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Does anyone notice a slight shaking at speeds of 60 or more. It was bad at delivery therefore I had the tires balanced and frontend aligned by the dealer. Although it is noticably better, I am not satisfied that the tires are fully balanced. I am ready to have a third party do it again. Could it be that the dealers balancing machine may not handle such large wheel & tire combo?. I heard that some tire stores have much better balancing machines to handle horizontal and vertical oscillations. I have not had the luxury of driving another stock ML to compare. My old Yukon with Michelins never shook at high speeds.
Regards,
Jeff
I am considering buying an ML 320 but I don't want to get the third row seats immediately. I also want to get the base ML 320 without any of the packages (M1 luxury, M2 convenience or M7 third row seats).
Is it possible to add the seats later? The dealer told me I had to have the M1 with the M2 in order to get the M7, but I don't trust them since the seats are removable.
Does anyone know?
Regards,
B
When I open the moonroof, it vibrates. I thinkg that there is too much friction. Has anyone had this? I was thinking of using some JD MP-grease. Any better ideas?
R
You're not in the right forums for the other makes. Check out the A6 forum on audiworld. :-)
I decided to get the seats installed. I called Mercedez Benz of Manhattan to get a quote and they said they don't install the seats anymore. So I called Ray Catena again and they quoted $1500 for the seats plus 4 hours of labor. Big mistake to not have done it earlier. Anyway I went ahead and had them istalled, cause I plan on keeping the car for a while. The package doesn't include any changes to the middle(Second)row seats. So getting to the back seat is not exactly easy. But once you get settled it is not a bad place to be in. If you are 6' and above forget about getting comfortable in the third row seats. It is good for kids and people with a smaller frame.
My ML320 has about 41,000 miles on it. It will run out of warranty soon. I am planning to get a third party warranty from www.warrantygold.com. I will keep you informed on how good they are.
I have been averaging about 20 miles per gallon, under various driving conditions. I think it is pretty darn good for an engine with this size and power. Compare it to the Discoveries 4.0 liter engine which hardly has 200 hp, gives such [non-permissible content removed] milage. Will some body from Landrover explain to my why you should have a 4.0 Litre V8 engine and such poor HP?
Cheers.
Thanks for inquiring about our HP to liter ratio.
We rate our HP is so low because the oil spraying out past the pistons is needed to lubricate the fan and transmission.
-- Land Rover design person :-)
It's just a really old engine design...
Although with my wifes Volvo XC her radiator fans almost always are running when we get home and turn the car off. Is that why our ML's have the circulator running to avoid that big drain on the battery from the radiator fans?
Should I be checking my fuses?
And is this an official MB tech bulletin recommendation or something this dealer does?
We've been talking about this for a while on the m-class mailing list. A shop foreman on it says he would not increase the fuse size in case the fan locks up and pulls more than 30A.
Thanks.
Lizzi'e Hampton 500 funny game see how many club goers you can take out
The coolant pump (located upper left of the engine block) continues on for 5 minutes after engine shutoff so that the aluminum block is allowed optimal cooling, and no hot spots. The added benefit of this is that the heater warms up extremely quickly after engine startup.
The Audi Torsen-based Quattro system is also a permanent AWD system that consists of three Torsen differentials. Since Torsens are mechanical gears, they react almost instantaneously to slippage, making them highly effective and responsive. Normal torque split ratio is 50/50 The penalty of this system is that it is heavy, complex, and expensive. Recently, Audi has developed a Haldex clutch based Quattro system. This can be found on the Audi TT, as well as the European-only Audi A3 and VW Golf 4-motion. This system is also effective (but not as good as Torsen)and uses multiplate wet clutches to transfer power fore and aft, but is more of a reactive system, with less than 20% of the power to the rear wheels with no slippage. The benefit of the system is that it is lighter than the Torsen based system, and less expensive. Volvo also uses a Haldex clutch based AWD system.
I would have to say that IMHO, MBz's system has an advantage because it uses a durable planetary gear(s) in the differential and is permanent/proactive to slippage, in addition to being light. Audi's Torsen-based Quattro is also highly effective, but heavy. Since it is also more complex, potential repair costs could be a lot higher.
Drew
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Vans, SUVs, and Aftermarket & Accessories message boards
Drew
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Vans, SUVs, and Aftermarket & Accessories message boards
This is the not-a-minivan replacement for the ol' Volvo wagon, so it MUST have M7/3rd seat. Like M1 and heated seats; don't care about Bose, and pretty flexible on color. Is this a likely combination to find in th '01s, or should I wait for the '02s? While we're ready to go, we can milk the wagon a little while longer. What's base $$ on the '02s? I saw the options somewhere and it wasn't a huge increase. Are people getting '01s at/below invoice?
Can the passenger airbag be disabled when smaller-than-adult folks sit there? Long story, but it's sometimes necessary.
We're in the No. VA/suburban DC area. There's a lot of MLs around, but also buyers who can (more easily?) afford them. Is it worth going well out of town to find a deal, or is it pretty much dependent on the momentary inventory of a particular dealer, wherever they are?
Sorry for all the questions, and thanks for any help! Hope to join the owner's board soon!
If you want the M7 package, I strongly suggest that you head down to your dealership ASAP since they are not the easiest to find and time is of the essence. Most US-spec MLs come with the Bose option.
No, the front passenger side airbag cannot be disabled unless you have a MB Babysmart child seat; I think a Babysmart booster seat may be available too, but i'm not 100% certain. The '01 ML has dual threshold/dual stage front airbags though, which will only deploy when absolutely necessary, and at reduced power for lower speeds. Anyone under the age of 12 should be in the rear seats.
Hope this helps!
Drew
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Vans, SUVs, and Aftermarket & Accessories message boards
However, I agree with what Drew stated, it really depends on the color of the vehicle and your other accents. If I had the stainless push bar/steps it wouldn't have looked right.
I've had numerous compliments on the vehicle, including the dealership.
Off to Phoenix again today then Sacramento, CA for 3 weeks I hate to think of how far behind I'll be on the forum by the time I return.
My "wonderful" dealer in Austin, Tx recommended the fuse increase to 40amp. I too think that is a suspect fix. I'm not engineer but I know putting the wrong amp fuse in is a potential fire hazard or at the very least, equip damage. I have not been happy with this dealer at all but they're the only game in town. Just about enough to make me give up on Mercedes.
As for general cooling, we've been at or above 100 for the month of July and August and my a/c seems fine (fuse intact). It does take a while to cool off the cabin after sitting in the sun, but it is a big vehicle with dash only vents. Tinted front windows definitely help too.
As for A/C, put the air recirulate on (a must for cooling fast), cuz u dont want to bring the outside hot air into the cabin. I leave the dial at 6 ot 7 o'clock position. Hardly ever have to put the fan speed at 2. Hope this will help
R
We have a 1999 ML320, and 2 days ago when it hit 99 in our part of town,
the ML air conditioning had no problems keeping the interior cool. Surely,
the 2nd row seat will be warmer since there are no 2nd row airvents (a real
problem with the kids in the back).
Up front where I sit, AC+Recir with fan on speed #2 was sufficient to maintain
a very cool interior. When getting into the car after it's been parked, we
switch it to speed #3 or #4 for a few minutes. I'm not sure why your
ML AC works so poorly, but you might have your dealer look into it.
John Feng
After 13 months, I finally got the odo over 8,000 miles on my lx 470 (including a north to south border trip). Well, I plan to go to Canadian Rocky this fall, so that will help rev up miles.
I recall you gave information about oil sucker-such as tempo oil boy. Do you know anything out there that can hold at least 7 quarts? (Since the car is sitting there most of the time, I may want to replace the oil, but not the filter, in the interim)
I am also considering replacing my MB sedan with a two-seater. Sure, SL 2003 looks great, but with a penalty of $85+k. Maybe a nissan Z350, rumored only $30k+, is fine. Comments appreciated. Thanks.
Boatus.com sells a 21.5 gallon top sider pump for only $35, so that may be what you want. Definitely more than enough capacity with plenty of room to spare. Here's the link:
http://www.boatus-store.com/mc_online/Browse.asp?showitem=16467
The new SL-class is stunning, but the price is very hard for me to swallow too ;-). Have you considered the new MB C230K coupe? The high level of MB overal safety, a good amount of power, sporty handling, great room for for 4, and even available with a 6 speed manual tranny,but yet a base price of only about $25K! Have you also considered the CLK-class and SLK-class?
Thanks for the topside information. I will get one soon.
I was thinking about a pure 2 seater car. So, I was not really giving thought about 2+2 coupe. Since I have already owned a people as well as cargo hauler, I'd like to get a toy car. And I intend this will be my last purchase of car for this life. I was looking at Audi TT which looks like a toy, but it offered no manuauto ( I know some people prefer stick) or at least auto. The Z 350 looks promising in paper, looks like a toy but comes with decent engine with auto. The SL is most technology sophisticated, a roadster and a coupe in one, active body, etc., etc. Anyway, the decision will not be made until sometime in early 2003.(This time I will have the final say about the matter.) Regards,
After 20 months of ownership, the price I received from a dealer(!) was $9140 less than I originally paid for it, which works out to $457 per month. Not bad for a luxury SUV. I had advertised in the paper (less than a week) hoping to sell it myself but the offer from the dealer seemed good enough to avoid the trouble. BTW, mine was in outstanding condition.
As it worked out, on a potential trade-in the dealers were offering me $3k less. So I ended up selling it outright to another dealer and then making a separate transaction on a new vehicle with a different dealer.
I'd still recommend an ML320 to somebody interested in buying a new SUV, or maybe the new Acura.
This message board is great ... so long!
spamaway007@aol.com
ML500 Base Model Price: $44,950.
ML55 Base Model Price: $65,900.
Although the above is unconfirmed, you can expect the '02 models to sell at, or very close to MSRP.
I'd assume that the 2002's will command MSRP for a while, but after a few or several months there'd be some discounting, though there's only about a $3k spread between invoice and MSRP. 2001 prices seemed to drop fairly quickly though some of that was the anticipation of the 2002.
Do you have a reliable source for your info? Thanks for that. Still no word on delivery! Waiting is the hardest part!
Last I saw 8/13/01 was the target release date but as we all know that may get pushed back due to high volumes of 01's left.
Earlier built '00 MLs did have one of the older fuel pumps that could have problems. You may be interested in this message. Your ML probably could've been started if you had given the tank or the pump area a couple of whacks.
drew_ Aug 4, 2001 2:43pm
Your warranty does cover trip interruption for both alternative transportation, and hotel accomodations. I believe what you do is give your receipts to the service manager at your dealership and they'll be refunded back to you (though not immediately).
Stay tuned...