Mercedes-Benz GLK review: the boxy compact SUV Mercedes never really replaced
MotorsSouq Editorial Team
The GLK 350 is a left-field pick against a Land Cruiser Prado or an X3 of the same age, and that is its appeal: 4MATIC all-wheel drive, a genuinely smooth V6, and a boxy shape that has aged into a look people now actively seek out rather than tolerate. Buy a well-documented example — this generation is old enough that skipped services show up as real bills — and accept you are buying a characterful used SUV, not a modern one with modern assistance systems.
Pros
- Distinctive boxy, upright styling unlike any current Mercedes SUV
- 3.5L V6 is smooth and 4MATIC is standard on it
- Commanding driving position and good outward visibility
- Thin used-market supply keeps prices genuinely keen
Cons
- Small used-car pool in Bahrain makes finding a good one take time
- Interior tech and design feel dated next to a current GLC
- No factory warranty left on any example today
- Firm ride rather than a plush one
Mercedes built the GLK for buyers who wanted the ruggedness cues of a G-Class without the size or the price, and the X204's flat panels and short overhangs still read that way today. It sat below the M-Class in the range and was never offered with three rows or much off-road pretension, but the upright glasshouse gives a commanding view of the road that most modern compact SUVs have traded away for style.
The GLK 350's 3.5-litre V6 was the strong point of the range: smooth, unstressed, and paired to a 7G-Tronic gearbox that still shifts cleanly on well-maintained examples. 4MATIC all-wheel drive was standard on the six-cylinder cars, which matters less in Bahrain's flat, paved reality than it would elsewhere but does add reassurance on the rare wet or sandy verge.
A used-market oddity worth knowing
The GLK never sold in the volumes of the M-Class or the later GLC, so the used pool in Bahrain is thin, and that thinness is a double-edged fact: prices are keen because demand is niche, but sourcing a genuinely well-cared-for example takes patience. Independent Mercedes specialists are again the sensible service route on a car this old, and parts commonality with the contemporary C-Class keeps consumables reasonably priced.
On the road it rides firmly rather than plushly — this was always a driver's compact SUV rather than a wafting one — and the cabin, while dated next to a current GLC, still has the solidity Mercedes interiors from this era are known for.
Who it suits
Buy a GLK if you want something different from the usual German-compact-SUV used-car shortlist and are prepared to find and vet a properly serviced example. It is not the safe, high-volume choice the Land Cruiser or the X3 are — it is the interesting one.