I'll add my $.02 because I've been thinking about this vehicle for a while...
I've been looking at the GLK 250 ever since they were rumored to hit the American market to replace my CRD one day. I love my CRD, mainly because of it's size (and of course, it's diesel). Other pluses are it's 4x4 system. There are so few choices for a diesel-powered SUV and the CRD is certainly the most affordable. However, they are now getting close to a decade old and maintenance costs vs. new vehicle purchase/lease costs are going to come into the monthly cost equation soon-ish. Especially when it comes to a timing belt replacement.
The diesel SUV market is slowly expanding: there's the GLK and the Audi Q5 TDI, and then the X5 and the Toureg and Cherokee…and now the Cayenne. Oh, and an X3 that just got announced. The least expensive is the GLK and by the time you get a few items (like Keyless Go and backup beepers which I got used to on my wife's Volvo) things start to get in the mid 40's range, which still makes the Benz the least expensive choice. I was quoted in the low $50K's for a no frills Q5 TDI…lame. An oil-burning Cherokee is in the $60K's and, frankly, the MPG's ain't that great…but the towing is there, if that's high on your list of Important Things.
I've started to do some Benz shopping and it's a seller's market (here in CA) with the diesels…the best offer I got during Round 1 buying talks was about 8% off the MSRP (which is negated by our sales tax here). There is not a lot of excess inventory, so they can sell them for what they want. For the record, I love the GLK body style & think the Audi is boring--they all look like shiny tic-tacs that mated with a Previa and begat some sort of inflated Passat-esque nightmare of curvy boredom. But I digress...
I will say from my research on some of the Benz forums, people are getting some really amazing mileage of the the GLK's, so that goes into the Plus column. However, when I test drove the GLK, it didn't immediately make my heart melt like I wanted it to--it was peppy, tight, quiet and smelled good but I definitely missed the extra few inches of ride height I got in my CRD. I am very curious to see what the X3 feels like and what it's priced at. All beemers seem to have a little bit of secret va-va-voom sauce and I'd like to see how the X3 delivers on that promise. However, forget about four-wheeling in anything other than the Jeeps--google "Top Gear X3 test" and see what I mean. Put another check-mark in the Jeep column in that department.
Speaking of maintenance, Mercedes wants to sell you a pre-paid package for $1300 on top of the purchase price…even if it's leased. And what do you get? An oil change and an Ad Blue top-off at 10K miles. Unless the oil drain plug is so inaccessible that you need a $1000 tool to access it…whatever, I'm not even going there. I'd be surprised if I can't do it myself. And the Ad Blue the tank is where the spare tire should be in the aft storage area and you can buy it buy the gallon for $15 at any truck stop. No spare tire means run flats.
The last bit of interesting info worth covering is the soot issue that seems to be inherent to our EPA-approved vehicles. On the Benz forums I specifically asked about EGR deletes and CCV bypasses--i.e., are the necessary. The answer seems to be yes. A Benz ML350 CDI owner told me he pulled the intake manifold off at about 130K miles and it was choked with soot. I hoped that I wouldn't have to deal with this on a $70K car. I haven't looked at the schematic for the GLK250 engine, but I have a feeling you will have to deal with the same issues of blow-by from the CCV being blown into the intake manifold. t.
End of Rant Thoughts:
If you're at the point where you want a new diesel--the GLK might be the best bang for your buck…if you can afford it. The two year residual on that car is listed at $31,000…so maybe wait two years and see what the used market looks like…plus, once it's out of warranty, you can do all the things you need to in order to make it last another ten years: EGR delete, EHM, etc… I was offered a gasser GLK350 with the bells and whistles that I wanted for $369/mo (10K mile a year lease, $2000 down) and that strikes me as the magic number for a Mercedes, considering a RAV4 lease is, like, $320/mo.
Towing--others who could speak on this with more authority. Although it feels like they are aiming low on purpose.
In closing, for the money, the GLK250 is the only car that comes close to replacing the CRD as a daily driver if you are in the market for a new diesel. But the CRD is so unique with it's price point, 4x4 system and towing ability that I personally can't make a strong, fiscally sound argument to replace it…yet! 
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