Looking at ML 2001-2002 to buy..

[hman]

a recent change in circumstances has lead me towards £3k or below mercedes - in particular the ML is one which looks like it will fit the bill.

Talking of bills is there anything ( on the diesels particularly) that I should be looking out for- also is corrosion an issue on these too?

Appreciate any guidance or experience that you guys might have.

[mbtech01]

The ML270 cdi is fairly robust. Just check for service history. Glow plug lights are quite common for staying on usually due to a faulty glow plug, cdi injectors can leak under the top engine cover causing a black carbon sludge across the top of the engine (caused by leaking injector seal washer allowing blow by from the cylinder), sometimes they can suffer from poor starting due to leaking fuel pipe seals which harden & become brittle with age or excessive leak off from an injector will cause poor starting as well (new injector reqired to cure this.
On the ML also check rear coil springs - these have a habbit of breaking & are not a cheap item to replace as they come as a complete assembley with the rear strut.Also check the rear seats work correctly - fold down etc as the cables & linkages under the seat tend to break & can be a real haedache to cure sometimes. A lot of people tend to regard the build quality as quite poor for Mercedes - but its everyones own personal choice - just remember theres a lot of plastic trims on the car & if its had a hard life don't be surprised if a few of them are broken.

[sim16v]

I've been looking at these as well, to replace my trusty old Grand Cherokee.


Does anyone have real world MPG figures for the petrol ones, especially comparing the ML320 with the ML430?

[Seeker UK]

I borrowed my dad's ML270 for a weekend and did about 400 miles of mostly m-way driving. I never saw 30mpg in it - if you want a cheap 4x4 to run the ML isn't worth it IMHO.

If you do want to run one, glowplugs are the biggie - they can seize into the block and changing them can be a real problem, esp if they snap trying to take them out.

[Backsplash]

I've got an ML430...rarely see above 18mpg.....

[Aidayboy]

I had a stunning looking 2003 ML270CDi with everything on it, full AMG kit, designo interior, erything and it was thee worst car mechanically I have ever owned and wouldnt recommend anyone get one, I love my mercs but they were just so poorly built that it was a nightmare, most expensive thing to go was the steering colum, but hey it even looked good sitting on the ramp lol

[Allandwf]

.... and the other side of the coin, I have a ML55 AMG designo, love it. Can even forgive it the 16mpg average.

[toger13]

I have a 430 does about 15-16 mpg round town about 24-25 mpg at 75-80 mph

Si

[falkster]

Allandwf said:

.... and the other side of the coin, I have a ML55 AMG designo, love it. Can even forgive it the 16mpg average.

Me too, I do sometimes get 20 though!!

[mattman]

intrested in your thoughts on these - change of plans had led us to look at cheap 7 seat 4x4's as a 2yr stop gap and the ML320's typically seem to fit the bill.
Looking around 3k budget so generally a 99/2000 model which have between 100-120k on them - we had a 01 CLK previously that was just starting to rust - is it the same for these?
Not looking for a show winner, just something that will get us around in comfort for a while

Also - in the rear - what sort of vertical leg room is there in the last 2 seats as from the photos i've seen so far it looks like the seat squab sits on the boot floor?

[DJRC]

Im looking at 2008/9 ML320s and 430s. Anyone got a recent one? Does anybody know any decent, friendly Merc dealers I can do a funky deal with?

We have driven the 280 and I like it, decided the ML is infinately preferable to Freelanders, Rangies Tiguans and Toerags so wnat to go with the ML.

[Challo]

What about a ML already converted onto LPG? Saves on the fuel costs.

99 ML320 - £3500
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2011...


01 ML430 - £3770
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2011...

or go all out and get this......

01 ML55 - £5000
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2011...

[Mars]

DJRC said:

Im looking at 2008/9 ML320s and 430s. Anyone got a recent one? Does anybody know any decent, friendly Merc dealers I can do a funky deal with?

We have driven the 280 and I like it, decided the ML is infinately preferable to Freelanders, Rangies Tiguans and Toerags so wnat to go with the ML.

Yep, we have a W164 MY08 ML320CDI. We've had it for two years, and is my wife's primary car. I will probably take it off her next year (I do more miles so tend to have the older car). She loves it so much, she will have another.

It gets about 26mpg normally, so not marvellous but it weighs 2200Kg and has a fairly powerful engine. We put General Grabber AT2 tyres on during the winter, and just left them on. They make it look a little "harder" and they were cheaper than the normal tyres, with much taller tread blocks - the speed that they're wearing (slowly) means they will prove to be a very economical purchase.

They were fabulous in the snow. Totally unstoppable.

We have just got back from a 1500mile round trip to France with a massive roofbox on the top, and a Thule towbar-mounted bike carrier on the back. Next year I'll probably take my little Daxara 127 trailer with us instead, with the bikes on that. We like to "get away from it all" by taking it all with us. The ML is the perfect vehicle for this.

We bought the truck at ~25K miles and about 18 months old. Under warranty I have had Mercedes look at the engine oil that seems to lightly-coat the plastic engine cover (noted because the onboard computer told us we were low on oil). They have not rectified this so I'll be taking it back. It's not a major problem and I believe it's something to do with the oil filler.

Mercedes did fix a faulty glow plug under warranty. The car is now out of warranty but apart from those items, it's been great.

I had a Westfalia towbar installed by a 3rd party, with a plug-compatible loom. Thing is, it wasn't totally plug-compatible (I was very cross with them but they have not sorted it even now) and I believe it's probably worth paying Mercedes a little extra for the wiring if you go down this route. Don't get them to install the whole towbar though - they are painfully expensive for that (£1800 as opposed to £650 from 3rd party). The effect of the current wiring is that I have to turn off the parktronic sensors when the bikes are on the back. Not a big issue but the Mercedes item does this automatically whenever you plug anything into the towbar electrical socket, leaving the front parktronic sensors working (I believe).

I can't wait until "ours" is "mine".

[DJRC]

Excellent post Mars, much obliged.

[Mars]

Forgot to note that the 320CDI engine is perfect for this car. I probably would opt for the 420CDI if I were buying a GL rather than an ML, or if I were towing a horsebox but even with a 2000KG caravan on the back of a 320CDI you would hardly notice it. The 420CDI is considerably thirstier (mid-teens) but as my own Scooby only manages ~21mpg so it wouldn't be a huge difference to get used to. I would really like a GL420CDI for the extra row of seats (useful for holidays) but as we have this excellent ML already, I'll take it on instead.

[DJRC]

Done the deed. Money down on the 420 ML, pick her up next weekend, detailed to perfection as per my wife's wishes to the dealership, otherwise there will be hell to pay.

Had to stiffle a giggle though, as the head honcho chap was busy eulogising over welcoming us into the Mercedes family and what a fantastic experience it was, how we should enjoy it and what a difference it was from "ordinary motoring", because all he saw was us throwing in the wife's Fabia. I was ready to shoot him by the time he shut up.

[Mars]

Nice one..!! Get some pics up when you bring it home.

Any special items in the spec? My wife has the powered tailgate which, apart from being fun and "showy", has proven to be quite useful.

She doesn't have headlight washers though which I thought were an oversight but she says they just don't get dirty, which was a surprise (my Scooby's lights get filthy very quickly).

She does has Comand but it's the NTG 2 which doesn't resolve full UK post codes which is a PITA. Upgrading to NTG-2.5 would cost about £1800 but would also give her DVD movie playback, integrated bluetooth, and dynamic routing around traffic congestion... to be honest, none of which are as useful as full post codes but full post codes aren't worth £1800.

[DJRC]

Mars said:

Nice one..!! Get some pics up when you bring it home.

Any special items in the spec? My wife has the powered tailgate which, apart from being fun and "showy", has proven to be quite useful.

She doesn't have headlight washers though which I thought were an oversight but she says they just don't get dirty, which was a surprise (my Scooby's lights get filthy very quickly).

She does has Comand but it's the NTG 2 which doesn't resolve full UK post codes which is a PITA. Upgrading to NTG-2.5 would cost about £1800 but would also give her DVD movie playback, integrated bluetooth, and dynamic routing around traffic congestion... to be honest, none of which are as useful as full post codes but full post codes aren't worth £1800.

Its got the Offroad pack and comes fully loaded with pretty much everything EXCEPT the powered tail gate which we would have liked, but not essential, same for the sunroof.

Can you retro upgrade the Command? To this NTG 2.5 thingy? Or are we stuck with the half job system?

What is this post code issue, Ive heard it mentioned before, but nobody has explained it properly to me yet.

[Mars]

DJRC said:

Its got the Offroad pack and comes fully loaded with pretty much everything EXCEPT the powered tail gate which we would have liked, but not essential, same for the sunroof.

Can you retro upgrade the Command? To this NTG 2.5 thingy? Or are we stuck with the half job system?

What is this post code issue, Ive heard it mentioned before, but nobody has explained it properly to me yet.

Yes, you can definitely upgrade Comand but it's horribly expensive. What age is the one you've bought? It might already have NTG 2.5. Ours is a MY08 and I think 2.5 became standard sometime in MY09.

It's ~£1800 to upgrade.

Check out www.comand.co.uk - this is a 3rd party but acknowledged as the place to go for this type of thing.

In a nutshell, you can't enter full 7-digit post codes into my wife's Comand - it'll only accept the first 5 digits. This obviously limits it's abilities to direct you to the door of your destination if you only know the post code. It's not a major hassle - more irritating as every other satnav system out there works "normally".

What's in the offroad pack? Is that the underfloor protection, LSD and air springs? I would have liked that on ours but I doubt we'd ever exploit it anyway. We put General Grabber AT2s on it last winter, and left them on. They're absolutely great and for the occasional "field" and campsite it's been on, they've been fine. Anything more wouldn't get used (by us).

Things I'd like if (when) we buy another, in addition to the spec we have:

1. Mercedes towbar electrics - I will probably keep the towbar (it's a Westfalia one, so it's as hard as they come). The electrics that came with ours don't disable the parking sensors. This isn't a major issue because there's a button on the dash which disables them but it'd be nice to have it done properly.

2. Air springs and the offroad pack - except I've heard that the air springs can be problematic. But sod that, it rides so much better with them, and headlights always point at the right height with the self-levelling.

3. HID lights.

4. Leather (we have half leather).

5. Comand 2.5.

6. Chrome roof rails and window sill embelleshments. It's a little thing but the ML is a great car and looks so much better with the bling.

7. The 420 engine. Yes, that would be fabulous. I'm rather jealous of yours.

[DJRC]

Thanks for that Mars.

We have an 08 aswell, so same as you on the Command.

Correct on the offroad specs.

We have that "sport" interior, the half leather/half alcantara jobbie. I think it looks OK actually, breaks up anotherwise all black interior and as we have the black metallic paint, looks better to me.

The V8 is a bit of a monster yes