ReachWest

No labour charge on emergency service calls? I wasn't aware of this - good tip.

Nevada Jack

No labor for those standard services like gas, tire mount, battery, etc. But I would imagine if they have to do something more there may be a labor charge.

gordongl450

axchung,

"MB designers are brilliant"

You better not talk like that on this forum, we spend 50% of our posts on this forum complaining about the MB designers. You keep talking like that you'll get kicked off the forum You'll at least get a lot of people mad at you.

Try to hold back on your praise for MB a little in the future please

Only kidding,

Gordon

oknish

Actually, you do come to appreciate MB's design after you have had the car for a while. For example, the auto brake assist on grades bigger than 15% is a marvel in itself. Distronic is another beauty in the way it applies engine braking vs wheel brakes. IMO, MB designers know what they are doing.

It's MBUSA whose marketing and option choices that get me riled up.

oknish

True but wait can be long since these are dispatched from the nearest dealer. I had to wait for an hour one time for a guy to show up from a dealership 18 miles away.

85mm

Everything is relative. Our Land Rover Discovery would get 9mpg under the same driving conditions. 13mpg is almost a 50% improvement

boxboss

Annoyances (not problems) I've noticed:
1) iPod menu on the MFD rather than the Command Display
2) No ventilated seats
3) Small side mirrors
4) Poor over the shoulder visibility

Compared to most other SUV's, that's a very short short list.

dunderhi

As an SL/GL owner I have found some minor annoyances:

1) The Nav systems look identical but functions differently
2) The steering wheel menus look similar but are different
3) Multicontour seats are manadatory, but lack ventilation and massage
4) The gear shift FOB (that's what it looks like) can be conter intuitive if you go back and forth between cars

Other than those SL/GL annoyances, the GL is great and I would buy another one when the time comes.

lkchris

GL (made in Alabama) Nav system is Alpine, SL (made in Germany) is Becker.

Yes, I'm waving my hand at the dashboard in our E-class, too. But if your "other" car was an ML or R-class, you'd be right at home!

Nevada Jack

25.5 gallons...you are really testing the gauge or the range indicator. Fill it up more often and you will ease the pain....:-)

85mm

I had another half gallon in there! Wow, I just noticed that. I pushed it only because I knew there are a half dozen gas stations near our home. Our angled driveway must throw off the fuel light indicator because it would turn off after parking it at home. We'd kept taking it on short runs until I realized we really need to fuel up.

BeanCounter

BoxBoss,

Good call on the mirrors. They are way too small..........

boxboss

I'm not the first with that opinion - many have said the same.

MKW

OTOH, the Audi Q7 has almost too large elephant ear mirrors AND available lane change assist blinking LEDs in said mirrors if a car is in the blind spot zone . It should be the GL, with its tiny mirrors that had the lane assist.

ReachWest

I agree that the mirrors are a bit on the small side.. my ML350 has much larger mirrors on a smaller vehicle.

One thing I do like about the GL mirrors is the way the passenger side mirror slowly tilts downward when you shift into reverse, providing a great view of the the curb area on the passenger side of the vehicle. This is a BIG PLUS for me .. I have a very skinny driveway.

oknish

You have no idea of the uproar you have just started

Nevada Jack

LOL...when I saw this post nish I said to myself this will be a good one to watch...where's the popcorn...

scottybdiving

Just received my license plates. I am astonished at how cheesy the front license plate barackets are and the fact that you have to drill holes for it. I know many prefer to go without, but my opinion is that it could give some renegade cop an excuse to pull you over. Not cool after dinner and a bottle of wine or 3.

While I agree that it needs to be pristine for those that are not required to and those who choose not to. I just think they should make some type of hidden provision for it and a bracket worthy of a 70K vehicle.

boxboss

Guess I'll take my mirrors and go home.

Kar don

Is that pen from the parking spot @ LAX? Looks just like their logo...

Anyway. Downsides of the GL.

-No available NAPPA leather (except for the 750 premier editions), big mistake
-No cooled seats for USA either
-ADS II not std equip.
-Plastic door panel material and center console feel cheap
-Sound system is lacking
-NAV unit is behind the times
-7gtronic bump'n'slam on the earlier models


Not bad though, I think its a great truck and I'd love to get one... its just a waste for me since I don't need all the extra space behind me.

ReachWest

OK - I'll bite - what's the deal on this? I'm guessing this has been discussed ad-nauseam in the past? I take it others don't like the mirror tilting feature??

oknish

Au Contraire (that's on contrary for those of you who don't speak French and I am speaking French to be nice to ReachWest since he is from Canada but I digress) folks here would love to get the mirror dipping feature but we have been told that we cannot get it .

So, how did you get it? I don't think it's a "standard" feature and, in fact, dealers here have been saying that it is not even included in later builds.

neodoc

In addition to the list of already mentioned negatives, no one has mentioned a little thing that I find quite annoying: the lack of rear wiper delay. In these past few days of rain in Miami, I've had to switch the darn thing on and off multiple times as the rear glass gets covered in tire mist. If I leave it on all the time, it will mostly wipe on a clean glass, as it takes a little while for the mist to reaccumulate. Time delay would be most welcome.

As far as the mirrors are concerned, I found a set of nice stick-on wide angle mirrors that mimic the shape of the larger mirrors and are quite helpful without looking cheesy. I essentially have no blind spots and parking is a breeze. I've gotten so used to using them that I don't think I even look at the image on the large mirrors at all.

I think that's it. I don't think there are any other bothersome aspects of the GL for me. I must say that if we all have to think about what we don't like about the vehicle and collectively only come up with a handful of things, we must have a pretty nice truck.

ReachWest

I assumed the mirror dip was a standard feature. I never ordered it specifically.. in fact didn't even know my truck had it until I noticed it about 5 days after delivery. I ordered my GL in April 07 and it was built in August 07 - delivered September 07. (Dealers that are saying it isn't included are obviously wrong - at least up to August builds.)

I know the Canadian configuration is different on MB Canada website vs US. (We don't have all the numerous options that the US configuration allows). For the most part, when you order in Canada, you select from 7 or 8 packages (my unit has them all.. but no where did I see the mirror dip specifically identified) .... You can see for yourself on the MB Canada site.

Maybe the mirror dip is a special add-on for us Canadians!

dsunnym1

What type of mirrors did you buy and where??