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The M-Class is an old design and is tailored to its US market, where it has to protect belted and unbelted drivers. So its design thinking differs from vehicles designed solely for Europe. This is true of the impact zone for the front occupants’ knees. A bolster is fitted to cushion unbelted occupants but it posed risks here. The M-class has a sound structure to protect its occupants but the restraint system caused high loads to be fed through to the driver and passengers’ chests. Side protection was found to be particularly good: a head-protecting airbag was fitted as standard. Protection given to the older child’s head in the frontal impact was poor, but the child restraints otherwise worked reasonably well. Pedestrian protection was dire.

Front impact
The body performed well, suffering little distortion to the footwell or door aperture. But the driver’s head ‘bottomed out’ on the steering wheel and this could cause injuries. A bolster was fitted in the knee impact area and posed a high risk to occupants’ legs and hips. The centre rear belt was of a three-point type that protects more than a lap-only belt but it could be used with the seat back only partly latched, which could be dangerous.

Side impact
A very impressive protection system included a thorax side airbag and a head curtain airbag for front and rear occupants. The M-class gained full marks.

Child-protection
A text label in two languages explained the risk of serious injury or death if a rear-facing child seat is used opposite an air bag but the label was not permanent. Both restraints were forward facing and used two-point ISOFIX mountings on the rear seats. Top tethers would have improved protection for the older child, whose head was unprotected, while the 18-month old would have been safer if rear-facing. Mercedes-branded seats have built-in recognition transponders that turn off the car’s front passenger airbag if they are placed opposite it.

Pedestrian protection
The front of the car is very stiff and there were only a few points on the bonnet which provided protection for pedestrians. Euro NCAP rated this a dismal performance overall.