Mercedes ML 320 cdi

Looking for anyone that owns one for info, we have an Infiniti FX 45 and looking at something new. I took one for a drive and really liked it, not as peppy and fun to drive but fuel milage is much better. Any info on this vehicle would be great. Thanks.

buy american... we need it

^^^ Second that!!!!

Hey it's made on south carolina!

Remember the Star will always shine from above!

(Message edited by gti2lo on October 09, 2008)

Yeah but the money goes to Germany!

not... salary of all the employees of the assembly plant, all the people involved with all the assemblies and parts manufacturing.

We are talking about thousands of jobs and millions of dollars into the ecomony!

not... salary of all the employees of the assembly plant, all the people involved with all the assemblies and parts manufacturing.

We are talking about thousands of jobs and millions of dollars into the ecomony!

I wish North American vehicles were built as near as good as the imports, name a domestic that compares to the Mercedes, the resale value is alone worth buying an import. The only domestic we would be interested in would be the Escalade and it is not the ultimate in gas milage. I would be supporting the American economy buying this vehicle considering I would be driving from Alberta Canada to buy and pick it up in the States somewhere, this year alone have bought a couple vehicles for the wife and picked up a Sea-Doo for my parents. I should be supporting my own countries economy but due to failing US economy we Canadians can buy stuff south of the border at major savings. Making a trip into Idaho next week to do some shopping and relaxing. Back to the vehicle, any info would be great.

It has tons of torque and a very high towing capacity. Their AWD is very good. Although it has a great deal of torque the horsepower is not very high so hauling all the weight it can pull is not going to be very fast up hills. The mileage is really impressive.
The list price is pretty good but I think the options on it can add about a third to that.
It is a serious pain to import a Mercedes product into Canada from the USA. Getting the required recall clearance letter is what is so tough. I know people that have waited a full year to try to get the paperwork together.

Thanks Art, I have priced them out in Edmonton and they are priced high here, you are right about the options they add up in a hurry. 09 out the door pretty well loaded other than the air ride and the real leather was 82k including gst. I have found brand new 08's down south for low 40's. I will have to do some more research on the importing side, I know the Infiniti was easy to bring across. The wife drives 100km a day so something with better milage would be nice.

Mercedes-Benz here is Canada isn't fond of USA cars being imported, obviously the price for slightly used trucks in the states makes it so attractive!

You ever think about going through a broker or importing company that specializes in bring cars/trucks across the border? I know they are popular here in Ontario.

Still scratching my head about how the us economy is failing but the Canadian dollar value is diving???? Shouldn't it be the other way?

Anyways...

We have a touareg v8 and it tows our X-star better than most F-150 pickups.

WIth the MK320CDI I would be a little cautious in regards to pulling a 5000+ lb wakeboat for long distances...

The boat would definetly be felt as the ML320 isn't the biggest/heaviest truck.

I see no problems with the engine for power as i has plenty of grunt down low.

We have a Jeep with same powerplant/trans. It pulls my boat when the truck is towing the camper. Its no truck but comfortly tows the boat that was recently scaled with 1k lead and a full tank at 6200lbs 16-17 towing mpg 23-24 unloaded.
Only 5k miles so hope mileage gets better.Hope this helps

Doesn't matter how it pulls it if it can't stop it!

Brad I would guess your milage will get better, I have owned 4 diesel trucks in the last 6 years and they all got better milage after the break in. Yeah I can't figure out how are cdn dollar keeps falling while the US economy keeps falling, we bought our FX from Arizona when the dollar was at 1.03 and saved about $15,000. I might look into bringing one across with a broker this time. Greg awesome looking boat but what is with the scabby looking trailer?

Mercedes produces one of the most if not the most unreliable cars in the world. They are at the bottom or second to the bottom of the reliability list.

Josh, thats a salt water trailer and your right looks pretty bad. Boats gorgeous though.

Greg, most V6 F150's right? You are right most manufacturers have an agreement with their dealers that they won't import to another country. However dealers regularly ignore this.

After Jim informed me my Jeep won't stop I'm gonna trade. Should I buy another 3/4 ton Ram or just move up to a freightliner?

The Touareg V8 has a 7700 lb towing capacity... 4.2 ltr engine 340 hp and like 380 torque...

full auto-leveling air suspension and 6 sp trans with 1-4 close together for smooth acceleration.

Braking is handled by massive 6 piston calipers on 13.5" vented rotors, rear brakes are 12.5" vented discs wit 4 piston calipers..... enough stopping power?

As for the trailer.....don't trailer the boat that often as it sits at cottage..its a server loaner trailer from my dealer.

Phatboy, truthfully I could care less about reliability considering we upgrade our vehicles every year or two. Resale on the Mercedes is good and that is important when upgrading frequently. Our vehicles are all under warranty and down the road prior to it ending. Up here in Canada if you were to buy an 07 Escalade for 85-90k new and sell it now you might get 50-55k for it now, if the same person bought the Benz for 70-75k and sell it now would get 55-60k for it. I'm not comparing reliability between the two because the Cadillac is not on tops either but the depreciation between the two is huge. We are getting screwed in Canada big time on these vehicles so the more we can save and get in the end the better.

Josh why don't you just lease for a couple years? If you don't drive to much it's a smart way to go and most foreign manufacturers offer full maintenace with a lease. Often times they'll offer early lease exceptions as well if you wanna get out a little early.

I just pulled auction reports on 2007 ML320TDI and above average (10k miles) is going for $41k and with 31k miles it's $35k. Mercedes SUV's here in the states don't hold their value any better than high end domestics.

Cant tell you about the bran new ml 320 but we bought an 02 and it is/was a pile of crap, nothing but problems. Since then we've gotten divorced and I made her keep it, thank god. The resale on those things is horrible and reliability is not good. Heck I didnt even thing it rode much better than my Chevy truck and my Tahoe is definately a nicer ride imo.

While I am a big fan of German cars, and Mercedes in particular, (my wife drives an CLK 430 Cabriolet)...it is widely held that the ML series of Benzs are piles of crap. I also would defer that while Mercedes in general have a decent resale value, the ML line does not. You can buy a 3 year old ML at any dealer lot for 40 cents on the original purchase dollar.

If you buy a Benz, stick to the units that are actually produced in Germany, IMHO.

We love our FX and resale is great on it but the only reason to go to the Benz would be the Diesel, I guess we could try the Jeep Grand Cherokee with the diesel but it is hard to get the wife to go from a luxury brand to a Jeep and I don't blame her. If our dollar keeps dropping we will be keeping the FX until Spring, putting Blizzak winter tires on it when we are in Idaho next week.

I think that people are missing the point with larger trucks. Wheelbase has a lot to do with towing stability. I have had a lot of trucks, and the longer ones definitely towed and rode better. I have owned three diesel trucks, and none of them towed overall as nice as our Escalade ESV. Autoride, 6 speed trans, full time AWD, and 403hp on tap, the truck tows awesome. The mileage isn't bad either, and it's actually better than my diesel trucks were.

As far as the ML goes, I wouldn't do it. X-5's a better truck, but the mileage isn't great. The reason that I have the Escalade is because I couldn't find a German truck that does everything that it does as well. I looked hard at the GL450, but it just doesn't do everything the ESV does.

Phatboy.... That's an ignorant and incorrect statement. If you want to get somewhere and not end up on a tow truck the 210 chassis E-320 is the most reliable vehicle I have ever seen. I work at a shop that services BMW, Mini, Audi, MBZ and an occasional Porsche. Honestly the Benzes are drop dead reliable. Much more so than Audis, BMW's or Porsche's.

The ML's are a dark spot for Benz. The new one is vastly superior to the old one, but the old one was manufactured by GM for the most part. If you want to blame someone for crappy cars, blame the americans. All of the low-line benzes are built here in the states and it shows. Aside from the lack of build quality (mainly in the interior) the ML is a steal in the used car market. The V6 and V8 in that vehicle are both excellent power plants. The chassis is absolutely bulletproof, and while I would choose an X5 or Toureg over an ML any day of the week, I've considered picking up a cheap ML to keep at my house in the mountains as their stout rough weather vehicles that are cheap.

If they have a weakness it's that they have a relatively short wheel base. I wouldn't worry about it for towing short distances, but I wouldn't want to tow to regularly with it. Don't worry about the brakes. If you've got a decent trailer it'll have surge brakes and the truck will hardly notice the additional load.

I'll agree with Evan that the ML does great in rough turane(SP?). We had a house in the mountains when we were married and that thing did great up there, rain or snow didnt matter. Still ours/hers has been a really unreliable vehicle and the ride down the highway just isnt that great imo.

Dude get a Cadilac CTS. That car is amazing. and if you go for the CTS-V it has a slightly tuned down version of the same engine in the Corvette ZR-1. Trust me, you wont be dissapionted with the car. Plus the best part is that it is American.

when is america auto mfg going to put a diesel into a suv ?

the only one out there is the jeep grand cherokee with the mercedes crd ?

hum, jeep or mercedes with the same motor ?

mercedes hands down !!!!

Liberty CRD too...The problem isn't the manufacturers it's the consumer's perception of diesels. If you look at what we're doing in Europe you'd see we're more than happy to put diesels in our cars but over there they're welcomed. As consumers become more comfortable with them and realize they're not the diesels of yore that polluted heavily then I think you'll see a shift. I think we're likely to see CNG more readily than diesel in the future.

Myke, GM has announced their new 4.5 duramax for the half ton trucks for 2010 models and will most likely see that in some SUV's too. There is also a new Ford Diesel going into the 2010 F150's and will likely see some into the expeditions and possibly explorer with the v6 diesel they have, however they don't want to import the v6 diesel from the UK. Ford has a Diesel car that is available in Europe that gets 65 mpg. They said they won't bring it to the US because the US is not prepared for more diesel use and they also do not see it practical to make a profit on the cars. They would sell for about $2k more than a toyota prius. The main problem is that diesel technology in general is regarded by the majority of the US public as "dirty" and not efficient. most people do not understand the efficiency of a diesel motor.

Oh... I read that wrong. I thought you were thinking about getting something else. lol

You guys all have your facts WRONG about diesels in the US. In 2005 new emissions rules went into effect that made it almost impossible for any manufacturer to put a diesel in anything but a truck. The new diesels have to meet the emissions standards and most will do so with a urea scrubber or some other similar technology. The VW Jetta TDI is a prime example of this. People can't wait to get this car. Most European diesels can't pass emissions here.

I'm not wrong and neither is TX it's mostly catering to the customer and a cost issue as is the case of our Diesel Fiesta TX mentioned. It has a motor built on Europe and with the strength of the Euro and cost of importing that motor it simply isn't good economics. You are right though emissions here are more stringint which poses another problem too but not one we couldn't work around if there was enough of a demand.

I believe the Jeep products no longer have a CDI engines as Mercedes sold their shair of Chrysler....

now it's only damiler-benz

my bro bought one...they shopped Calgary and Edmonton and ended up getting one in Sask...it's a gorgeous truck...he gets fantastic mileage and when you stand behind it, when it's running, you can't even smell a hint of exhaust. I was looking @ one and the dealership here in Kelowna has a couple and really willing to deal...my bro upgraded to the the larger rims...19 or 20's very solid we have towed a ramped flast deck style trailer and it did great, it would tow a boat no problem...I think the towing capacity is 6500lbs.
all in, I really like it...if I was in the market, i would have one hands down!

3.0L CRD still available in Jeep. Benz still has 18% share for now. Lots of hand me down parts in chryslers line.