With all that power under the M-Class' hood, along with its sporty nature and comfortable cabin, it's easy to forget this is still an SUV. That means the M-Class better do a good job of hauling things. Indeed, the rear cargo area is large, flat and quite tall. The figures come in at 29.4 cubic feet with the rear seats in place and 72.4 cubic feet with them folded. That is considerably bigger than the BMW X5, which comes in at 21.9 and 61.8 cubic feet, respectively. What's also nice is that this room is usable. I fit a golf bag straight into the cargo hold with the club heads against the backseat and the bottom of the bag pointing outward. The M-Class could easily swallow a foursome and their clubs, and I don't want to imagine the vacation that would completely fill the cargo hold with luggage.

To fold the rear seats flat you have to flip the seat cushions up then fold the seatbacks down into the open space. This is an antiquated method I've grown to despise, as other SUVs in every price range are finding simpler, more elegant ways to do the same thing. On the plus side, the resulting extended cargo floor is completely flat.