The shediest ML in the WORLD (possibly)

The shediest ML in the WORLD (possibly)

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rich12

Original Poster:

3,465 posts

156 months

Saturday 20th June 2020
quotequote all
Gallons Per Mile said:
Obvious thing to do now, couple of pipes at an angle for a nice side-exit biggrin
This cost me a case of beer. I'm not spending anymore than that!


Loving the burble when driving around. Just a shame the brake squeak is louder.

rich12

Original Poster:

3,465 posts

156 months

Saturday 20th June 2020
quotequote all
Slow said:
Could pass the mot as it’s only the back box. Just depends how loud it really is and if your mot man cares.
I was thinking about the mot but there can't be a law that states you have to have a back box or the exhaust has to be a certain length.

All the cats are still there and I remember seeing a car with lpg and the previous mot said no emissions test due to lpg.

Oh and hit this when I got home.


Edited by rich12 on Saturday 20th June 16:29

rich12

Original Poster:

3,465 posts

156 months

Saturday 20th June 2020
quotequote all
MarkwG said:
https://www.vehicle-certification-agency.gov.uk/fc... - I guess it depends on how loud, how picky.
Thanks.

Do they record noise on idle? If so it won't be an issue. Either way, I imagine I'll have some more pressing issues to be worrying about.

rich12

Original Poster:

3,465 posts

156 months

Saturday 20th June 2020
quotequote all
Yeh I can't see it being an issue. I've had far louder cars than this.

My wife thinks I'm a chav and I'm too old to have a loud car now.

rich12

Original Poster:

3,465 posts

156 months

Saturday 20th June 2020
quotequote all
The noise definitely isn't a concern, more so the fact its now missing half the exhaust system. I reckon its now 30kg lighter too.


rich12

Original Poster:

3,465 posts

156 months

Saturday 20th June 2020
quotequote all
MarkwG said:
Good result then, much better for the environment too biggrin
I'm very eco conscious laugh

I'll try to get a video of me driving it tomorrow to show the noise.
I'm really starting to love this car. Just really need to sort the brakes out and I'm done until the dreaded mot in October.

rich12

Original Poster:

3,465 posts

156 months

Sunday 21st June 2020
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Ooh. Halford side badges incoming!

rich12

Original Poster:

3,465 posts

156 months

Monday 22nd June 2020
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BrettMRC said:
I can't understand why there is no video of how this sounds yet?!

GET TO IT OP! hehe
I had 2 kids and a dog with me all of yesterday and one of them pisses themselves if you're not driving like miss daisy.

Got to pop out later so will do it then.

rich12

Original Poster:

3,465 posts

156 months

Monday 22nd June 2020
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I think I need to get someone to record it from the outside.

Edited by rich12 on Monday 22 June 12:47

rich12

Original Poster:

3,465 posts

156 months

Monday 22nd June 2020
quotequote all
Forgot to say, after doing the exhaust (purely by chance I hope) The o/s front started squeaking when going over any bumps (Think squeaky bed when going at it).

I stood on the side steps and was bouncing it and could hear it easily so I sprayed all the bushes and damper with wd40 which seems to have helped but I have no clue why it has suddenly done it.

rich12

Original Poster:

3,465 posts

156 months

Tuesday 23rd June 2020
quotequote all
I'll have a look at the weekend. It's very annoying.

Just sorted the squeaky brakes out which happened to just be pure laziness and they hadn't put any grease on the back of the pads.

Oh and I'm pretty sure this is supposed to be attached..

rich12

Original Poster:

3,465 posts

156 months

Tuesday 23rd June 2020
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BrettMRC said:
I found similar amusing oversights on the '320 i had.. included the rear left arm not having a nut on the main bolt. I only found that little gem after about 500miles of driving!

Beware of the front calipers btw - they can be a right swine for binding up, so if you do keep it - budget for a repair/rebuild kit.
It's pretty amazing how many little issues I keep finding.
I found out this morning, both rear wheels are missing a bloody bolt!

rich12

Original Poster:

3,465 posts

156 months

Tuesday 23rd June 2020
quotequote all
BrettMRC said:
Assuming it wasn't the hub nut? hehe
Ha! That was still attached thankfully.
Love the car but i'm far too lazy to be chasing all these little things.

rich12

Original Poster:

3,465 posts

156 months

Tuesday 23rd June 2020
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tomble22 said:
I think it probably confirms that very often the type of people who own a sheddy 4x4 are the type of people who aren't really bothered about maintaining said sheddy 4x4.
Agreed. The fixes i've done in a week are such little things that add up to making it so much better. My spend so far is still under £100 yet I think i've transformed it into something much more friendly on the eye.

rich12

Original Poster:

3,465 posts

156 months

Tuesday 23rd June 2020
quotequote all
Slow said:
Don’t chase them. Ignore the issues which don’t make the car undriveable.

If not you just end up spending so much as to have bought a nicer one.

Scrape it through another mot and don’t spend anything that’s not 100% needed.

Then you don’t mind when you ruin it further till it’s sold as spares or repairs eventually.
Is it not essential to have the missing thingy that's missing?

rich12

Original Poster:

3,465 posts

156 months

Tuesday 23rd June 2020
quotequote all
Slow said:
Of course you *shouldnt* do this but nothing bad will happen to your wheel. Wait to see what it fails the mot on before you preemptively fix lesser issues.

I wouldnt be worried about 1 of 5 missing, I have done this before on all 4 wheels for almost a year after forgetting to get replacement nuts for the locking ones I had to get a garage to remove as no key.

We had a offroad business and our beater/shed/pickup converted by cutting the back off was running 2/5 wheel nuts by the end as it kept donating them to other vehicles. This was taking serious offroad abuse with the wheels regularily going airborne and smashing down. Wheel never came loose. All this was 15mph and below but the wheel nuts lasted longer than the chassis which snapped.
I feel like I can still get 2 nuts without taking away the sheddiness though. laugh

rich12

Original Poster:

3,465 posts

156 months

Tuesday 23rd June 2020
quotequote all
C70R said:
I find it pretty amazing that you could own a car for so long and not spot something so critical. Who knows what else you could have missed?
You find it amazing I didn't look into the deep recesses of the wheels to make sure all the bolts are there?

rich12

Original Poster:

3,465 posts

156 months

Tuesday 23rd June 2020
quotequote all
L9 GTE said:
Fellow W163 ML500 owner here. Mine has slightly less rust.

I’m on my second one now, bought an ML350 that was a bit more rusty but mechanically perfect. Decided I wanted a cleaner/tidier one and got one with almost no rust! 1 winter later and it’s going in all the usual places, hooray for 2000-era Mercedes paint application process!

Yours seems great value for the money, I really enjoy the driving experience. These are often overlooked as Clarkson berated that initial pre facelift one but later (2001-) cars are much better built. Tiff reckons they don’t handle too bad either, but at 2tonnes it’s hardly a race car.

MPG especially on the 500 is miles ahead of period cars like the Range Rover. V8 and 22mpg commute? That’s the same as my old Astra was!

These are super practical and have great sound deadening, also if you’re a weirdo like myself you’ll love the styling. (Rust is a feature!)

I’ve been debating an exhaust mod, with one of those valve jobs that goes inline, key fob operated. But now I’ve heard yours I really want it.

Accelerator pedal as mentioned are a crap design, the plastic rubs against itself becomes loose and also creates a groove which can make them a bit on/off. They are cheap from MB or you can put a bolt in it and it cures it forever.
Hi!

I will admit, I do actually like the shape of it and do enjoy driving it (more so now the fecking brakes aren't squeaking).

The go pedal does need sorting ASAP as it doesn't even kick down like it should.
I've had pretty much every 4x4 from this era and tbh this so far does seem the best all-rounder albeit it's the cheapest I've ever paid for one.

I've ordered some lube to try and stop the creaking noise coming from the drivers side front. I was under the car earlier bouncing it up and down and its definitely a Bush but can't work out which one so will just spray them all and hope for the best.

rich12

Original Poster:

3,465 posts

156 months

Wednesday 24th June 2020
quotequote all
GR_TVR said:
Half of your statement is correct, anyway.
laugh

C70.. If you can honestly say every single car you've ever bought, you've gone round and checked all wheel nuts are present (and presumably fully tightened) before buying the car, then fair play to you.

rich12

Original Poster:

3,465 posts

156 months

Wednesday 24th June 2020
quotequote all
C70R said:
I'm not even close to being OCD/obsessive, and I've checked almost every car I've bought more thoroughly than that.

The celebration of running a car without basic maintenance and simple safety checks on here is bizarre. It reminds me of Retrorides in some ways.
No one is celebrating it. I bought a shonky Cat C Mercedes ML for £700 without checking all wheel bolts were present and am slowly making it a better car.

I would tell you one of the tyres is the wrong way round but I don't want to send you into a cardiac arrest.