though.

See you next time.

Become a TTAC insider. Get the latest news, features, TTAC takes, and everything else that gets to the truth about cars first by subscribing to our newsletter.

#DriveNotes #CarReviews #MercedesBenz #2024MercedesBenzGLB35AMG #2024MercedesBenzGLB35 #AMG

Tim Healey

Tim Healey grew up around the auto-parts business and has always had a love for cars — his parents joke his first word was “‘Vette”. Despite this, he wanted to pursue a career in sports writing but he ended up falling semi-accidentally into the automotive-journalism industry, first at Consumer Guide Automotive and later at Web2Carz.com. He also worked as an industry analyst at Mintel Group and freelanced for About.com, CarFax, Vehix.com, High Gear Media, Torque News, FutureCar.com, Cars.com, among others, and of course Vertical Scope sites such as AutoGuide.com, Off-Road.com, and HybridCars.com. He’s an urbanite and as such, doesn’t need a daily driver, but if he had one, it would be compact, sporty, and have a manual transmission.

More by Tim Healey

Comments

Join the conversation

2 of 27 comments

Ezekieri on Mar 21, 2024

hello

1 Reply
Ezekieri on Mar 21, 2024

many money the car

Like Reply

Recent Comments

Amwhalbi My 1972 Mercury Capri was my first stick shift car. God, I miss that thing. It was a blast to drive.
Vid169489471 The technology exists today to produce a variable color temperature (kelvin) LED lamp. It can vary from 2700k that soft orange look to 6500k the bright daylight with the bluish tint.Since everything in a late model car is computer controlled, it would be an easy task to write a few lines of code that enables your vehicle to not only dim down from hi to low beam but to shift color temp down to the 2700k range for oncoming traffic, then back up to 5000k once oncoming traffic has passed. For the operator it would be automatic and seamless. For older cars they could be retrofitted with LEDs that are 2700k on low beam and 5000k on hi beam. As far as standards, there could be a lumens max, and a minimum. Several States already have minimum lumen standards going back to the old incandescent bulbs. Why not update these to national standards.
Jam169859557 More regulation is needed for ALL vehicle lighting systems. [list=1][*]The lighting that is most blinding are the rapidly flashing red, blue and amber lights on emergency vehicles. The lights themselves are blinding, flashing so rapidly that it's impossible for even the sharpest eyes to adjust. What's worse, is the nature of the emergency requires a careful view of the area surrounding the emergency vehicle. There is something going on that needs to be seen. More flashing lights is not the solution.[/*][*]Brighter headlights need to be regulated. The tall riding vehicles do not need headlights positioned so high that they blind drivers in lower riding vehicles. And those heasdlights need to be aimed properly. When I first started driving my 2020 Subaru Outback, many drivers would flash their lights, hoping I would dim my lights. This stopped after I performed am easy adjustment that tilted the beam lower. Late model Subaru headlamps are designed with a sharp cutoff that project less glare above the hood line. When the headlights are properly aimed, other drivers are not blinded by the beam.[/*][*]Customized light assemblies make it more difficult to see the marker lights (tail lamps, turn signals and side marker lamps) that have been tinted. There are many municiple codes that prohibit this tinting, but these laws are seldom enforced.[/*][/list=1]Solutions: Tight controls on emergency vehicle lighting. In trying to make these vehicles more visible, a dangerous side effect is reducing the ability of drivers to see the surrounding perils.Headlight design regulations that reduce the height of the headlight assemblies. Just because a pickup truck has a hood that sits 4 feet abouve the pavement, it does not mean the headlights need to be so high. Owneres should maintain proper adjustments to their vehicle headlights.Establish and enforce regulation requiring a illumination standard be followed.
Stl170698708 as someone who hates big government, and their interference;but you can add me to the list of people that are blinded by the lights.unfortunately "the poop is out of the horse and no way is it going back in"They have had 5 years to make lights bigger, badder and brighter because in the vehicle work it is go big or go home!Trucks are the worst because so many people use them to express their dominance and that is big, big, big $$ both at the Original Purchase and in the Aftermarket world.If, we are so lucky to get some good government regulation on this it will also take some very good Court enforcement to get the aftermarket people with fines and lawsuits.Much like the EPA did with the Diesel Tuner Industry that felt emission regulations didn't apply to them.This is from someone that owns said pickup truck with the same bright headlights,but i only use the truck when I have too and always turn off the Fog lights when driving in traffic.
Art65765977 I saw a porsche 911 with the most amazing headlights from behind approaching the Sunshine skyway in Florida. The pattern was 108 degrees across sweeping the road like a broom. My brother and I were amazed. I don't know what it looked like from the front but i am sure it was better than American cars