keble

first MB SUV for me. Which one should I get? My purpose is just getting a family car. GL for sure is good choice. 350 Bluetec is slow for sure comparing to my current SUV (X5 4.4), never drove the new GL yet.. I think 450 is about the same feel with my X5. Do I really care the addtional gas cost with 450? not really. but I think about 2000$ a year saving in gas, not bad... how about the issues and maintainance? which one is better?

I plan to buy a fully loaded pkg GL. a 350 Bluetec with Sport package? looks sporty, but really slow...

with 450, I could do RENNtech ECU upgrade later, do I have ways to figure out the warranty issue with ECU upgrade?

JimBarnhart

You might want to post in the X166 (2013 model) forum to get experience from 2013 owners since they did improve performance in the 2013 models. I've had a 2007 GL450 and a 2013 GL350 Bluetec. They are different. The 350 isn't as fast off the blocks, but I ultimately chose it because I liked the idea of fuel economy more than I thought I'd miss the performance.

luv2sleep

I've had both and I liked the GL350 better for the low end torque. It's definitely not fast from the start but higher torque more than makes up for it, IMO. Check out the 2013 section of this forum as others have said. Twin turbo GL450 is only .3-.4 seconds faster (0-60) than the older GL450 I believe.
I'm more for torque than actual HP anyways. Test drive them and see for yourself.

alx

The bluetech purely from resale perspective.

The gasoline gl trucks are depreciation black holes.

Besides, if you want a fast dynamic vehicle the 6000 pound gl is not it.

MBZ4LIFE

I had the same dilemma...choosing between the (immediate gratitude) 450 to the hard to get 350.

I test drove both and ended up choosing the 350. My reasons for choosing the 350 were:
- fuel efficiency (I came from a suburban and the 14.9mpg didn't really bother me, but in the X166, I like the fact you can drive 600 miles on a single tank. It gets tiring having to fill up every 350 miles and not being able to get a full tank because of the max $ limit at the pumps)

- resale/residual value of the 350 over the 450

- longer life of a Diesel engine

- I think diesel is the way to go for large vehicles

- love the 455lbs of torque

My X166 order is in. Now for the 2-3 months of waiting

keble

I decided to go for 350 with premium pack and sport pack after testdrive, the new 350 is much better than old one. The start is as fast as my 10 year old x5.