Best Dash Cam for the Mercedes GLA and GLB

You have parked the GLA in one of those underground car parks where the bays get narrower the deeper you go, and the car beside you has parked at an angle usually reserved for abstract art. You come back to a fresh dent in the door and nobody around to explain it. Compact SUVs live in these spaces, and that is where their damage happens.

The short answer: Neither the Mercedes GLA nor the GLB comes with a dash cam as standard. Mercedes sells an MBUX Dashcam unlock, checked August 2026, which films forward only and stops the moment you park. GUARD 360° records no video in Australia. For car park damage you want an aftermarket camera with parking mode.

These two get grouped together for good reason. They share plenty underneath and attract the same sort of owner, doing city kilometres and school runs rather than highway hauls. Where they differ, for our purposes, is at the back.

Does the Mercedes GLA or GLB have a built-in dash cam?

No. No Mercedes sold in Australia comes with a working dash cam as standard, and that includes both compact SUVs. Mercedes sells three separate extras owners mistake for one another.

The MBUX Dashcam is a software unlock from the Mercedes-Benz Store Australia, and unlike most Mercedes Digital Extras it is a one-off purchase rather than a subscription, with both the price and your eligibility confirmed once your VIN is linked in the store. It uses the camera already behind your windscreen and records to a USB stick you supply. Forward only, no audio, and 720p on NTG6 cars or 1080p on NTG7 cars, with that 1080p mode capped at 25 frames per second. Crucially for a car that lives in car parks, there is no parking mode. Mercedes documents no parking or impact-wake function for the MBUX Dashcam, and recording runs only while the car is on. On some Australian cars you must also start recording manually every drive.

GUARD 360° is where the confusion starts. In Australia it is sold as a subscription, either monthly or on 12 and 36 month terms, and may be included for up to 36 months from new. Package contents checked August 2026. It holds Stolen Vehicle Help and Emergency Key Deactivation, and that is all. It records no video and no photos here.

The genuine Mercedes hardware camera is sold through parts departments as A2139055310 front and A2139055510 rear. It is comfortably the dearest of the three Mercedes options, installation is quoted on top, and both pricing and availability are confirmed against your VIN, so ask your dealer. Worth noting the Australian dealer fitment lists for those parts cover the C-Class, E-Class, GLE and GLS rather than the GLA or GLB, so check before you order.

The whole thing is written up in our Mercedes dash cam guide for Australia.

GLA or GLB? The rear glass is the difference

From the front seats these two feel like cousins. From the tailgate they are different cars, and that changes how we spec the rear camera.

The GLB is the boxy, upright one, and that upright tailgate glass is genuinely the easier and better rear camera mount. Near-vertical glass lets the camera sit flat against it and look straight back at the car behind you. No awkward angle, no wasted frame.

The GLA is lower and more sloped at the back, and sloped glass points the camera up unless somebody sets it properly. Get that angle wrong and half your footage is sky, with the car that just hit you in the bottom edge of frame. It needs attention at install time. Angle matters more on a GLA than on almost any other Mercedes we spec.

The GLB has a further wrinkle, the optional third row. With all seven seats in use and a boot packed for the weekend, the driver has very little rearward vision through the mirror. That is how a full car works, but it means the rear camera does more of the seeing, and it needs to sit high on the glass so luggage does not fill the frame.

Now the part that applies to both. Compact SUVs live in tight car parks. Shopping centres, apartment basements, narrow inner-suburban streets. That is where door dings and reversing scrapes happen, and almost every one of them happens while nobody is in the car.

Which is the argument for prioritising parking mode on these two. It is not a nice extra to consider later, it is the feature most likely to pay for itself, because the incident you are most likely to have happens while you are inside buying groceries. A camera that only records while you drive is not awake for it. Parking mode means a hardwire kit.

Pro Tip: Compact cars have less windscreen to play with, so position matters more here than in a big SUV. Mount the camera high and tight behind the rear-view mirror. It stays out of the driver's eyeline, keeps the lens in the shaded band at the top of the glass, and looks factory.

The best dash cam for the Mercedes GLA and GLB

Three cameras cover almost every GLA and GLB owner.

VIOFO A229 Ultra, when the rear matters as much as the front

The VIOFO A229 Ultra records 4K HDR at the front and 4K HDR at the rear, which is unusual and useful. Most kits give a sharp front and a softer rear, and on a compact SUV the rear is where your risk sits. Matching resolution means the camera pointed at the most likely incident is as good as the one pointed at the road.

It uses Sony STARVIS 2 IMX678 sensors, 5GHz Wi-Fi, and integrated GPS stamping speed and location into the footage. Parking mode offers buffered events, time-lapse or low-bitrate recording, and for that it wants the HK4 hardwire kit. The newer HK6 will run it, but the only thing it adds on this camera is a live voltage reading stamped into the video, because the HK6's other tricks are features the A229 Ultra does not have. There is a screen on the unit. Our VIOFO A229 Ultra review has the detail.

VIOFO A329S, very low parking-mode power draw

The VIOFO A329S records 4K at 60 frames per second at the front, dropping to 4K at 30 with HDR on. That frame rate helps with number plates, because more frames per second means more chances to catch a clean image of a fast-moving vehicle. The rear is 2K HDR. Sensors are STARVIS 2, IMX678 front and IMX675 rear, and it runs Wi-Fi 6.

Its Low Power Impact Detection is the standout for a car that sits in a basement all day at work. It sleeps while parked and wakes in about two seconds on impact. It needs the HK6 hardwire kit for those modes, and warranty is 18 months. Full A329S review here.

Vantrue Sonnet 1 Pro Max, dual 4K for less

The Vantrue Sonnet 1 Pro Max is the most affordable of the three and still records 4K at both ends with twin STARVIS 2 IMX678 sensors. Vantrue's PlatePix processing is aimed at number plate legibility, which is usually the whole point. There is built-in GPS, 5GHz Wi-Fi, an IP67 waterproof rear camera, and buffered parking capture saving 15 seconds before a trigger and 30 seconds after, so you see the approach as well as the hit. It is also the most compact of the three in the hand, which is the practical reason we reach for it when someone wants the camera to disappear behind the mirror. Vantrue does not publish body dimensions, so that is our own observation from handling both rather than a spec sheet comparison, and it is worth saying the Sonnet still has a screen and buttons, it is simply a smaller unit. Warranty is 12 months, extendable to 18 on registration. The Sonnet 1 Pro Max setup guide covers it.

Pricing lives on the product pages, so we would rather send you there than quote a figure that dates.

Fitting it properly in a GLA or GLB

The area behind the rear-view mirror is busy on both. Mercedes already has a camera up there for driver assistance, plus rain and light sensors, and a dash cam bracket has no business on any of it. The front camera goes high and tight alongside the mirror housing.

Cabling runs the same way on both: up into the headlining, down the A-pillar clear of the airbag, and along the trim to the fuse box. The rear cable crosses the tailgate hinge inside the factory rubber boot, with enough slack to flex each time you open it. That flex point is where lazy installs fail.

Pro Tip: If parking mode is the reason you are buying the camera, and on these two it usually is, budget for the hardwire kit at the same time. It taps a switched circuit through a fuse tap and includes a voltage cut-off so the camera stops before it leaves you with a flat car. The two cameras want different ones. The A229 Ultra takes the HK4. The A329S needs the HK6 specifically, because that is what unlocks its Hybrid Parking Mode and low-power impact detection. Fitting an HK6 to an A229 Ultra works, it just does not gain you anything beyond a voltage reading on the video, so save your money.

On warranty: under Australian Consumer Law a manufacturer cannot void your whole vehicle warranty simply because you fitted an accessory, though it can decline a claim for a fault the installation itself caused. That is why a professional install is the lowest-risk approach we recommend, and what matters is tapping the right circuit and keeping clear of the airbag and driver assistance hardware. For certainty on your particular car, ask Mercedes-Benz or your dealer in writing.

The quick version

• Neither the GLA nor GLB has a dash cam as standard.
• The MBUX Dashcam unlock is a one-off purchase rather than a subscription: forward only, no parking mode.
• GUARD 360° is a subscription, sold monthly or on 12 and 36 month terms, and records nothing in Australia. Package contents checked August 2026.
• The GLB's upright tailgate glass is the better rear mount.
• The GLA's sloped rear glass needs the angle set carefully or you film sky.
• A seven-seat GLB with a loaded boot leaves little rearward view.
• Both live in tight car parks, so parking mode matters most.

Mercedes GLA and GLB dash cam FAQs

Does the Mercedes GLA have a built-in dash cam?

No. The GLA leaves the factory with no working dash cam. You can buy the MBUX Dashcam software unlock, which films forward through the camera behind the windscreen, or fit an aftermarket camera. On sloped glass like the GLA's, the rear camera angle matters more than on an upright tailgate.

Does the Mercedes GLB have a built-in dash cam?

No, the GLB is the same as every Mercedes sold here and comes with nothing that records the road. The good news is that its upright tailgate glass is one of the easier rear camera mounts on any Mercedes, giving a clear view of the car behind. That matters more with the third row fitted.

Can you add a dashcam to a Mercedes?

Yes, and it is the usual answer for these two. You can buy the MBUX Dashcam unlock if your VIN supports it, but it films forward only and stops when you park. An aftermarket front and rear camera adds rear coverage, parking mode and sharper footage.

Does the Mercedes dash cam record while parked?

No, and on a compact SUV that is the deal breaker. Mercedes documents no parking or impact-wake function for the MBUX Dashcam, and recording runs only while the car is on, so it is off for every car park incident. GUARD 360° records nothing here. Only an aftermarket camera with parking mode stays awake while you shop.

Is the Mercedes dash cam worth it?

For a GLA or GLB owner, usually not on its own. You are buying a front-only recording with no audio and no parking mode, and on some Australian cars one you have to start manually every drive, which misses the scenario these cars are most exposed to. Where it wins is tidiness, because there is nothing extra on your windscreen at all. If you want rear coverage, protection while parked and footage sharp enough to resolve a number plate, an aftermarket front and rear camera does considerably more.

What is the best dash cam for a Mercedes GLA or GLB?

The VIOFO A229 Ultra is our usual pick, since dual 4K covers the car park incidents these cars actually have. The VIOFO A329S suits a car parked all day, with very low parking-mode power draw. The Vantrue Sonnet 1 Pro Max is the value pick with 4K at both ends.

More Mercedes guides

• Does your Mercedes have a dash cam? GUARD 360° and MBUX explained
• Best dash cam for the Mercedes A-Class and CLA
• Best dash cam for the Mercedes GLC

Still deciding?

Tell us whether yours is a GLA or a GLB and where it spends its days. We will tell you which camera suits and how the rear should be angled. No worries either way. Reach out to Michael or Harrison any time.

Mercedes package contents and feature availability checked August 2026 against Mercedes-Benz Australia and the Mercedes-Benz Store Australia. Mercedes changes these from time to time, and both pricing and eligibility are confirmed against your VIN, so check before you buy.

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