I have had this same problem on my 2001 ml430 and replaced the cable without any improvement, not giving up I looked a little deeper and found that the plastic pivit pin of the accerlator pedal has worn groves in the body of the accerlator pedal. The pin is not round like a bolt shank bit a cris cross design! I removed the plastic pin and replaced it with a 10mm steel bolt, and used a 10 mm core drill to clean up the hole. You could say I have the smoothest gas pedal around now, this is definatly the fix for a sticky pedal.

 

Sounds like the fix I need.
Can you tell me where to find this "pin"
Thanks!

 

Hi there

You will find this pin down at the pedal it is the main pivot pin of the gas pedal you will need to squeeze the arrow head of the pin together to retract the pin from the hinge. When you have the gas pedal out and in your hand you will see the wear that the criss cross pin has made and the force required to move the pedal over the groves causes the jerky operation. Good luck.

 

My 02 ML500 has the same problem, now I know just what to do. Gee, what a great forum this is...thx guys.