Top Safety Pick + Top Safety Pick criteria

2014 Mercedes-Benz M-Class

midsize luxury SUV / 4-door SUV

Award applies only to vehicles built after August 2013

2014 Mercedes-Benz M-Class 4-door SUV

Crashworthiness

Rating overview
Small overlap front: driver-side
Small overlap front: passenger-side
Moderate overlap front: original test
Side: original test
Roof strength
Head restraints & seats

Crash avoidance & mitigation

Front crash prevention: vehicle-to-vehicle
Optional system
Superior
Standard system
Basic

Other available safety features

  • Optional blind spot detection
  • Optional lane departure warning
  • Optional lane departure prevention

Key

  • G
    Good
  • A
    Acceptable
  • M
    Marginal
  • P
    Poor
  • Superior
  • Advanced
  • Basic

Some ratings use a scale of Poor to Good. Others range from Basic to Superior.

Small overlap front: driver-side

Rating applies to 2014-15 models built after August 2013

Tested vehicle: 2014 Mercedes-Benz ML 350 4-door 4wd

The Mercedes-Benz M-Class was redesigned for the 2012 model year and renamed the GLE-Class beginning with the 2016 model year.

Beginning with 2014 models built after August 2013, reinforcements were added to the door sills to improve occupant protection in small overlap frontal crashes. (Information about when a specific vehicle was manufactured is on the certification label typically affixed to the car on the driver door or adjacent B-pillar.) The tested 2014 model M-Class was built after the door sills were strengthened.

Overall evaluation
Structure and safety cage
Driver injury measures
Head/neck
Chest
Hip/thigh
Lower leg/foot
Driver restraints and dummy kinematics

Action shot taken during the driver-side small overlap frontal crash test.

The dummy's position in relation to the door frame, steering wheel, and instrument panel after the crash test indicates that the driver's survival space was maintained reasonably well.

The frontal and side curtain airbags worked well together to keep the head from coming close to any stiff structure or outside objects that could cause injury.

Intrusion of the footrest and instrument panel was sufficient to contribute to a moderate risk of injury to the left lower leg, even though the knee airbag inflated.

Technical measurements for this test

Measures of occupant compartment intrusion on driver side

Test ID CEN1333
Lower occupant compartment
Lower hinge pillar max (cm) 10
Footrest (cm) 18
Left toepan (cm) 15
Brake pedal (cm) 17
Parking brake (cm)
Rocker panel lateral average (cm) 4
Upper occupant compartment
Steering column 4
Upper hinge pillar max (cm) 7
Upper dash (cm) 9
Lower instrument panel (cm) 9

Driver injury measures

Test ID CEN1333
Head
HIC-15 182
Peak gs at hard contact no contact
Neck
Tension (kN) 1.0
Extension bending moment (Nm) 6
Maximum Nij 0.19
Chest maximum compression (mm) 25
Femur (kN)
Left 1.5
Right 1.4
Knee displacement (mm)
Left 1
Right 1
Knee-thigh-hip injury risk (%)
Left 0
Right 0
Maximum tibia index
Left 0.89
Right 0.71
Tibia axial force (kN)
Left 3.9
Right 3.4
Foot acceleration (g)
Left 103
Right 86

About the small overlap front test

Small overlap front: passenger-side

Rating applies to 2014-15 models built after August 2013

Tested vehicle: 2018 Mercedes-Benz GLE 350 4-door 4wd

The Mercedes-Benz M-Class was redesigned for the 2012 model year and renamed the GLE-Class beginning with the 2016 model year.

Beginning with 2014 models built after August 2013, reinforcements were added to the door sills to improve occupant protection in small overlap frontal crashes. (Information about when a specific vehicle was manufactured is on the certification label typically affixed to the car on the driver door or adjacent B-pillar.)

Passenger-side small overlap frontal ratings are assigned by the Institute based on a test conducted on a 2018 model GLE-Class by Mercedes-Benz.

Overall evaluation
Structure and safety cage
Passenger injury measures
Head/neck
Chest
Hip/thigh
Lower leg/foot
Passenger restraints and dummy kinematics
Driver injury measures
Head/neck
Chest
Hip/thigh
Lower leg/foot
Driver restraints and dummy kinematics
Technical measurements for this test

Measures of occupant compartment intrusion on passenger side

Test ID VTP1815
Lower occupant compartment
Lower hinge pillar max (cm) 21
Footrest (cm) 22
Right toepan (cm) 10
Center toepan (cm) 16
Rocker panel lateral average (cm) 5
Upper occupant compartment
Center dash (cm) 7
Upper hinge pillar max (cm) 11
Upper dash (cm) 11
Right lower dash (cm) 15

Passenger injury measures

Test ID VTP1815
Head
HIC-15 166
Peak gs at hard contact no contact
Neck
Tension (kN) 0.7
Extension bending moment (Nm) 8
Maximum Nij 0.20
Chest maximum compression (mm) 18
Femur (kN)
Left 1.0
Right 5.0
Knee displacement (mm)
Left 5
Right 6
Knee-thigh-hip injury risk (%)
Left 0
Right 0
Maximum tibia index
Left 0.41
Right 0.50
Tibia axial force (kN)
Left 1.8
Right 2.7
Foot acceleration (g)
Left 59
Right 67

Driver injury measures

Test ID VTP1815
Head
HIC-15 65
Peak gs at hard contact no contact
Neck
Tension (kN) 0.6
Extension bending moment (Nm) 5
Maximum Nij 0.10
Chest maximum compression (mm) 25
Femur (kN)
Left 0.1
Right 0.4
Knee displacement (mm)
Left 1
Right 1
Knee-thigh-hip injury risk (%)
Left 0
Right 0
Maximum tibia index
Left 0.23
Right 0.23
Tibia axial force (kN)
Left 0.2
Right 1.4
Foot acceleration (g)
Left 36
Right 39

About the small overlap front test

Moderate overlap front: original test

Rating applies to 2012-15 models

Tested vehicle: 2012 Mercedes-Benz ML 550 4-door 4wd

The Mercedes-Benz M-Class was redesigned for the 2012 model year and renamed the GLE-Class beginning with the 2016 model year. Moderate overlap frontal ratings are assigned by the Institute based on a test conducted on a 2012 model M-Class by Mercedes-Benz.

Overall evaluation
Structure and safety cage
Driver injury measures
Head/neck
Chest
Leg/foot, left
Leg/foot, right
Driver restraints and dummy kinematics
Technical measurements for this test

Measures of occupant compartment intrusion on driver side

Test ID VTF1106
Footwell intrusion
Footrest (cm) 3
Left (cm) 4
Center (cm) 6
Right (cm) 7
Brake pedal (cm) 3
Instrument panel rearward movement
Left (cm) 1
Right (cm) 2
Steering column movement
Upward (cm) -3
Rearward (cm) -3
A-pillar rearward movement (cm) 0

Driver injury measures

Test ID VTF1106
Head
HIC-15 233
Peak gs at hard contact no contact
Neck
Tension (kN) 1.2
Extension bending moment (Nm) 5
Maximum Nij 0.26
Chest maximum compression (mm) 34
Legs
Femur force - left (kN) 1.5
Femur force - right (kN) 1.2
Knee displacement - left (mm) 1
Knee displacement - right (mm) 1
Maximum tibia index - left 0.42
Maximum tibia index - right 0.44
Tibia axial force - left (kN) 2.7
Tibia axial force - right (kN) 3.5
Foot acceleration (g)
Left 57
Right 117

About the original moderate overlap front test

Side: original test

Rating applies to 2012-15 models

Tested vehicle: 2014 Mercedes-Benz ML 350 Bluetec 4-door 4wd with standard front and rear head curtain airbags and standard front seat-mounted torso airbags

The Mercedes-Benz M-Class was redesigned for the 2012 model year and renamed the GLE-Class beginning with 2016 models.

Beginning with 2014 models, side torso airbags became optional for rear seat occupants (they were standard in 2012-13 models). Side ratings are assigned by the Institute based on two tests conducted by Mercedes-Benz.

The first test was conducted on a 2012 model ML 550 V8 (including the standard rear side torso airbags) and the second test on a 2014 model ML 350 Bluetec diesel V6 without the optional rear side torso airbags. The ratings for these vehicles are combined because the presence or lack of rear side torso airbags made little difference for rear occupant protection in the tests. (Rear occupants still receive the benefit of the standard side curtain airbags.) This is because for a large vehicle with a long wheelbase (115 inches in this case), the intruding barrier impacts the vehicle relatively far from the rear seat.

Overall evaluation
Structure and safety cage
Driver injury measures
Head/neck
Torso
Pelvis/leg
Driver head protection
Rear passenger injury measures
Head/neck
Torso
Pelvis/leg
Rear passenger head protection
Technical measurements for this test

Measures of occupant compartment intrusion on driver side

Test ID VTS1115 VTS1313
B-pillar to longitudinal centerline of driver's seat (cm) -20.0 -19.0
Negative numbers indicate the amount by which the crush stopped short of the seat centerline.

Driver injury measures

Test ID VTS1115 VTS1313
Head HIC-15 64 52
Neck
Tension (kN) 1.0 0.7
Compression (kN) 0.3 -0.2
Shoulder
Lateral deflection (mm) 26 28
Lateral force (kN) 1.2 1.0
Torso
Maximum deflection (mm) 31 27
Average deflection (mm) 28 25
Maximum deflection rate (m/s) 2.47 2.70
Maximum viscous criterion (m/s) 0.32 0.33
Pelvis
Iliac force (kN) 1.2 0.7
Acetabulum force (kN) 1.7 1.4
Combined force (kN) 2.9 2.1
Left femur
L-M force (kN) 0.8 1.0
L-M moment (Nm) 16 20
A-P moment (Nm) 125 139

Passenger injury measures

Test ID VTS1115 VTS1313
Head HIC-15 81 104
Neck
Tension (kN) 0.3 0.3
Compression (kN) 0.3 0.3
Shoulder
Lateral deflection (mm) 5 11
Lateral force (kN) 0.4 0.7
Torso
Maximum deflection (mm) 28 29
Average deflection (mm) 20 20
Maximum deflection rate (m/s) 2.61 3.23
Maximum viscous criterion (m/s) 0.26 0.38
Pelvis
Iliac force (kN) 0.2 0.3
Acetabulum force (kN) 0.7 0.9
Combined force (kN) 0.9 1.2
Left femur
L-M force (kN) 0.4 0.3
L-M moment (Nm) 31 15
A-P moment (Nm) 59 45

About the original side crash test

Roof strength

Rating applies to 2012-15 models

Tested vehicle: 2012 Mercedes-Benz ML 350 4-door 4wd

Overall evaluation
Curb weight 4,722 lbs
Peak force 31,545 lbs
Strength-to-weight ratio 6.68

About the roof strength test

Head restraints & seats

Seat type: Power leather seat AHR

Overall evaluation
Dynamic rating
Seat/head restraint geometry
Technical measurements for this test
Seat type Power leather seat AHR
Geometry
Backset (mm) 21
Distance below top of head (mm) -1
Seat design parameters
Pass/fail Pass
Max T1 acceleration (g) 9.8
Head contact time (ms) 53
Force rating 1
Neck forces
Max neck shear force (N) 0
Max neck tension (N) 378

About the head restraint & seat test
Currently, IIHS tests apply only to front seats.

Front crash prevention: vehicle-to-vehicle

Ratings are given for 2 different trim variations available on this vehicle.

System details

  • Optional Pre-Safe Brake
  • Standard Collision Prevention Assist

Package name

  • Optional Driver Assistance Package

Overall evaluation

Applies to 2013-15 models

Superior
Superior
with optional equipment
  • This system meets the requirements for forward collision warning.
  • In the 12 mph test, impact speed was reduced by 11 mph.
  • In the 25 mph test, impact speed was reduced by 14 mph.

System details

  • Standard Collision Prevention Assist

Overall evaluation

Applies to 2013-15 models

Basic
Basic
  • This system meets the requirements for forward collision warning.
  • Autobrake not available.

About the original front crash prevention test