Mercedes-Benz M-class (ML320, ML350, ML500 and ML55) 2005 and earlier

simba2k · January 2001

Hello to all ML owners,

I'm very much ready to get ML320. Are you all happy with ML? Any comments, inputs or suggestion is appreciate.

Thank you to all,

tarik · January 2001

If this is your thing, list your ML for sale on ebay. Click here to see all current ML auctions for comparison. The available 2000 models have 13,000 and 20,000 miles, respectively, therefore yours would stand out! If you can list today, you will probably have a good audience due to the predicted bad weather (rain = people staying home = playing with their computer = looking on ebay) this weekend.

Sorry to hear about all your trouble, hope this helps.

Tarik

plank · January 2001

Just wondering if anyone has any suggestions as how to avoid the nasty swirl marks from washing and waxing a dark vehicle.... My ML430 has the Black Opal paint, and is absolutely beautiful when clean, but friends warn how difficult it is to keep looking perfect, and swirl free... Any suggestions... Thanks..

bargamon · January 2001

Hey guys,

Its been a while, and I have not been as active as I have become a little disappointed at the conversations. It seems we have a lot of people whom ask very simple questions, as they are often found in the owners manual, but just as easy to ask drew. I think there are also a lot whom ask, but also don't contribute. MOstly there are some great people out there, but Drew is not here just for your personal ML valet mr answer man. Get up your duff and do some of your own reasearch, and share it, and learn!

17k miles on 320, year 2000 and not a problem.

Scott902,

Does your dealer just hate you yet???

Robert,

Daddy got a new car! How exciting for you!

rexconde1 · January 2001

Its not mine, just mine to use when I'm at home in Vegas....
:-)

Robert

gpvs · January 2001

Chris,

My ML is black and I, too, experienced a lot of swirl marks. Now, i'm only using 100% cotton (burn test) and use swirl mark remover (Meguiar's, Griot's, etc brand). There are no noticeable swirl marks now but maintaining is hard.

Good luck.

drew_ · January 2001

Thanks for the compliments. Sorry that you will have to sell your ML. I'm afraid that I cannot really help you with pricing anyway since I'm in Canada and our pricing structure here is quite a bit different than in the US. I think that you probably will be able to get a good price on the vehicle since it is new and has low mileage.

Good luck!

drew_ · January 2001

I like the Dunlop Grandtreks a lot too. If you're looking for something in the stock tire size, I recommend that you consider the Michelin Cross-Terrain tires. Based on my experiences, they seem to be quiet, comfortable and grippy. However, they are on-road biased and hence you will have to give up any medium off-roading if you did any with the Dunlops.

Another good tire to consider is the Pirelli Scorpion S/T. It has a lower treadwear rating than the Cross Terrains, but again based on my experiences, it seems quite good. This tire is more off-roadable than the Michelin.

biker5 · January 2001

Swirl mark can not be avoided if we are using just the towel or any soft material. Unless we are using high speed buffer. I have the same problem on my Black Opal. And you know what, the only time you will notice that swirl mark is if you ML is in your garage with the lights on, but if its outside its look great and shinny, Try to use Meguire Clay or Mothers clay to take those small particle invaded to clear coat. Thats what I use especially in the hood area. you'll be surprise how smooth it is.

drew_ · January 2001

Which Michelins did you price at Tirerack? The LTX M/S or the Cross Terrains? Have you considered the Pirellis that I mentioned in my above message?

dt77 · January 2001

As some of you know, I have temporarily removed my external aux fogs from my A-bar. Gonna get some rewiring done. This was because the fogs were purchased from outside of MB and they didn't come with the proper connectors to the 150W cable in the ML. As a result, I had been drawing power from the integrated headlamp assembly for while.

For now, I have placed H3 bulbs in my the integrated fog lamp assembly. They do spread light to the sides quite nicely and I also noticed they are not as 'glaring' as I imagined. Hard to imagine why the are illegal in my state CA.

Well, installing the bulbs were kind of a pain in the A55. A small mirron helped show me what I was fiddling with in there so those who are planning to put in the bulbs, a mirro definately helps.

I need one clarification: My fog lamp switch in the ML has been activated for a long time already. My question is once I have my ext. aux fogs put back on and power drawn fron the 150W cable, will the switch turn on both my ext fogs and the integrated fogs ?

dt77

http://fullspeed.to/ml

tracy_leb · January 2001

Was reading an article at mercedesshop.com regarding a number of people who reported short front brake pad life on the ML's. Given how well they work it's an obvious trade off for performance over longevity, even though the brakes are definitely on the short lived side - in one case, about 15K miles before needing replacement. If I remember, after every 2 to 3 pad replacements one usually needs to replace the rotor as well. Here's the article.

http://www.mercedesshop.com/shopforum/showthread.php3?threadid=12423

...Tracy

dt77 · January 2001

I meant mirror.

rexconde1 · January 2001

yep all six light should come on. for the short time that I had the regular lamps I had all six on.

One downfall is that I sometimes wanted the integrated foglamps and not the PIAA fogs but I had to deal with it; I just wanted the extra light not the yellow fogs on.

Robert

biker5 · January 2001

DT77,
Yes, it is.. because at first I have both connected like yours,and every time I turn the switch ON both of the...front fog and integrated fog comes on at the same time. The problem was I have my cover to my Hella 500 all the time. What i did I disconnected the Hella and run separate swith with relay, like the after market foglight. Now I can turn on my fog light any time. I posted this once before. If you want to know how I did it you can email me.
I'm from San Diego BTW

bon2000 · January 2001

Guys--Mine is a 2001 ML320 not a 2000!. If I made the error I apologize and if you guys did...then go get glasses. Help me with a pricing please....I really hope it does not come down to me having to sell my baby.....thanks bon

ddykes1 · January 2001

It should - it does on mine.

bon2000 · January 2001

I LIVE IN NEW YORK--about l/2 hour outside of Manhattan on Long Island...if interested in my truck...e mail me at Bebebon2000@cs.com and maybe we can work something out...but I love my truck and hope I do not have to sacrifice it. bon

tonychrys · January 2001

Why not just go to a MB dealer and ask how much a 2001 with X amount of mileage would go for? They will be more than happy to tell you, I did it when looking at the ML320. I actually live on LI also and would have been very interested, but now I'm commited to picking up a RX300 on Monday.

I hope your situation works out, I wish you good luck.

TC

troysam · January 2001

I currently have a Honda and ready to buy an ML320. I went to the dealer to get pricing for an ML320 with the following options:
Code 101 Luxury Package M1
168 Bose Sound System
414 Glass Sunroof
772 Sports Package M2
The dealer quoted me 44850. If I check the pricing
on Edmunds it's 43515.
For those who have ML320 2001, please advise if I'm getting a reasonable deal.
Thank You.

troysam · January 2001

I currently have a Honda and ready to buy an ML320.
I went to the dealer to check for the pricing and I was quoted for $44,850 with the following options>
Code 101 Luxury Package M1 $1600
168 Bose Sound System $ 1075
414 Glass Sunroof $ 1095
772 Sports Package $ 3300
I check with Edmunds Pricing and I come up with
$ 43500.
Please advise if I am getting a reasonable deal.
Thank you

dagill · January 2001

with all that you have mention I saw a black in Penn, Willow grove at R&S imports at $41000, it was 2001 ML320.

scott902 · January 2001

Unfortunately, dark cars suffer from this, I had a black ML 320 99 and now a silver Ml 320 2000.
The black opal, should be a metallic paint if so it has clear coat, so the swirls I would think in the clear coat and not paint. Black does not have a clear coat and suffers much more .

One bad car wash and forget it, there is no recovery. Use a carnuaba based car wax, which helps to mask the marks, but never eliminates them.

Bright sunlight, in the afternoon shows all, nothing saved.

kenyee · January 2001

If you're willing to try something that's not Carnauba wax: www.zainobros.com
People who use it swear by it...it's supposed to work magic on black cars, especially if you use Z5 (the swirl remover part). Seems to do well on my silver ML but it doesn't look magical. :-)

bon2000 · January 2001

bon2000 · January 2001

If you are buying a brand new ML320 2001 with all the options you say...then you are getting a fair deal...not a great one but fair. I paid 39 without sports package....I hear sports package is between 3 and 4 thousand more...so go figure....then add tax and see....but I also hear you have to wait months...which is okay by me..to get one with sports package as this is an option.....no often offered.....good luck to you bonnie

rexconde1 · January 2001

Troysam + Bon2000, no sports package, tax paid, but SIGNIFICANT SAVINGS!

Robert

drew_ · January 2001

8 new messages only? No wonder we're at the bottom of the list! Perhaps this will get the discussion going again.

drew_ · January 2001

This is long overdue, but I finally managed to tape the entire M-class staying alive commercial. MB sponsored TLC's 10 worst technological disasters show tonight and I had a feeling that they would show this commercial since they also aired an M-class ESP commercial.

It took a while to screen capture the specific frames that I wanted of the internal MB tests (lots of rewinding and hitting the capture button) but I got all that I wanted. Hope that you all enjoy it! I guess this is the reason why many of us bought the ML instead of other (often less expensive) competing vehicles.

45 degree sled launching the ML into a 4 to 5 time rollover:

Roll...

And still rolling...roof and body stucture looks intact:

drew_ · January 2001

Test mule flat into barrier...safety cage keeps footwell intrusion to a minimum:

Side impact test...I'll take my front and rear side impact airbags, thank you...

Yikes! Windows break and glass shatters outwards:

drew_ · January 2001

Notice that rather than a car height ram, MB uses a flat barrier ram that is taller than the vehicle itself. I suppose it's sort of like backing into a wall at 40mph!:

Note that an ML equipped with the Skyview roof is being used:

drew_ · January 2001

including a video clip of the commercial :-)

Drew
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kiiwii · January 2001

GOOD JOB, Drew!! I'm sure it takes lots of time to captures these frames. Thanks for sharing

ddykes1 · January 2001

Great footage Drew, and it puts some of the squeaks and creaks we love to complain about into perspective when you see the ML's tremendous structural integrity.

I used to teach novice motorcyclists, and when the subject came around to how much I thought they should spend on a helmet, my only questions was 'what do YOU think YOUR head is worth?' If the answer is $20., you're probably right! Ditto crash avoidance and crash minimization features. All the stuff I've seen on the 'new, improved' 2002 Exploder talks about third row seats - but I don't see where they've redesigned the roof so it doesn't squash the occupants' heads in a rollover.

cheapdanny · January 2001

Thanks Drew for the clips.

I've seen the commercial and am happy to say...

"I am a proud owner of a ML"

Danny
01 ML 320

mikestaley · January 2001

Great job Drew!

Information that should be placed in a brochure, if MB made it small enough to fin tin the glove box...

I would be happy to carry a few and pass them out to people who ask me about the vehicle.

With 17K on my vehicle - the "A Service went well, they replaced the battery, painted the battery well, mine had the dreaded battery crack {Tech advised me the Service Mgr} attempted to put in a on MB battery - it didn't fit) (The tech made sure a MB battery then used.)

The (Ping sound, that I advised was most likely a bushing addition issue under the drivers front tire.) was ignored or responded to by thightening bolts all around the body as the etch thought he heard the sound from the rear.

All in all - I am very pleased with the unit 00ML 320.

Wax products.

Living beach side in Central Florida, I was not impressed with the Zymol for lasting - beading up.

Tried "Mother" 100% Carnauba with the additional Mothers Reflectors polish.

Both products, easy on - easy off, didn't smell as nice as the Zymol - more of a shine for the Brilliant Silver.

Congratulations 01 Owners

drew_ · January 2001

I'm glad all of you like the pictures. For more, please visit: <http://albums.photopoint.com/j/Albumlist?u=137587> It's in the "M-class: Staying Alive TV commercial" folder.

As for the video clip, I completed it and sent it to over to Ken. I think he'll provide the URL once he has the opportunity to upload it to his server.

Mike, the video clip when zipped is under 1.44 MB (specifically 1.34 MB). This means that it will fit on a regular floppy disk. With the (low) cost of disks nowadays, you can carry a box of those around and distribute them to people who are interested! :-)

drew_ · January 2001

You mentioned that they painted your battery well area. Why did they have to do this? Did the battery case actually have a slow leak in it or just a surface crack? Thanks for bring it to everyone's attention. I know that it was discussed in the past, but it slipped my mind. Although my battery appears to be in good shape, my service A is on the 30th of this month and I'll get them to check it along when they check the battery fluid levels as well.

BTW, you went all the way to 17K miles before the FSS indicated that it was time for service A? Impressive :-) My service A will be done at 15K kilometres, probably because of all of the around town/some highway and uphill driving that I have to do almost daily. I'd better stop by Walmart on my way home and pick up some Mobil 1 soon.

Drew
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parfive1 · January 2001

When going in for FSS A and deciding to switch to Mobil 1. Wouldn't you just pay the difference between the cost of regular oil and Mobil 1 ?

rexconde1 · January 2001

Un fortunatly....no

you have to either bring your own oil in or buy the dealers overpriced Mobil1

Robert

drew_ · January 2001

is now available for download here (thanks Ken!). Right click on the link and save it to your hard drive:
http://www.off-road.com/mbenz/Staying_Alive.avi

Don't forget to turn on your speakers while playing the clip :-)

drew_ · January 2001

As Robert said, it's best to bring in your own Mobil 1. That way, you get to choose the different ones as well. I'm going for the 5W30 variety again...about CDN$26 at Walmart per 4L bottle. 8 litres is required in all.

tonychrys · January 2001

Let me get this straight, you mean you can bring your own "stuff" in for service and they don't get weird? To me it's like walking into a bar with your own 6-pack, they won't let you becuase they rather sell you one beer for the price of the 6-pack!

Just curious.

drew_ · January 2001

Yup! You can even bring your own MB parts (bought at an online discounted price, for example) and they won't get weird. At least not from what I've heard. :-) My service advisor even recommended purchasing the oil from Walmart because of the cost savings. I just left the two bottles in the cargo area and told them to use it instead of their oil.

Drew
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tonychrys · January 2001

Cool. Should be interesting to see how the Lexus boys respond to this. But then again, I'll probably be bribing them with fresh roasted coffee and bagels. (I work for a company that owns coffe and bagel franchises across the country. We bake our own bagels and roast our own coffee. Mighty seductive stuff.)

drew_ · January 2001

Don't they already have their own donuts and coffee? :-)

drew_ · January 2001

Did you decide after all to get the skidplate to supplement your brushguard?

mlx52 · January 2001

Drew, and others,

How did your dealer fix the rear seat squeak problem? I think this might be the cause of all my problems after all. Do you think something like Vaseline would keep it lubricated nicely?

Thanks,
Jamie

drew_ · January 2001

I never had a rear seat squeak problem. I did have a leather rubbing noise caused by the side of the 40% seat rubbing against the side of the 60% section. It was temporarily remedied by using Lexol on the sides, but eventually, I stuck a narrow piece of grey carpet in between the sections and left it in there long enough that the sections do not make the noise any longer. Note that MB was aware of this problem and sometime during MY2K, they made a design change and lined the side with fabric instead of leather. This eliminated the problem completely, of course.

Have you tried sliding the rear seats forward to different positions to try to isolate the problem?

drew_ · January 2001

I spotted a MY2K or MY2001 Bourbon/Charcoal ML320 this evening while driving home. While I've seen a couple in the showroom, this was that first that I've seen on the road. It was an interesting dark (chocolate) brown colour...not my taste though.

Drew
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Mercedes-Benz M-class (ML320, ML350, ML500 and ML55) 2005 and earlier

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