Howdy y'alls;
Potential GLK350X owner questions:
We are seriously considering ordering a GLK350X to replace our aging Saab 9-2X.
The other vehicle in our modest stable is a BMW 128i Cabrio - which is our fair weather fun car.
Prior to the 1er and Saab we had a Z4 and Rav-4 - I mention that only to indicate that we gravitate toward the smaller sized cars and SUVs.
Now we have a 18 month old grandson with another expected sometime next year. At 6' 5" the Saab 9-2X lacks the rear legroom to hold 2 baby car seats in the back seat.
The GLK350 is approx the same overall length as the Saab 9-2X, but it appears to have more front and rear legroom.
I'm thinking of going to my local MB deal this week and installing the babyseat in it to check on the amount of rear legroom it has when the front seat is back far enough to seat me comfortably.
In the interim, if any of you are tall and have toddlers, let me know if the GLK works for yoiu.
As well, the GLK looks wider than the Saab. Has anyone had issues getting the GLK comfortably thru a std garage door width with the side mirrors extended?
TIA.

 

I am 5'8", and there 's plenty of rear legroom. since you are over 6 feet, i think there would not be enough space for your rear passengers. i guess GLK would have about the same space as the RAV4, if you think RAV4 is ok, then GLK would be fine. but you should really bring the car seat to try it out at the showroom.

 

My wife and I are 6' and we love the GLK. We have leg room behind us but we don't drive with the seat way back either. Our daughter is in a booster and is fine. A rear facing car seat would probably be tight and necessary for the front seats to be no too reclined. Oh and can't really help with the garage because we came from a Chevy Avalanche to this in our garage. So its way more room for us.

 

The GLK rear seats are angled so that it would allow for more leg room, for a person not in a car seat. When the kid sits higher up in a car seat the reclining seat is pretty close to their feet and knees. I am 5'11", both of my kids are in Britax Marathon seats and it does not leave them a lot of room.

 

I have a 4 year old and an 18 month old todller with two Recarro Young Sport child seats installed. I'm also 5' 8" and it is pretty tight in the back, especially for my 4 year old. His feet are right up against the back of my seat and will tighten up more as he grows further.

Other than that, we love the GLK.

 

O.K., so this morning after the usual weekly Friday morning family breakfast meeting, we stopped by the local MB dealership to test out the baby seat issue.
We had our 19 month old grandson and a spare baby seat with us, so it was an easy thing to put the babyseat in the back seat of the GLK behind the driver seat, put my grandson in it and then got into the drivers seat and adjusted it to a comfortable driving position for my 6' 5" frame.
Surprisingly there was lot's of legroom in the back for my grandson with at least an additional 4" - 5" of unused space.
So the GLK passes that test with flying colours.
So the next test is to take it for a test drive next week and take it home to the garage to ensure that the width of the GLK with mirrors extended are not going to be an issue.
As well, it'll be interesting to test the handling and performance of the GLK vis-a-vis my bimmers, the Saab and the former Rav-4.

 

I think you'll be disappointed with the handling of the GLK when you compare it to your 1-series BMW. That's not really a fair comparison. The GLK more closely resembles the RAV-4 in size, and I think you'll find the handling of the GLK to greatly outperform the RAV-4. You just can't beat the feel of the German handling/ride. We compared the GLK to the Lexus RX350. Lexus makes a great car, but it has a boring ride. In my (humble) opinion, the GLK is a driver's SUV for people who like to drive.

With respect to car seats.... we have a baby that sits in a carrier. We have a base that buckles in to the car and stays, and the rear-facing carrier just drops (and snaps) into the base. With the carrier and baby "installed" on the right side of the vehicle, the front seat can't go back very far before it hits the carrier. Consider that as well when look at the GLK. It's not just how much space is available for rear-seat passengers when you are driving... it's also how far back can the front seats move with the bulk of a rear-facing carseat or carrier installed. I'm 6'1" and I would not be comfortable sitting in front of the carrier. Luckily I am always driving so I don't have to deal with the car seat behind me, and my wife is short so it doesn't bother her.

 

Thanks for that.
As for performance and handling, I'm not expecting it to feel like my bimmers and as long as it meets or beats the Rav-4 in handling then my wife will be as happy as a pig in poop as the Rav-4 was her all time favourite vehicle (go figure) - and if she's happy, I'm happy.
Good point about the rear facing baby carrier as we expect another grandchild next year and the carrier will go behind my wife and the toddler will be in a booster behind me.
We've already demonstrated that the toddler sits fine behind me and I'm not anticipating any issue with the rear facing carrier behind my wife as she is only 5' 5" - but I may have to test that hypothesis.

 

One more piece of data... we took my parents to dinner last night in the GLK with the baby. My dad, who is 6'3", sat in front of the baby carrier and was extremely uncomfortable because of how far the seat had to be moved forward to accommodate the carrier. Luckily the restaurant was not far and luckily this isn't something we'll be doing daily! I think that moving the carrier to the middle of the backseat will probably allow the front seat to move back to a more comfortable position.

 

Does the rear seat of the GLK have 3 sets of latches for baby seats such that you can have a toddler behind one of the seats and the carrier securely fastened in the middle of the rear seat?

 

Currently, our 19-month old cannot kick the back of the front seat in his Britax Diplomat when his 5'7" mother is driving. I am 6'4" and he can reach the seat when I am in the driver's seat. I got a Sunshine Kids Radian for my Accord coupe because he sits more straight up, allowing more leg room for both of us.

Wife always folds mirrors before entering garage and has had no problems so far...

 

I think it has two sets but you can mount the seat in the middle using the inside latch from both sides. I can't remember for sure, though, and I am 20 miles away from the car right now so I can't check.

 

Hi vhawk!

For the LATCH backseat tethers, there are 3 hooks and for the bottom part, cheddar is correct. The middle seat will share hooks with the side seats.

For the garage size, yes it fits with 1" of clearance from both mirrors extended.

Hope that helps.

 

Thanks.
We got to test drive the GLK on the weekend and drove it home into the garage and I had at least 6" clearance on each side coming thru the garage door opening with the mirrors fully extended and ample room in front, rear and sides when parked.
So it ticks off all the must-have criteria boxes.

 

Fantastic!

It's a nice car.

 

Excellent , so when are you expecting delivery...

 

That's the $64K question...
Here's my dilemma.
I have to custom order the GLK as I want the panoramic sunroof, but not the premium pkge - so that means ordering the GLK350X rather than taking a GLK out of existing inventory.
Production of the GLK350X will not start til sometime in October and that means a early Jan delivery. And that means another $3k on new snowshoes and getting it at the crappiest point of the year.
As well, I'd be having to sell my Saab at a time I'd rather be playing golf in Florida.
My Saab has 1 year old snowshoes, so maybe I'd be better off keeping the Saab til end March and timing the delivery of the GLK to come in around the time of the final snowfall (end March).
That would mean ordering the GLK sometime mid-to-end January.
Dunno, still mulling it over in my mind.

 

The premium package is $3k. Buy the car today and start enjoying it! It will also help resale for you to have the premium package. Manufacturers all pull the same maneuver; they put 2 things you want along with 6 things you don't into one package. But to get the 2 things you do want, you have to buy the whole package.

There is one other reason to buy now. Prices only go up. We ordered our car in June, and by the time it arrived in August, the base price had gone up $700. The dealership didn't make me pay the increase because we had already agreed on a price, but they did make sure I knew that they had to eat that cost. If I had waited a while to order the car, I would have eaten the cost. I'm not saying the price will go up, but I am saying that it is more likely to go up than go down!