In the world of minivans, the Mercedes-Benz R63 AMG is widely known as the king. A strange MPV with a thumping hand-built V8 heart, every brave soul who dared to be different and bought one instead of a fast SUV effectively did a public service. However, the R63 AMG technically isn’t the only people carrier with a V8 and an AMG badge. No, it’s not some sort of special-order Sprinter, nor one of the smaller vans. Instead, it’s a one-off special exercise based around the positively compact B-Class.
America only got one generation of B-Class, and it received it in an incredibly weird way. Instead of the normal range of four-cylinder engines, the B250e featured an electric drivetrain sourced from Tesla. It was a particularly unusual compliance car sold to meet electric vehicle mandate requirements, but it’s not the strangest B-Class. Not even close.
The weirdest B-Class ever built wasn’t a development mule, or even a full-fledged feasibility study. The B55 AMG was simply a case of 12 apprentices running absolutely wild with the parts bin. The sort of Frankenstein’s Monster you’d see in Car Craft, if Car Craft was a German publication.
So how did the B55 AMG come to fruition? Well, it started life as a first-generation B200 CDI, which would normally come equipped with a 138-horsepower two-liter OM640 turbodiesel engine hitched to either a six-speed manual gearbox or a CVT. Economical? Sure. Performance-oriented? Not exactly. Picture zero-to-62 MPH in 9.6 seconds.
The crown jewel of this exercise is a V8 that wasn’t an actual AMG V8. While Mercedes-Benz’s high-performance arm did offer a handbuilt naturally aspirated 5.4-liter M113 V8 in the SLK 55 AMG of the time, the team ended up going with something a little bit more powerful than that aged-if-bulletproof 354-horsepower motor. Instead, they chose the M273 V8 you’d find in a period E550 or S550, a 32-valve 5.5-liter unit pumping out 382 horsepower and 391 lb.-ft. of torque.
That’s all well and good, but there’s one problem: The B-Class was designed right from the beginning for front-wheel drive with an engine that points east-to-west. The M273 V8, on the other hand, was designed to point north-to-south and primarily drive the rear wheels of whatever vehicle it was mounted in. To solve this, the trainees took the entire rear cradle from a W211 E-Class and grafted it into the back of the B55. Subframe, suspension arms, differential, the lot. A custom driveshaft connected the rear differential with the marque’s 7G-Tronic seven-speed automatic transmission, while brakes from the old C32 AMG were tasked with stopping the thing. Or keeping the front wheels locked while absolutely roasting the rears.
Probably because the B55 AMG was built on a shoestring budget, it features zero driver aids of any kind. No stability control, no traction control, not even anti-lock brakes. However, it can still fling itself from zero-to-62 MPH in fewer than six seconds on its way to a terminal velocity of 167 MPH. Alarmingly potent stuff from a car originally designed to be like a nicer alternative to a Ford C-Max.
Perhaps best of all, it still looks wonderfully subtle. Those AMG wheels still fit inside the factory arches despite what appears to be a significantly wider track. The bumpers are just about bog-standard aside from a custom rear valence insert to accommodate twin exhaust tips. Up front, this thing’s only tell is its blacked-out pair of headlamp buckets, which, from enough of a distance, could just look like aftermarket specials.
The Mercedes-Benz B55 AMG was a glorious prototype, probably entirely unsuitable for mass production but still the sort of stuff car enthusiast dreams are made of. Take a small, strange car and make it go rather quickly. Do I wish there was more than one in existence? Obviously, but it’s so joyful that even the one was made. Bravo, team of trainees. Now that’s a work project.
Top graphic image: Mercedes-Benz
Reminds me of that 12 cylinder Golf that VW shows off every few years.
The article states: “…the B250e featured an electric drivetrain sourced from Tesla. It was a particularly unusual compliance car sold to meet electric vehicle mandate requirements, but it’s not the strangest B-Class.”
Sorry, Jason, but there never was an actual electric vehicle mandate. You should know better.
Wired article explaining this.
Relevant text from article:
“From the campaign trail, President Donald Trump was consistent: He would “end the electric vehicle mandate.” So it’s no surprise the phrase popped up in an executive order he signed on Monday, just hours after being sworn into office.
Here’s the catch: The US has never had an EV mandate, or any sort of law or regulation requiring American buyers to go electric. Instead, the previous administration tried to create a series of carrots and sticks designed to make electric vehicles more appealing to both the manufacturers who make them and the people who buy them. An executive order issued yesterday attempts to undo all that.“
Jason is correct, and unsurprisingly Wired is full of shit. The B250E exists for the same reason the Mazda MX30 does: CARB ZEV mandates.
Straight from the horse’s mouth: “Since 1990, the California Air Resources Board’s (CARB) Zero-emission Vehicle (ZEV) Regulation has required automakers to deliver zero-emission vehicles, like electric-, plug-in hybrid-electric, and fuel-cell electric vehicles, to the California market.”
Required = mandate. Somehow Wired managed to mention California the state, but not CARB nor it’s mandate.
Okay, so it was a mandate for California.
Yes, a mandate that exists in a substantial market in the US, that tends to drive market trends nationwide. So it is neither technically nor directionaly correct to say EV mandates do not exist in the US. Naturally, Wired will never issue a correction, because why let the facts get in the way of a good story?
Let’s not forget that Mercedes also created the A38 AMG – which had two 1.9l engines. One up the front (normal), and one under the boot (trunk) floor.
That’s insane. Never heard of it.
Volkswagen did build the second-generation Scirocco with twin engines as a concept in the early 1980s. The Scirocco Bi-Motor was almost earmarked for the production as to be eligible for WRC racing that required the 4WD system.
I can think of 1984 Honda CR-X2 with two engines that was done by Car and Driver with support from American Honda.
I love absolutely wild projects like these.
The B-class was sold in Canada in both generations. This was basically the time when Mercedes lost the script on longevity and cost of ownership by making overwrought crappy cars. Interestingly (for me), is how many of these ~20 year old cars I still see on the road regularly. There are three in driveways in my immediate neighbourhood and all appear to be doing fine. Despite the complexity of the unique sandwich floor/skateboard design that was abandoned for gen 2 due to cost, these cars might just be the cockroaches of MB’s 2000’s line up. Future hipsters should be scooping these up and figuring out how to run them on fry oil.
If it had gone into production, Ford could have matched it with a Lincoln C-Max 3.5 Ecoboost.
Yeah the B-Class is awesome! I’d love to bring one down from Canada. Around 30 people already have 🙂
Canada and the rest of the world did get a B200 Turbo with a 190 hp turbo I4 and a 6-speed manual. The non-turbo had a 5-speed manual. But most of them had a CVT, at least in Canada. The turbos featured a 0-60 in the mid-7s.
My favorite is the 5-speed non-turbo with that awesome sunroof. That’s the one I’d bring down here.
MB was *so close* to selling the W245 down here that it was certified for the US.
It’s like a fancy Matrix/Vibe and is actually one of the more reliable cars with a peace sign on the hood. The stock engines are sideways like the Previa but transverse. It’s also a nice bridge between MB’s luxury side and their utilitarian side.
Karkraften?
I found this video on the B55 project:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ah03iHmb-MI
Since ithe B-Class was certified, they should have brought it over as a Smart to help keep the dealers viable, although they probably would have had to price it high enough to keep it sales-proof.
The B200 Turbo was a seriously fast thing.
Does It Have The Electronic Crap I Want?
Well, it babies, depending on how many you have.
Wow this is great. Totally giving CLI v6 vibes and I love it. Large engine in a small hatchback is wonderful.
clio v6. Bad typo
Aw, maaan.
I was hoping this made production so I could import one.
I miss CarCraft. Loud, Fast, Real! Bonkers builds on real budgets. Or at least not astronomical ones. They had just started a SN95 Mustang build that I was planning to replicate when they closed up shop. So long print media, we remember you well.
I had a subscription to Car Craft. I remember having to change my address so I could get it delivered to my college dorm room, and then having to change it back for the summer months so I got it back at home.
Of course, after I was married, my wife introduced me to ‘decluttering’ and I recycled all of the old magazines I had in milk crates in the closet. Something about she needed room for clothes or something. 🙂
I also used to go to the Car Craft Summernationals when they had it at the fairgrounds in St. Paul, MN That was a great car show!
I still have my copies (I really need to make a searchable index). And I too fondly remember the Summernationals in St. Pau! It’s now the “Street Machine Summer Nationals”. I’m still on the e-mail list, but haven’t been back since the rebranding.