After driving every competitor we just got a 320 CDI
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Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 42
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From: SLC
00 BMW 528it, 03 Duramax, 07 GL320
After driving every competitor we just got a 320 CDI
Hi all, this is my first post here.
After 2 years of discussing getting her a new car, my wife called me on Tuesday afternoon and said, "let's go get me a new car tonight".
We decided to drive the BMW X5 and GL450 one last time since they were the two vehicles she liked the most in previous test drives.
We went to the BMW dealer and drove the X5 with the 3.0 liter and the 4.8 liter engines. The 3.0 was positively glacially slow off the line and the 4.8 was nice but she decided she didn't really dig it as much as she thought she did. I-drive, split tailgate, torture chamber 3rd row and several other funky things bugged her even though it drove sweet.
I got really excited later Tuesday night when I found out that our local dealer had the new GL320CDI in stock. I spend a lot of time in Europe and love driving diesels over there. But would it be a better choice than the 450?
So Wednesday during lunch we went to the Mercedes dealer to test drive the GL320. I was blown away by the way the off-the-line punch it had and she loved it also. We were sold.
I went home and made some calls to other dealers in the Western states to see what they had in stock and what kind of discounts if any they were willing to give. Our perfect build resulted in a $64,000 MSRP but I couldn't find any in stock with our exact options and color choices. I told my wife the news and she said, "let's just get the black one at the dealer here in S.L.C", even though it had about $4000 in options that we wouldn't have ordered.
We picked it up Wednesday night. It is obsidian black with a black leather interior and the chrome option and appearance package. It stickered at $68,000. We got it for $1500 off of MSRP.
Since I was a little kid I've been a car nut(too many car magazines always laying around-thanks dad!) and I test drive cars fairly regularly. In our quest for her SUV over the last 2 years we(I) drove:
-Audi Q7 3.6 and 4.2
-BMW's
-Lexus GX470
-Saturn Outlook(it is really nice though and I would recommend it to anyone.)
-Tahoe
-Cadillac SRX
-Land Rover LR2
-Range Rover
They are really all great vehicles and I could have been happy with any of them. But the Mercedes really stood out in my(our) eyes.
We love the diesel. It is so damn sweet. The massive torque allows it to pull so hard from low RPM's. I feel like it drives like a much smaller vehicle than its 5300 lb. weight. It feels like a flyweight compared to the BMW and Audi.
We also love the interior. It is just such an impressive environment to be in. The stitched leather makes it different than any other vehicle I've been in. We were also very impressed with the space and utility the interior offers. It has the best 3rd row of anything we looked at and I like the fact that there are no comfort sacrifices for the 2nd or 3rd row occupants.
The only thing I'm not enamored of is the steering. It feels too light to me and is not the same feel as the incredible BMW steering. Not really bad, but not that great BMW feel.
Oh, and one other nice thing about it is that now I have inherited her old car, a BMW 528i wagon that we've had since 2000. It has 100,000 miles and is still a great car. I'll probably keep it for another 5 years. I normally drive a crew cab long bed Duramax and it will be nice to use the BMW instead of always driving the beast.
After 2 years of discussing getting her a new car, my wife called me on Tuesday afternoon and said, "let's go get me a new car tonight".
We decided to drive the BMW X5 and GL450 one last time since they were the two vehicles she liked the most in previous test drives.
We went to the BMW dealer and drove the X5 with the 3.0 liter and the 4.8 liter engines. The 3.0 was positively glacially slow off the line and the 4.8 was nice but she decided she didn't really dig it as much as she thought she did. I-drive, split tailgate, torture chamber 3rd row and several other funky things bugged her even though it drove sweet.
I got really excited later Tuesday night when I found out that our local dealer had the new GL320CDI in stock. I spend a lot of time in Europe and love driving diesels over there. But would it be a better choice than the 450?
So Wednesday during lunch we went to the Mercedes dealer to test drive the GL320. I was blown away by the way the off-the-line punch it had and she loved it also. We were sold.
I went home and made some calls to other dealers in the Western states to see what they had in stock and what kind of discounts if any they were willing to give. Our perfect build resulted in a $64,000 MSRP but I couldn't find any in stock with our exact options and color choices. I told my wife the news and she said, "let's just get the black one at the dealer here in S.L.C", even though it had about $4000 in options that we wouldn't have ordered.
We picked it up Wednesday night. It is obsidian black with a black leather interior and the chrome option and appearance package. It stickered at $68,000. We got it for $1500 off of MSRP.
Since I was a little kid I've been a car nut(too many car magazines always laying around-thanks dad!) and I test drive cars fairly regularly. In our quest for her SUV over the last 2 years we(I) drove:
-Audi Q7 3.6 and 4.2
-BMW's
-Lexus GX470
-Saturn Outlook(it is really nice though and I would recommend it to anyone.)
-Tahoe
-Cadillac SRX
-Land Rover LR2
-Range Rover
They are really all great vehicles and I could have been happy with any of them. But the Mercedes really stood out in my(our) eyes.
We love the diesel. It is so damn sweet. The massive torque allows it to pull so hard from low RPM's. I feel like it drives like a much smaller vehicle than its 5300 lb. weight. It feels like a flyweight compared to the BMW and Audi.
We also love the interior. It is just such an impressive environment to be in. The stitched leather makes it different than any other vehicle I've been in. We were also very impressed with the space and utility the interior offers. It has the best 3rd row of anything we looked at and I like the fact that there are no comfort sacrifices for the 2nd or 3rd row occupants.
The only thing I'm not enamored of is the steering. It feels too light to me and is not the same feel as the incredible BMW steering. Not really bad, but not that great BMW feel.
Oh, and one other nice thing about it is that now I have inherited her old car, a BMW 528i wagon that we've had since 2000. It has 100,000 miles and is still a great car. I'll probably keep it for another 5 years. I normally drive a crew cab long bed Duramax and it will be nice to use the BMW instead of always driving the beast.
Last edited by str8line; Apr 6, 2007 at 02:11 PM.
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 2,548
Likes: 3
From: LA LA Land
'07 GL 450, '02 S 80 T6
Great choice, str8line. And you are about the only person who has mentioned one of my favorite features of GL's interior - stitched leather. It really stands out in the black interior and is so much more pleasing to the eye than any other interior materials.
Newbie
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 9
Likes: 0
2006 R500
let me guess - she didn't like the Q7 looks? Nice to see you did your due diligence.
I have test driven many too, still waiting to buy GL - hopefully some of the '07 bugs will be worn out by the '08 model plus I am hoping for the 420CDI.
You are spot on about the 3rd row. If you need a liveable 3rd row for adults, there is no other vehicle - period. I found this astonishing, but it's true. ALL the other SUVs out there with 3rd row seating have terrribly tight spaces. The R Class is an exception, but with people in the 3rd row, forget luggage. It's also not an SUV - I draw the line at a minivan!
This will
We drove:
Audi Q7 4.2, 3rd row tiny, but beautiful vehicle
BMW X5 4.4, didn't bother with new body, 3rd row is a joke.
Merc R500, no luggage space with 3rd row.
Lexus LX470, appalling mechanism for 3rd row and
Land Rover LR3 - trucky
Range Rover -
Escalade ESV, 3rd row is TINY, and for this size vehicle, only GM engineers could achieve this.
Infiniti QX56 - not great quality, IMHO
Own a Touareg V8 which we love right now.
Good luck with the diesel, and keep us updated on your experiences.
I have test driven many too, still waiting to buy GL - hopefully some of the '07 bugs will be worn out by the '08 model plus I am hoping for the 420CDI.
You are spot on about the 3rd row. If you need a liveable 3rd row for adults, there is no other vehicle - period. I found this astonishing, but it's true. ALL the other SUVs out there with 3rd row seating have terrribly tight spaces. The R Class is an exception, but with people in the 3rd row, forget luggage. It's also not an SUV - I draw the line at a minivan!
This will
We drove:
Audi Q7 4.2, 3rd row tiny, but beautiful vehicle
BMW X5 4.4, didn't bother with new body, 3rd row is a joke.
Merc R500, no luggage space with 3rd row.
Lexus LX470, appalling mechanism for 3rd row and
Land Rover LR3 - trucky
Range Rover -
Escalade ESV, 3rd row is TINY, and for this size vehicle, only GM engineers could achieve this.
Infiniti QX56 - not great quality, IMHO
Own a Touareg V8 which we love right now.
Good luck with the diesel, and keep us updated on your experiences.
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Newbie
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 9
Likes: 0
2006 R500
let me guess - she didn't like the Q7 looks? Nice to see you did your due diligence.
I have test driven many too, still waiting to buy GL - hopefully some of the '07 bugs will be worn out by the '08 model plus I am hoping for the 420CDI.
You are spot on about the 3rd row. If you need a liveable 3rd row for adults, there is no other vehicle - period. I found this astonishing, but it's true. ALL the other SUVs out there with 3rd row seating have terrribly tight spaces. The R Class is an exception, but with people in the 3rd row, forget luggage. It's also not an SUV - I draw the line at a minivan!
This will
We drove:
Audi Q7 4.2, 3rd row tiny, but beautiful vehicle
BMW X5 4.4, didn't bother with new body, 3rd row is a joke.
Merc R500, no luggage space with 3rd row.
Lexus LX470, appalling mechanism for 3rd row and
Land Rover LR3 - trucky
Range Rover -
Escalade ESV, 3rd row is TINY, and for this size vehicle, only GM engineers could achieve this.
Infiniti QX56 - not great quality, IMHO
Own a Touareg V8 which we love right now.
Good luck with the diesel, and keep us updated on your experiences.
I have test driven many too, still waiting to buy GL - hopefully some of the '07 bugs will be worn out by the '08 model plus I am hoping for the 420CDI.
You are spot on about the 3rd row. If you need a liveable 3rd row for adults, there is no other vehicle - period. I found this astonishing, but it's true. ALL the other SUVs out there with 3rd row seating have terrribly tight spaces. The R Class is an exception, but with people in the 3rd row, forget luggage. It's also not an SUV - I draw the line at a minivan!
This will
We drove:
Audi Q7 4.2, 3rd row tiny, but beautiful vehicle
BMW X5 4.4, didn't bother with new body, 3rd row is a joke.
Merc R500, no luggage space with 3rd row.
Lexus LX470, appalling mechanism for 3rd row and
Land Rover LR3 - trucky
Range Rover -
Escalade ESV, 3rd row is TINY, and for this size vehicle, only GM engineers could achieve this.
Infiniti QX56 - not great quality, IMHO
Own a Touareg V8 which we love right now.
Good luck with the diesel, and keep us updated on your experiences.
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MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 1,474
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From: Socialist West Coast
95 E320, 19 Ram 1500 Hemi, 21 GLS 580(wife)
where they were talking about an american car, maybe the Tahoe and mentioning that "only americans could get so little power out of so many cubic inches"
The fact that we have to shove v-8's in our cars to give them power when euro cars make due with equal power out of smaller engines and better engineering
