Note 11 - Fair Values (Details Textual) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2018	Dec. 31, 2017
Loans Receivable Held-for-sale, Net, Not Part of Disposal Group, Mortgage	$ 1,900	$ 2,600
Real Estate Dependent Loans and Foreclosed Assets Estimated Selling Costs [Member]
Fair Value Inputs, Discount Factor	10.00%
Real Estate Dependent Loans and Foreclosed Assets [Member] \| Commercial Real Estate [Member] \| Minimum [Member]
Fair Value Inputs, Discount Factor	15.00%
Real Estate Dependent Loans and Foreclosed Assets [Member] \| Commercial Real Estate [Member] \| Maximum [Member]
Fair Value Inputs, Discount Factor	25.00%
Real Estate Dependent Loans and Foreclosed Assets [Member] \| Residential Real Estate [Member] \| Minimum [Member]
Fair Value Inputs, Discount Factor	25.00%
Real Estate Dependent Loans and Foreclosed Assets [Member] \| Residential Real Estate [Member] \| Maximum [Member]
Fair Value Inputs, Discount Factor	50.00%
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1 [Member]
Available-for-sale Securities, Total	$ 0
Available-for-sale Securities [Member]
SEC Schedule, 12-09, Valuation Allowances and Reserves, Amount, Ending Balance	$ 0	$ 0

Discount factor used to further reduce the balance sheet carrying amount of property or other assets.

No definition available.

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Namespace Prefix:	mbwm_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Amount of investment in debt and equity securities categorized neither as held-to-maturity nor trading.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Amount, after allowance for bad debt, of mortgage loan receivables held-for-sale that are not part of a disposal group. Excludes loans and leases covered under loss sharing agreements and loans classified as debt securities.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 310
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 2
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=82891408&loc=d3e4428-111522

+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
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- Definition

Amount of valuation and qualifying accounts and reserves.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 235
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 4
-Subparagraph (SX 210.12-09)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=26873400&loc=d3e24092-122690

+ Details

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- Details

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- Details

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- Details

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- Details

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- Details

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- Details

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