Today, Branko takes a look at another of the upcoming Technic Releases for August 1, the Mercedes-Benz G500 Professional Line.

While building this car, I finally got it! I think I now understand why some people so passionately dislike electric cars! As I was building this beast of a vehicle with the intricacies of the transmission, a 6-cylinder engine and several differentials with or without locks, I suddenly realised that if this was an electric vehicle, it would be a lot less entertaining! All these great inventions have been made over the last century to harness the power of controlled explosions (combustion) in a way that allows us to move vehicles how we want. And these inventions are captured in functional detail in this model with lovely mechanisms and gears. Next: cue electric cars; they do away with the need for any of these inventions. They can just provide power to any wheel any way you want it when you want it with no need for mechanical trickery. Where is the fun in that!?! I can imagine to some people, this feels like using a cheat code in the motoring world, not playing a fair game. I do feel sorry for those people for their perceived loss of classic engineering and, frankly, I love the cheat code that EV’s provide, but I digress.

The LEGO Group and Mercedes-Benz have worked closely together to bring us this detailed model of their four-wheel drive G500 Professional line SUV, in New Reddish-Orange*! If you read my review on the boring-grey Koenigsegg Jesko you will not be surprised that I am delighted that this model contains a bit of colour. And a new* colour even!

For me, Technic models do not need to accurately capture the outer appearance of their real counterparts, but in recent years, there has been an increase in attention to the outer detail, and this is no exception. When finished, it is very clear what this car represents, and it’s a vibrant, striking, and big presence. But, as expected with Technic, the fun with the model is the functionality! The car comes with forward- and reverse-gears, 8 cylinder engine, high and low gear, differential between front wheels and between rear wheels and between front-to-rear with the ability to lock front-rear and rear left-right (if you’re confused just keep reading after the break). All five doors can open and have a working door latch, there is an opening roof window, cargo trunk, working suspension and a spare wheel.

This set is available from the 1st of August 2024 for AU$ 399.99/£219.99/$249.99/€249.99 (affiliate link) and is available to pre-order now. It contains 2891 pieces, which is always an odd statistic with Technic sets with a large portion attributed to pins (over 700 in this set). The set was provided by the LEGO Group for review purposes, but all opinions are my own.

This is a great set. Yes, that’s a period. I’m not really into cars, or Technic all that much but this is just an impressive set that provides a great balance between looks and functionality. It does come with hefty price tag so keep reading if you want to find out if this is a set for you. Or if you want to see a simple demonstration of the effect of differential lock.

The Box

When first seeing the box , we briefly wondered if ‘Professional line’ indicated a new series of vehicles from LEGO® Technic, but alas it is the name Mercedes-Benz has given to this particular model and this model falls into the category of ‘the biggest that is not huge’, falling short of the size of the Supercars but still larger than most other Technic sets available.

This review set came in a new style box containing 20 paper bags, two plastic bags and 5 wheels with rims. The instruction enveloped contained two hefty manuals with half images of the model on them when places next to each other… wait… don’t actually make a larger image. I guess this is not a Supercar model. There is s sticker sheet included but I think even without applying the stickers the model will look great.

The start of book one provides some history of the G series, going back 45 years, and I can see why this is is worth celebrating. A highlight for me is the photo of the lead designer with his name (Milan Reindl); I love how designers are coming out of hiding and becoming the celebrity rock-stars they should be.

The Pieces

Our review staff took a bit of a ‘Jackson Pollock’ approach to knolling so the pieces aren’t laid out in great detail but you get a sense what’s included.

Starting around bag 9 the New Reddish-Orange* pieces start to appear and I think we can quite safely say that all these pieces are new in this colour this year (give that this colour was introduced this year). I love that the palette of available pieces is expanded so quickly and with Technic pieces no less! Who wants grey when you can have this! At time of writing 354 of the parts from this set are not yet listed on LEGO.com which is a good indication of new pieces (or recolours); a bit too much to list here.

A few pieces deserve a highlight. We have a nice colourful selection of gears (very welcome and it is becoming common), an orange gear shifter fork that appeared last year and only has been in 3 sets (2 of which are released 1 Aug 2024). There are some tiles with a printed Mercedes-Benz symbol, a round shield with Mercedes-Benz symbol (for those wanting to create a medieval Mercedes-Benz faction), a hubcap only available in the other big Mercedes-Benz set this year and, off-course the wheels.

Throughout the photos in this article you’ll notice that all the New Reddish-Orange* pieces appear to have the exact same colour, which they do! LEGO set have started to become notorious for colour variations within their sets (the new Lamborghini Countach being the latest culprit) but in this set the colours are perfect. A delight to behold!

The Build

The build process is enjoyable and varied; I will let the photos do the talking and just highlight a few notable points. The first two bags give us the front suspension and steering; it’s interesting to see that the front suspension uses two different types of springs, resulting in quite a soft suspension like I would expect from an off-road vehicle.

We then move on into a colourful gearbox that contains the gearing for high and low gear, front and reverse and front-wheel-drive or four-wheel-drive. At this point it is already a nice model that can demonstrate a lot of the ‘old fashioned’ elegance of motor vehicles.

Unfortunately the neat row if pistons is then thoroughly covered by the engine top so that the pistons are all but invisible from here on. What was the point them then?

Since the guts of the car are complete at this stage the rest of the build is around ‘putting some meat on the bone’. The frame is extended backwards, the rear differential (with lock) is and wheels are added and we suddenly have a buggy! Again, at this stage I would be quite satisfied with this model, I found myself driving around, flicking control levers and navigating obstacles on my desk, but wait! There is more!

We put a cage on top of the buggy making it look a bit like a T-Ford, if a T-Ford would have come with four wheel drive.

The next part stumped me. I thought I would have put the confusing parts behind me but I could not understand in the printed instructions where they wanted me to mount the rear seats of the car. In the end I found a spot that seemed logical but I still cannot see how that matches the instructions. Three (!) pages in the instructions were dedicated only to mounting of the bench, so I guess the designers themselves also realized this was a bit confusing. At this point I wished I could have gotten access to the digital instructions which would have clarified it in no-time I’m sure.

Once the cage is done we enter into the ‘orange period’ of the build. The bags contain a lot of orange parts and the outside of the car take shape. Doors with door latches are first, then front seats, followed by more doors, the dashboard and the front grille with bonnet. This bonnet has a bit of a flexible hinge so that I can close neatly and still open fully. It’s a bit odd but also a clever way to maintain both the aesthetics and functionality, with the small side effect that you can close the bonnet at an angle.

There is only one licence plate sticker with this set: S – G1979. It is a German licence plate, where the S denotes the region; Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany where Mercedes-Benz is headquartered, the G indicates this vechicle’s line and 1979 the year that the first G series vehicle was built.

The rear of the vehicle contains a few larger stickers at which point it becomes a bit more noticeable that the colour of the New Reddish-Orange* on the stickers is a bit darker than the plastic, and this again does not help LEGO’s reputation with colour.

The car looks nearly finished by this point but there are still 3 bags left. These will be used to build the roof (with roof window), the spare wheel holder, a rack around the roof and a storage case on the roof. The instructions first offer a minimalist mounting method for the spare wheel and then later show how to convert it to a more ‘serious’ mount. I think I like the car with the more minimalist look, what do you think?

It is no secret anymore that I hate SINGLE BUSH 2 MODULE, DIA. 4,9, and the box on the roof of the G500 only made that worse. The lid of this box needed to be connected with TWO of them at the same time, and their insertion force is so great and they were so unstable that it was an exercise in frustration. I hereby declare that that part can be removed from LEGO’s portfolio. I don’t care what design sacrifices need to be made.

The Differentials

This car comes with 3 differentials. One between the front two wheels, fairly straightforward, it allows the two wheels to both be driven by the motor while turning at different speeds; very useful when taking corners. The rear wheels also have a differential, but that one can be locked. That means that the rear wheels can be linked together, so that if a wheel comes off the ground (quite possible during four-wheel-driving), the other wheel doesn’t just start free spinning leaving the car standing still.

The final differential is between the front and rear wheels. (“Quick, tell us what is it for?!”) that is for connecting the front and the rear wheels! In other words, when all wheels are connected to each other (and to the engine) the car is in four-wheel drive; so that if any wheel comes of the ground, the vehicle can still keep driving. (“Not so quick, we’re taking notes!”)

Have a look at the video below, that shows the functionality included in this model. For demonstration purpose I had to remove the engine and replace it with an electric motor. It was striking that in high gear the gearbox could not transfer the power from the motor to the wheels unless I forcefully held the gearbox together (gears ‘brushing teeth’).

The Size

I’m sure several of you are wondering if Stitch fits in the car. In word, no. Stitch is a bit too big but he does seem to enjoy going for a ride.

Minifigs are dwarfed by this beast of a vehicle, but, as it turns out, a family of miniland figures seems to fit quite well! This might stimulate you to make a set of figures yourself to put in the car.

The drummer from the Jazz Band wanted to have a go too, but he just couldn’t quite make it. Mario on the other hand seemed quite at home behind the wheel of the Mercedes-Benz G500 Professional Line.

The Conclusion

The 42177 Mercedes-Benz G500 Professional Line is an impressive and striking car—just a car, I might add, because it couldn’t quite trigger my curiosity like the Apollo LRV. I like the look of the finished model, but not quite as much as the large creator cars. However, I do really like how smooth the suspension is and how nicely the four-wheel drive is implemented.

If you like Technic and cars this will likely provide a lot of enjoyment. If you are in the market for this amount of money I would personally prefer the Apollo LRV, but this set will give you more, more pieces, more weight, and more colour.

In the end I give this set 4 out of 5 arbitrary praise units; I think it’s a great example of what’s possible with Technic at the upper end of the price-range without going into the ‘madness’ price bracket.

The set has 2891 pieces and is available to preorder now, ahead of an August 1 2024 release. The recommended retail price is AU$ 399.99/£219.99/$249.99/€249.99. If you are interested in purchasing this set, please consider using our affiliate links- the Rambling Brick might receive a small commission and it will cost you nothing.

I’d love to know what do you think of this set? Is it one you have been waiting for because you love 4 wheel drives? Are you waiting for all the reddish orange elements for a special project? Or will you leave it be? Leave your comments below.

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Until Next Time,

Play Well!

* Rambling Brick policy: the name is ‘new reddish-orange’ until 2025.