Merc ML worth buying or stay clear?
Discussion
Have been looking lately at buying an ML for the wife, as we could do with the extra room. I have heard various stories about dodgy build quality on late 90's early 2000's ML's. Will most of the glitches already be resolved on cars of this age or is it best just to stay clear and buy a higher mileage X5?
My 2001 270 cdi realy has been good . Never let me down, had very little other than routine servicing. This year at 180k miles it needed 2 new rear springs (one had cracked and had to replace the shockers at the same time) 1 bottom ball joint and one new injector. Still uses no oil between services and still transports 7 people in relative comfort, pulls the horse box with no problems and still looks fairly smart. It may not be the quickest or quitest 4x4 in the world but I would have another. I look forward to the next 180k miles in it.
Thanks for the replies, was actually looking at a 430 petrol and getting LPG conversion done. Not too concerned about it being lightning fast as I also have a 911 for fun, but 430 seemed to have enough overtaking power for everyday driving. Was expecting around 18mpg from it and with the LPG being half the price, would equate to around 36mpg. Would prefer the X5, but not many of them about for much less than ten grand, where I can pick up a decent 00- 01 ML for almost half that. Any big service intervals to be aware of? timing belt etc?
Mine was horrible, didn't go, didn't handle and rattled, squeaked, groaned and didn't feel like a Merc at all. Only had it for a few months so not long enough to service it so can't add from that side. I got rid of it for a BMW if that helps. Personally I think there's a reason that they're cheap...
I get to drive a 2002 ML at work and its a horrid car (sorry to any owners posting).
Personally I like to drive and I steer clear of this thing unless its the only car left. The steering is terrible, no feed back whatsoever. When braking hard the ABS kicks in far too early and the tyres seem to grip and release on seemingly normal road surfaces making the front end twitch when braking moderately and above.
The seats are unsupportive and it wallows so badly around corners I'm pretty sure a galleon ship would out handle it. The interior is poor quality and there are so many dash warning lights it's like your on the starship enterprise.
The gear change takes forever when pressing on and even when using it in manual mode it doesn't react straight away.
The company had to have a new gearbox fitted to ours at 60000 miles (2 years ago) which allededly cost £7000. Not sure how much truth there was in that though. We also went through a period of 2 years between 2005 and 2007 where it was virtually in the Merc garage weekly being hooked up to a diagnostic computer due to electrical problems. Never did find out what was wrong although whatever was causing the problem seems to have rectified itself.
Why anyone would purchase one is beyond me.
I will say though that for just bimbling around and not having a care in the world (read driving like an old bloke in a Rover) its not bad.
The later ones (facelift) are meant to be much better.
Personally I like to drive and I steer clear of this thing unless its the only car left. The steering is terrible, no feed back whatsoever. When braking hard the ABS kicks in far too early and the tyres seem to grip and release on seemingly normal road surfaces making the front end twitch when braking moderately and above.
The seats are unsupportive and it wallows so badly around corners I'm pretty sure a galleon ship would out handle it. The interior is poor quality and there are so many dash warning lights it's like your on the starship enterprise.
The gear change takes forever when pressing on and even when using it in manual mode it doesn't react straight away.
The company had to have a new gearbox fitted to ours at 60000 miles (2 years ago) which allededly cost £7000. Not sure how much truth there was in that though. We also went through a period of 2 years between 2005 and 2007 where it was virtually in the Merc garage weekly being hooked up to a diagnostic computer due to electrical problems. Never did find out what was wrong although whatever was causing the problem seems to have rectified itself.
Why anyone would purchase one is beyond me.
I will say though that for just bimbling around and not having a care in the world (read driving like an old bloke in a Rover) its not bad.
The later ones (facelift) are meant to be much better.
I bought one at under 6 months old, late 2003 53 plate with 6k miles on it.
ML270cdi Inspiration.
Truly shocking car, rattled, squeaked and creaked.
The thing wallowed so badly I thought it was going to topple, and every passenger complained of feeling ill.
Looked nice though.
I managed to hold on to it for around 3 months, luckily I bought it right and got my money back from Sytners in a straight sale, well I lost £500, but most were up for sale at £5k more than I paid for it so if I had bought one of them I would have been gutted!!
Funny thing is, that car was £40k and the finance company had a balloon of £19k after 48 months, so it would have been sold a few months back if I had stayed in it. There are loads on Autotrader for under £10k at that age and spec. with similar mileages.
Oh, and I have a customer who has the V8, thought it was an ML500 though?? Anyway, he gets between 9-14mpg.
I used to get 17-24mpg in the diesel, so expecting to get 18 is a bit optimistic I reckon?
ML270cdi Inspiration.
Truly shocking car, rattled, squeaked and creaked.
The thing wallowed so badly I thought it was going to topple, and every passenger complained of feeling ill.
Looked nice though.
I managed to hold on to it for around 3 months, luckily I bought it right and got my money back from Sytners in a straight sale, well I lost £500, but most were up for sale at £5k more than I paid for it so if I had bought one of them I would have been gutted!!
Funny thing is, that car was £40k and the finance company had a balloon of £19k after 48 months, so it would have been sold a few months back if I had stayed in it. There are loads on Autotrader for under £10k at that age and spec. with similar mileages.
Oh, and I have a customer who has the V8, thought it was an ML500 though?? Anyway, he gets between 9-14mpg.
I used to get 17-24mpg in the diesel, so expecting to get 18 is a bit optimistic I reckon?
gizlaroc said:
Oh, and I have a customer who has the V8, thought it was an ML500 though?? Anyway, he gets between 9-14mpg.
I used to get 17-24mpg in the diesel, so expecting to get 18 is a bit optimistic I reckon?
The early V8s were the 430, changed to the 500 at the refresh, I think around 2001(?).I used to get 17-24mpg in the diesel, so expecting to get 18 is a bit optimistic I reckon?
Mine was doing around 12-18mpg (3.2 V6)
I've had mine for over 18months now (03 500) which has been LPG'd earlier this year and should have paid for itself by December 
It's never asked for anything other than servicing, brakes (they tend to eat them) and one new set of tyres so far (conti's seem to run better and for longer). It's about to hit 50k which means i've done over 15k in it myself.
It doesn't squeak, doesn't rattle, handles fine for a 4x4, is impressively quick for it's size and weight (check the stats) and holds a lovely 60+litre tank underneath for the LPG giving me good range.
I've got the 7 seat option and it's fitted with almost every option - it's a lovely car and considering i normally change things by 6 months, this one's a keeper!
I would say buy sensibly (meaning buy as late as possible) and these cars will run and run.
All IMHO option
It's never asked for anything other than servicing, brakes (they tend to eat them) and one new set of tyres so far (conti's seem to run better and for longer). It's about to hit 50k which means i've done over 15k in it myself.
It doesn't squeak, doesn't rattle, handles fine for a 4x4, is impressively quick for it's size and weight (check the stats) and holds a lovely 60+litre tank underneath for the LPG giving me good range.
I've got the 7 seat option and it's fitted with almost every option - it's a lovely car and considering i normally change things by 6 months, this one's a keeper!
I would say buy sensibly (meaning buy as late as possible) and these cars will run and run.
All IMHO option
My sister had a 1999 430 and it was pretty awful, she had it from 3 years old and it had to have the engine rebuilt under warranty at about 80,000, i can't quite remember the reason but it was something to do with the oil system.
The interior was terrible and just didn't feel like a Mercedes, cup holders breaking all the time, 'wood' inserts that creaked and felt like plastic.
Once the engine was rebuilt it was very smooth and felt powerful for a big car, although i think they look too jelly moulded.
I wouldn't have one but then it's not my type of car at all.
The interior was terrible and just didn't feel like a Mercedes, cup holders breaking all the time, 'wood' inserts that creaked and felt like plastic.
Once the engine was rebuilt it was very smooth and felt powerful for a big car, although i think they look too jelly moulded.
I wouldn't have one but then it's not my type of car at all.
gav2612 said:
Have been looking lately at buying an ML for the wife, as we could do with the extra room. I have heard various stories about dodgy build quality on late 90's early 2000's ML's. Will most of the glitches already be resolved on cars of this age or is it best just to stay clear and buy a higher mileage X5?
I'm in the same boat. Wife just about to have kid number two and she needs something a bit bigger (and wants a 4x4...).Have been looking into it and £6k does seem to buy a whole lot of year 2000 ML.
Going to look at one tomorrow.
Seems they weren't considered that great when they were new, so I'm not expecting things to be too much better eight years down the line - apart from the fact that I'm looking at paying about 20% of what it cost the first owner, so my expectations have been adjusted accordingly.
marc.l said:
rsstman said:
horrid car with such a bad interior for a supposed merc.
how many miles have you done in one ?Edited by rsstman on Sunday 5th October 12:33
I bought an ML 430 new back in 2000 for my wife. The car was great to drive, but God was it poorly built. Within the first days of ownership, the fault count was 18. This included the air-conditioning packing up, the drivers electric seat packing up, the rear view mirror dropping off, rust on all 7 seat frames and many more. It took 3 months of letter writing to Mercedes' UK MD, meetings with Mercedes Customer Service and the Dealer Principal to get a proper refund (I rejected the car within 7 days and they initially offered me £14k less than I had paid for it a week earlier).
However, saying all of that, cars now on the road, should have worked through most of their problems and I did enjoy driving it. Just go into it with your eyes open - they are cheap because of their reputation.
However, saying all of that, cars now on the road, should have worked through most of their problems and I did enjoy driving it. Just go into it with your eyes open - they are cheap because of their reputation.
I bought a new ml270cdi inspiration back in 2003, had a lot of teething problems the worst being a complete power steering failure as i was driving the car. This was probably at the bottom of the MB downturn when they had completely lost the plot - i remember taking the car to the Alan Day service centre in London, this place would have been bad for a back street car lot, scruffy, big fat woman on reception smoking a tab and various cars outside up on jacks...
In fairness, MB eventually fixed all the problems and fitted an in car DVD player and the chrome side bars for free as a gesture of good will - i had complained a lot before they offered this, primarily about the steering failure which could have been very dangerous. Still got the car and now done 55,000 miles with no further real problems to report. The upside is that it carries up to 7 people in reasonable comfort and can do 30mpg on a run, downside is slow off the mark, fairly poor build quality and quite crude by modern standards. As my car is probably only worth about £8k, it is a lot of car for the money though - the X5 is probably a better built car and probably a better buy if money is not an object, but it is obvioulsy a fair bit more expensive.
In fairness, MB eventually fixed all the problems and fitted an in car DVD player and the chrome side bars for free as a gesture of good will - i had complained a lot before they offered this, primarily about the steering failure which could have been very dangerous. Still got the car and now done 55,000 miles with no further real problems to report. The upside is that it carries up to 7 people in reasonable comfort and can do 30mpg on a run, downside is slow off the mark, fairly poor build quality and quite crude by modern standards. As my car is probably only worth about £8k, it is a lot of car for the money though - the X5 is probably a better built car and probably a better buy if money is not an object, but it is obvioulsy a fair bit more expensive.
I’ve been toying with the idea of buying an ML for quite a while. Its reputation does precede it, and in my experience the X5 does have much better handling, but that doesn’t make the X5 an automatic choice. What I want is a big car with a big, smooth engine and suitable for LPG conversion. Seven seats would be great if possible.
I’m hard pressed to think of anything that meets all of those, while still keeping a spare wheel and some boot space. The X5 is more like a big estate car in many ways, though I don’t think it rides very well at all. The ML is quite wallowy, but it does seem to mop up poor surfaces and leave you less affected. With an X5, you tend to feel the road is part of the experience, which is great to begin with, but wears off in the long term.
The ML is one of few cars with double wishbone suspension all round, plus rack and pinion steering. Those are classic ingredients for any car (Jaguar XJ anyone?) and the benefits do show through. You can point the car at a difficult road, and it will go where it’s pointed. You get the feeling that the car is doing the work in getting you down the road, rather than you the driver. It’s a strange feeling and not easy to describe. If you’re obsessed with skidpan figures and 0-60 times you won’t appreciate it, and only the best cars bring it, often without the driver realising.
I actually think the steering is quite good. Of course like ALL power steering, it should be better, but it is reasonably linear and particularly free of friction and hysteresis. It’s not like a good Peugeot or Ford, but its better than most, and it helps to make the ML easy and comfortable to drive quickly over difficult roads, despite its weight and height. I’ve driven a few now, and think every version has a poor performance/economy compromise – hence my wish to go for LPG. I thought the diesel was disappointing compared to other diesel cars I’ve been, and the even the 320 seemed to have a hard time with the size of the thing.
What really makes an ML fail as a machine though, is everyone’s insistence on fitting the most absurdly over-sized wheels and tyres that they can. They are invariably too big for the car, dynamically. The chassis can’t cope with large tyres in the same way that the X5 can, and that seems to prejudice most peoples impression of the car. Fit the standard wheels and then everything seems to work properly (just don’t look at them). You’ll be rewarded with less road noise than almost any other car, courtesy of the increasingly rare chassis.
BR, Nick
I’m hard pressed to think of anything that meets all of those, while still keeping a spare wheel and some boot space. The X5 is more like a big estate car in many ways, though I don’t think it rides very well at all. The ML is quite wallowy, but it does seem to mop up poor surfaces and leave you less affected. With an X5, you tend to feel the road is part of the experience, which is great to begin with, but wears off in the long term.
The ML is one of few cars with double wishbone suspension all round, plus rack and pinion steering. Those are classic ingredients for any car (Jaguar XJ anyone?) and the benefits do show through. You can point the car at a difficult road, and it will go where it’s pointed. You get the feeling that the car is doing the work in getting you down the road, rather than you the driver. It’s a strange feeling and not easy to describe. If you’re obsessed with skidpan figures and 0-60 times you won’t appreciate it, and only the best cars bring it, often without the driver realising.
I actually think the steering is quite good. Of course like ALL power steering, it should be better, but it is reasonably linear and particularly free of friction and hysteresis. It’s not like a good Peugeot or Ford, but its better than most, and it helps to make the ML easy and comfortable to drive quickly over difficult roads, despite its weight and height. I’ve driven a few now, and think every version has a poor performance/economy compromise – hence my wish to go for LPG. I thought the diesel was disappointing compared to other diesel cars I’ve been, and the even the 320 seemed to have a hard time with the size of the thing.
What really makes an ML fail as a machine though, is everyone’s insistence on fitting the most absurdly over-sized wheels and tyres that they can. They are invariably too big for the car, dynamically. The chassis can’t cope with large tyres in the same way that the X5 can, and that seems to prejudice most peoples impression of the car. Fit the standard wheels and then everything seems to work properly (just don’t look at them). You’ll be rewarded with less road noise than almost any other car, courtesy of the increasingly rare chassis.
BR, Nick
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