After months of months of discussing the replacement for our Volvo 850 Turbo Wagon, my wife said it's time tostep up to aMercedes. Kind of funny, now I'm seeing them all over the place!

We'll be looking at 3-5 year old M-class. I'm hoping someone can help with the following:

1 - In the Volvo world, everyone knew to stay away from the v-6 engine. Is there something similar in Mercedes? Is a particular engineseen as "better"thanothers?

2 - 3rd row seats - are these only available as jump-seats? If not, what are the years that have 3rd row seats that fold down into the floor?

3 - Love the Sky Roof. What years was this available? Was it available only a certain package?

Thank you!

 

Save yourself the money and frustration. The M-Class is a money pit.

 

Agreed with the above - don't do it - my ML is the most frustrating and expensive car ever.

 

me three. don't do it.

 

My 1998 ML320 has been flawless for 7,500 miles. I replaced the step-up boards, front brakes, had the oil changed, plus the air conditioning recharged. I have 75,000 miles on it and this should hold it to 100,000. Regards, Richard

 

the third road seating were only available for certain years. avoid any of them with the lamella roof ( sky roof )- they are junk- about $6500 to replace it- labor not included. usually pretty dependable up to about 100k miles. then you will probably need spark plug wires and plugs.

 

Unlike my SL600 my 1998 ML320 has been very dependable, even with my wife's driving habits. I always have had service done through the dealer, with no complaints except they are expensive. I have the sunroof, and every other option, Bose sound, navigation, etc, and they have worked well also. I just went over 100K miles and the trade in value is not worth me selling a dependable car. I had Volvos for many years, but wanted more interior room, this gives me the interior space of the S class, plus it actually is a great off road vehicle for fly fishing. I surprise a lot of people driving the thing up huge sandy hills by the rivers here with no problems.

 

I own an 04 ML350 and would not trade it for anything. I believe you will have a better experience if you buy an 03 or newer model. Mercedes did have issues with early models. Take your time and do the research. There aresome very good used vehicles out there that were taken care of. You just have to take your time and find one.Good luck.

 

Agree with Stargazing, it will be a difficult decision which car to change next!

I bought the ML270cdi in December 2006 - 2002 facelift model with only 36,000 miles full leather and it has been excellent.

It is avery good motorway car and the fuel consumption is fine.

Just back from a trip to devon with bank holiday traffic and country lanes - just excellent - over 500 miles on tank and very comfortable. (our other car is a Saab 9-5 Aero and that has nice seats but not as good as the M).

The saab goes like a rocket but we all prefer to take the m class everytime. I just use the Saab for work and taking the dogs out.

Not so good on the twisty back roads as it seems to wobble around. This is the only thing that could have been better.

The only thing I have done is swap out old radio for a new mb version with cd, add a litre of oil, change two back tyresand put fuel in.(Very good running costs for size of car/brand) Dunlop tyres were £100 each which was better than I thought.

The diesel versionseems to keepits price well as I was offered the same as I bought it for in Dec forthe newversion m class as a part ex. (Still one to keep ours)

Look for the facelift model with leather. There are some nice ones 02/03 with reasonable mileage for around 14-16k.

 

I acually have a 2001 ML55 with about 120k miles. I have replaced o2 sensor, motor mounts, power steering pump, steering hose(recall), rack & pinion, brakes, tires, battery, it's due for spark plugs but it runs real smooth. Hmmm that's about it. And I pull a couple track bikes in an enclosed 10x5 trailer. I have driven it from miami to san jose ca, back to miami, then to chicago twice, miami to LA, DC, houston etc. It's a work horse and I get to pull up to the track in style. A lot of fun to drive a ML with stiffer suspension, lower stance and 340+hp. Once you drive one anything less will not do.