DucatiNut

Love the GL350 bluetec fuel economy and everything else but these things are just downright second rate and cheap .. very disappointing;
1. Plastic along top of door panels
2. Absolute CRAP aluminum door sills that scratch as soon as you look at them.
3. This MB tex is rubbish... can see shiny spots appearing on the drivers seat after 6 months!
4. Fit and alignment of some of the body trim is not up to MB standard (poor US assembly quality???)
5. Cold transmission shifts are appalling; very rough with lots of over run during the shift.
6. Center storage box (between driver and passenger) lid latch is useless, lid opens very easily.... kids can just lift it from the back seat.
7. 100 years of building cars, millions in research and development and still a glove box that is so small it is useless, I mean even the owners manual doesn't fit it!
8. Rear seat access from one side of the vehicle only. Are they idiots??
9. Funky electrics and occasional non starting!
10. SLOW SLOW rear view camera activation...

dbtk

I agree with 1 (worse than on our C class), 2 (but true for my CL600 as well), 3 (very synthetic), 8 (difficult if want the child car seat on the right), and 9 (typically already back in Drive by the time it turns on).

StevethePilot

I've had mine for about three years and nearly 90,000 miles, CDI in black with MB Tex. Line by line;

1. Is it that it is plastic or that you don't like that particular plastic or ... ?
2. I left the weird blue plastic film on the aluminum in the "trunk" area and it still scratches. It's aluminum, it'll do that - I think just about anything eventually will!
3. I'm surprised at this with you because I still have people who swear that my MB Tex is leather. I don't have any smooth spots, anything like that and yes I do drive this pup! My MB Tex experience is much better than yours (brown/tan/camel/carmel/whatever that color is called).
4. +1000. The last Mercedes I owned was a used 1986 560 SEL in gold with tan leather seats, that I bought in 1988 (something like that). By the time I sold it with over 120,000 miles on it a couple of years later, one of the things that still wasn't a problem was fit-n-finish. I went from there to Toyota/Lexus products and just got used to that level of quality. My Mercedes is very, very disappointing when it comes to that. Exterior window trim that's always popping off a little, the covers for the baby seats (which I have never used!) have popped off and disappeared (and never stayed on properly), the seatbelt got "hairy" (stray strands along it) above where my shoulder is, etc. - it's just not what one would expect!
5. Shifts are good and bad.
6. Haven't had that problem but my box (2007) has different latches (2 levels).
7. Messy, disorganized, almost unusable and that's where the multi-disc changer is, not integrated in to the COMAND? (You should check out the Sienna Limited's box to see what we should have!)
8. That's a tough call with a 60/40 seat. But the seat backs don't quite line up in the normal full-back (they don't recline?!!) position.
9. 1980's electronics but I've started every time, even when there was no turbo intercooler hose.
10. Don't have but I've heard others agree.

rayleiwu

plus the plastic sharp edges and seams on the steering wheel... it the most uncomfortable steering wheel I ever experienced..

43221B

1. Not sure what you are referring to.
2. Yeah, the door sills do scratch easily but I only have one significant scratch after 11,000 miles. I try to be careful though. But you're probably right, I shouldn't have to be so careful.
3. I have black MB Tex. None of the issues you are experiencing. It actually looks more like leather as it wears. I would not want leather with kids however I would if I didn't.
4. +1001. Very interesting that I'm not the only one with this issue. My left front quarter panel and drivers door panel do not match up properly. I flew out of state to pick up my GL. I would have never accepted it had I seen this misalignment before I purchased the car. The gasket is getting pinched when the door opens and closes and it is starting to fray and stick out of the opening. This is an item to be addressed during next service appt. I have no idea how they are going to fix it so it doesn't continue to do this after the gasket is replaced. All other panels are very good. It just ticks me off though because it should have never left the factory like that. It shows sloppy craftsmanship and a lack of attention to detail. Not what I expected from MB.
5. Agree, the transmission doesn't seem to know what to do when it gets over 3200 rpm. Could you downshift already? No, I'll just hang you out to dry around 3800 gutless rpm in the middle of the intersection. I've learned not to over rev the engine which is counter intuitive yet key for maximizing acceleration in the MB diesel.
6. No problems there
7. They take the word "glove" in glove box literally at MB I guess. I don't keep my owners manual in the glove box but probably should. I think you have to take it out of the case to get it to fit.
8. Not a big deal for me. I have a child seat strapped in on that side so that is the side that needs to open. The booster sits in the second row and slides forward to get access. If I had 4 kids though, it wouldn't work for me.
9. I have had to use my key (instead of push button) once when the car was relatively new and a couple times I had to push the button multiple times to get it to start. All were when the car was pretty new so I wonder if I wasn't pressing the brake BEFORE I pushed the start button. No problems though in probably 7000 miles or more.
10. Some other car companies don't integrate their nav system and camera. We are stuck waiting for the whole thing to boot up. Seems like that could be an easy design change.

Still, very happy overall and would buy again (as of right now).

Max Blast

1. Yep it looks almost Chryslerish. Cheap but easy to clean.
2. Yes they scratch easily and my illuminated ones are starting to bend up at the rear.
3. Macadamia MBTex two years old, have not seen any blank spots.
4. Have not noticed any irregularities and I've q-tipped the thing a few times.
5. Yes, yes and yes. Cold 2-1 downshifts are necksnappingly atrocious. I did a cold 2-1 paddle downshift and damn near broke my neck. There's some overrun on the 2-3 but I go easy on it until its warm. Shifts when its warm are smooth as they should be. I've talked to a service advisor and a reprogram should fix the cold shift issue, however it's a two day process at least since you have to leave the car overnight for them to replicate. This is the only issue I have with with the car, and it's fixable at no expense to me.
6. No issues.
7. Yep its on the small side but the manual fits in the left rear cubby. Little inaccessible indeed. Big gloveboxes like my wife's KIA invariably get filled up with so much junk anyway.
8. Slightly limiting if you have a car seat attached to the 40 partition.
9. Never had any no starts. Rear hatch failed to close maybe twice.
10. Fast enough for my needs.

43221B

Mine has a clear plastic film that is bubbling up on the same piece of trim. Was this supposed to be removed at the factory/dealer/by me? I've been afraid to pull it off because I don't want to make it look worse than it already does.

Anyone know?

Brocktoon

Meh, can't please everyone all of the time.

I think the plastic quality and fit and finish is very good on my car. You can still get adjustments from the dealer for free for the first 6 months, I recall. Everyone thinks my mb-tex is leather, too, so I don't know what is up with that. Your centre console latch is out of adjustment or broken.

Get the software update for your transmission, like I did, and you will be fine.

The rest? dunno, you bought it designed like that...

aceman

1. Plastic along top of door panels
>>>>>>>>Doesn't bother me
2. Absolute CRAP aluminum door sills that scratch as soon as you look at them.
>>>>>>>>TOTALLY AGREE
3. This MB tex is rubbish... can see shiny spots appearing on the drivers seat after 6 months!
>>>>>>>>TOTALLY AGREE - my wife & I wear jeans all the time, the macadamia stays clean for list than a day. I've purchased a lot of vehicles, never had this issue till i bought a benz.
4. Fit and alignment of some of the body trim is not up to MB standard (poor US assembly quality???)
>>>>>>>>I've noticed this comparing drivers side panels vs. passenger side
5. Cold transmission shifts are appalling; very rough with lots of over run during the shift.
>>>>>>>>>>>tranny is not silky smooth but not bad either....
6. Center storage box (between driver and passenger) lid latch is useless, lid opens very easily.... kids can just lift it from the back seat.
7. 100 years of building cars, millions in research and development and still a glove box that is so small it is useless, I mean even the owners manual doesn't fit it!
>>>>>>>6&7 are minor irritants to me
8. Rear seat access from one side of the vehicle only. Are they idiots??
>>>>>>>>>Funny - i didn't think this was an issue till i bought the truck - now its a PIA when using the rear seat
9. Funky electrics and occasional non starting!
>>>>>>>do you get the parking sensors that go off while driving
10. SLOW SLOW rear view camera activation...[
>>>>>>>DITTO on the camera - PATHETIC. It is VERY slow at times.

All in all, great observations.

Aceman

DucatiNut

Well I guess I could be tempted into feeling better because I am not alone in my observations but for the money, and in view of MB's experience??? not good enough for me.
To clarify
1. Basically the whole sh*tty plastic treatment of the door is an annoyance. I feel they nickle and dimed me.
2. Door sill base metal is too soft ... chrome plated plastic would be much more durable!
3. MB tex will show shiny on black before the other colors but still not as good as the leather on our old XC90. (which by the way was a vehicle that showed far more forethought throughout the car than the GL, by a long margin!!!)
5. Will complain to the dealer about the cold shifts. it is terrible. Hot it is fantastic but I have a 400 rpm over run between 3rd and 4th when cold!
7. Some people don't fill their glove boxes with crap so it is annoying to those who want to put 2 pairs of gloves, sunglasses etc in there.

And while I am thinking of the Volvo;
Battery was under the rear deck not inside the vehicle under the seat! (fires anyone?)
Third row access from both sides of the vehicle.
Second row seat tilt in one action not two.
Rear luggage area had storage compartments in each side shelf plus drink holders, plus paper storage.
Panel fit and finish was definitely superior.
Pockets in both driver and passenger seats in the seat cushion, between your knees... very useful.
Upholstered door panels not plastic
Smooth transmission BUT, (and the reason we didn't buy another),,..... can you believe Volvo sourced the tranny for our 04 model from GM in the US... and guess what the reliability was like..... they changed to Yamaha transmissions because many didn't see 50,000 miles out of them.
Anyway... still happy with the GL but just disappointed in the non MB standard of some things. Will not assume as much when it comes time to buy another that is for sure.

StevethePilot

HA! That question can be asked about so many little things on the car! My impression is that it was put there to help protect the part until it arrived at its new home - kind of like the film on your new microwave (which, amazingly enough, was nearly identical for me to the film on that part) or your cell phone. Once you're tired of it or if it gets in the way, rip 'er off!

I mean, that's just my own opinion.

STP

BlackSL

8. Rear seat access from one side of the vehicle only. Are they idiots??

also they should've added handles on the front pillar for smaller ppl to get into.

rkao

I agree with a few of the items on your list, but overall I have to say I've been satisfied with my GL for the past 6 months. The item that stands out for me is the rear view camera: my wife's Odyssey Touring has a camera that is almost instant on and does not need the OBC or ICE to be turned on to function, just put it in 'R' and it's on.

I've come to accept a long time ago that unless I buy a seriously bespoke car, and even those have shortcomings like Aston Martins and Bentley that reflect their big car company parentage, then there are always compromises to be made in terms of mass appeal vs production/engineering cost vs marketability.

Heck, even when Homer Simpson engineered "The Homer" that's as "powerful as a gorilla", it wasn't the perfect automobile...

43221B

Agree, you can find the same cheap plastic parts on a Lexus LX that you find on a Toyota that retails for less than half the cost. Same is true with many other luxury vehicles. One thing that I think is unique about the GL and other European brands is at least they are not simply rebadging versions of their non-luxury division vehicles. eg. Tahoe/Escalade, Landcruiser/LX, Expedition/Navigator, Armada/QX.

I personally was just nit picking for the sake of discussion. I still am very satisfied with my GL.

dieseldoc

I have had my GL for 2 years. In general, I am extremely pleased with its fit and finish. I have had multiple BMW's as well as a Range Rover and they were far from perfect. No car is perfect.

DucatiNut

Its not a matter of perfect or not.... it is just lack of attention to detail and poor planning. All the items on the list could have been engineered in from the start at no additional cost. If you are paying a premium for what MB would have you believe is one of the best cars in the world then these shortcomings are disappointing.

BlownV8

1. I have never noticed it being a problem.

2. No different than most and seem to be more scratch resistant than the lighted stainless ones I had on my last car.

3. I really like the MB Tex and have had no issues with what you are saying. The only thing I wished was that the MB Tex seats were ventilated.

4. I had one of the window trim pieces on the outside of the car slightly out of alignment but the dealership fixed it without question. 99.9999999% of other owners would never have noticed but I could. It wasn't even the trim piece it was that the rubber piece attached to the trim was about 2 mm off.

5. Never had an issue with rough shifts when the tranny was cold.

6. Never had an issue with the center storage box and its opening characteristics.

7. Yeah, the glove box is a bit small.

8. Yes, have to agree. It's a pain that there is not clear access from both sides.

9. Never had an issue with any of my electronics.

10. Yes, it takes far too long for the rear camera to come on. I think this is more of a legal nanny issue so you can't miss the message about being distracted by your navigation.

Even though the GL uses unibody construction vs all the other manufacturers use of cab on frame, Mercedes, without a doubt, could have done a better job in certain areas. All in all, I have been extremely happy with my GL over the last 70,000 miles. It handles like a sedan and has the room of an SUV. I have to admit the 22" forged aluminum wheels with 305 tires made a huge difference, for the better, in handling but did impact milage a bit.

StevethePilot

Interesting you should mention that; in my GL I don't have a backup camera, but there is one in the wife's RX330 and the nanny message actually turns off when you put it in reverse so the camera can come up.

Her 330 is a 2004, and without continuing to whine about the COMAND, her GPS seems to be at least a generation newer than my 2007 Mercedes'. Touch screens, faster start, much more reactive to turns, better routing, all that. But, it is Japanese. I dunno.

BlownV8

I'm not a huge fan of the navigation in my 2007 GL either. I'm not sure why but Mercedes seems to be about 5 years behind the competition when it comes to navigation. A $200 Tom Tom has much better navigation than my GL.

I do have other issues but the biggest gripe would be the stock halogen lights. It's hard to believe that Mercedes would let the GL out of the factory with such a horrible system especially when you consider it's a $70,000 vehicle. The stock bulbs and aiming are the worst I have ever experienced in any car. Raising the aim as well as upgrading bulbs to PIAA's and then to HID's made a huge difference.

The second complaint, like I said above, is that the navigation is just plain bad. It's a pain to enter an address and there are a lot of roads that are not in the system. It's not, at all, user friendly nor is it very accurate.

StevethePilot

I watched a video on Lincoln's new self-parking system (which still requires you to operate the brakes and gas but actually tells you when the spot's the right size - learn to parallel park, people, it's not that hard!) and when out of curiousity I priced one out online, the HIDs were a stock item (I think on all trim levels) for their MKT. I just checked the Navigator and it's the same situation. We don't have an Autobahn, but we still put HIDs in our SUVs even!

sang55

Just got 09 GL550 over a month ago and I really loved the car so far and car look brand new with 25K miles on clock

I had the shop installed clear bra 3M all the front end, bottom half of all doors included the trims of the doors, fenders , and clear bra on aluminum door silk right on Mercedes benz blue light on when open .
Trans shift smooth even in cold weather .
Agreed access in 3rd row seat only on passenger side but not big deal for me since I don't carry more than 4 .
All electrics are working good w/o any problem
Backup camerra is fast when I put on R

Maybe the 09 GL class had better techology upgrade I guess .

BJ021

1. It's plastic! What else can you use there? Mine looks as good as new and feels great.
2. Aluminum does scratch, I like to think of it as a nice worn in glove look!
3. The MB Tex totally over impressed me the last 2.5 years! Everyone thinks it's leather and it cleans up great with 3 kids. I'd get leather without kids, but only because it is softer.
4. Fit and finish has been very good on my truck. I only had a piece of trim cloth come off the sunroof, but MB fixed 'er up. The lines on the body and interior are very good.
5. The tranny does need to be warmed up, as does your diesel...don't run that thing in the cold weather without a few minutes warm up.
6. No issues here
7. The manual fits in the slot just fine? Did you fill it up with other stuff?
8. 60/40 split, tough call there. My kids load in from the back! If you have a car seat all the way back there you are asking for akwardness!
9. I can agree with this one...the COMAND is the weakest spot on this truck.
10. My wifes X5 camera takes about the same amount of time to load. Not sure why they can't just have it load once the car is in R? I don't need to see the Warning info 2.5 years later!

Another posted mentioned this to, you bought this vehicle designed like this. I guess if you are very unhappy, trade it in for a Tahoe!

BJ021

1. It's plastic! What else can you use there? Mine looks as good as new and feels great.
2. Aluminum does scratch, I like to think of it as a nice worn in glove look!
3. The MB Tex totally over impressed me the last 2.5 years! Everyone thinks it's leather and it cleans up great with 3 kids. I'd get leather without kids, but only because it is softer.
4. Fit and finish has been very good on my truck. I only had a piece of trim cloth come off the sunroof, but MB fixed 'er up. The lines on the body and interior are very good.
5. The tranny does need to be warmed up, as does your diesel...don't run that thing in the cold weather without a few minutes warm up.
6. No issues here
7. The manual fits in the slot just fine? Did you fill it up with other stuff?
8. 60/40 split, tough call there. My kids load in from the back! If you have a car seat all the way back there you are asking for akwardness!
9. I can agree with this one...the COMAND is the weakest spot on this truck.
10. My wifes X5 camera takes about the same amount of time to load. Not sure why they can't just have it load once the car is in R? I don't need to see the Warning info 2.5 years later!

Another posted mentioned this to, you bought this vehicle designed like this. I guess if you are very unhappy, trade it in for a Tahoe!

Franman

Im happy w/ mine. Agree R Camera can be slow, but usually by the time I'm buckled and settled in, it's ready to go. Only other minor annoyance I have is changing stations on Sirius radio - sometimes it takes 4 or 5 seconds to pick up a station when I change. My friend has a VW and his stations on Satellite change immediately. Very annoying when channel surfing. Only other gripe is the massive amount of brake dust that accumulates on my wheels and rims. I'm always having to clean those suckers! Seems to be common with any mercedes or BMW

have 2 kids so rear seat folding isnt much of an issue, but if we have a 3rd it will be a pain since I dont think I can fit 3 car seats in 2nd row.

Petmerctech

On your occasional no start, you need to wait until the glow plugs warm up, which is indicated by the glow plug lamp going out in your instrument cluster.