The Mercedes Benz ML320 sounded good on paper, strong, luxurious, prestigious, "command position" driving due to it's 4wd. It cost a fortune to buy new so picking one up for $8000 as we did, you couldn't go wrong could you?
The ML320 has the dubious honour of being the only car that has made me motion sick when I was driving, the handling was so awful, I couldn't navigate around a small round about and remain on the correct side of the road on exit. The fuel economy was not as good as the official figures of 11.1L/100km mostly due to the amount of energy required to get such a hefty body (2870kg) going once stopped at the traffic lights. The on board computer allowed us to see we were getting a combined average of around 14L/100km. Like most Mercedes products I have driven it just misses the mark as far as feeling like the luxury it should exude. The wood grain is there, the leather is there, the overly complicated climate control and on board computers are there and yet the seats are stern and unforgiving, the handling in like driving a shopping cart with life preservers for wheels and the styling is pretty ordinary. It is supposed to be a competitor to the BMW X5 (which was released two years after the first ML Benz) but the BMW could not possibly have been so poorly executed (here's hoping, I am searching for one for our next family car- maybe it will be the perfect one?). I have heard tell that the suspension of the M Class ( there are several variations with various motors) is set up for American tastes but the lurching, rolling and wallowing made the car almost unbearable. I have noticed a disturbing number of M Class Benzes at the Wreckers yards showing the classic sign of having rolled onto the passenger side probably due to this dreadful handling.
The ABS light came on and it was diagnosed as needing a new ABS module but the reality was that our car, like many M class Benzes of the same age, had incomplete or dry circuits in the module and merely needed a wee bit of solder, great if you are a bit handy with that sort of thing, a minimum of $1800 for a second hand part if you are not.
Overall Rating:4/10: I can't believe this car cost $74,900 new, I would give you $3000, better yet, you give me $3000 and I might drive one again!
Value:2/10:Cheap on the second hand market but is such a poorly executed car that paying any money for it makes for terrible value.
Fuel economy:4/10We do an even mix of around town and highway work and averaged 14L/100KM which is higher than the official figures- generally I do better than official figures for the same journey.
Style:5/10 point for using wood and leather, deduct points for such a bland body and such uncomfortable seats.
