bbtrlb

Greetings friends

I am the proud owner of a 2007 GL 320 CDI with 57k miles on it. This is obviously not a Bluetec deisel.

It has run great but my dilemma now is whether to just keep it and keep running it, or to trade it in and either buy or lease a new one.

I am aware generally that the new Bluetecs require the maintenance on the exhaust fluid, that they do not have a spare tire, and that (I believe) the off road package is not an option.

Frankly, I am happy with my current vehicle and I love it. My wife uses it to run the kids around, and it is great for our trips between my house near Seattle and our beach place on the Oregon coast.

For anyone with a newer GL, or ideally for anyone who has owned both, I'd appreciate your thoughts on any differences, pros/cons, of the newer Bluetecs versus what I have now. My main concern is maintenance and reliability. My wife and I have two kids under 3 years old, and I really do not want her to be stuck with a broken down vehicle when I am on the road and not with her. We recently had a scare on our trip to visit the inlaws for the holidays in Montana--my fuel gauge malfunctioned, and we ran out of fuel on the interstate outside of Spokane in a snowstorm, even though the gauge said I had over 1/4 tank at the time. This was fine since I was there to deal with it, but I would have not been happy if that happened to my wife alone with two kids in a snowstorm.

Since I am beyond my warranty, I am thinking it might make sense just to ditch the 2007 for a new GL and lease it to keep it always within its warranty period.

If anyone has any helpful thoughts on comparisons between my 2007 model and the newer GL models, I'd appreciate hearing them. I am only looking at a diesel at this time.

Thanks in advance for anyone who can offer their opinions.

Brocktoon

I'm in the same boat, but we decided to keep our '08 CDI. I will likely extend the warranty, and get AAA. I have less miles 16,000, but I think there is lots of life left in your car. There are some new features, and some decontenting. You will have to have a look anf decide.

TamZ

I don't have a lot of positive things I can add to help in your decision about getting a new 2011 GL (please see my thread that will show up at the top of the GL forum entitled wind noise.) but I will offer my opinion on the Bluetec/Ad blue part of the diesel.

I don't mind the diesel engine, however, the strange sloshing/knocking I get after about 2,000 miles of driving it, is about ready to drive me insane. At every stop (unless you come to a long roll..) I am getting a sloshing/knocking from the Adblue in the back tank. (we've already refilled the adblue at 3,000 miles to try to eliminate the sloshing/knocking but it is now back with a vengeance). The dealer told me this is a very common complaint about the AdBlue. I think baffles will probably need to be added. I can't believe more people don't complain about it on this forum, honestly!

I'm probably NOT the best person to ask about my own experience with my new 2011 GL350 Blue tec...but I did want to mention the adblue issue we've been having.

Texas993

I have never heard a noise from our adblue tank.

Fourdiesel

bbtrlb - what color is your '07. We had one that we traded in (in Tacoma) when it didn't sell when we took it to CA on a trip. As far as breakdown issues, we just got a letter from M-B that they would continue to provide roadside assistance even after the vehicle is out of warranty providing several things are met. Among them - it had to be purchased from a dealer OR at least $100 on maintainence work done in the last 18 mo by a dealer. The roadside maintenance included free towing if necessary, a 'slosh' of fuel, flat fix, jumpstart etc.

bbtrlb

It is metallic black, with tan interior (MB Tex).

I got the same letter. And in fact, I had also just upgraded to mbrace. That is how I got in touch with the Spokane dealership. They charged me nothing to bring me a couple gallons of diesel 20 miles out of town, and to check the car the next day to figure out what was going on and verify it was not something more serious. I have no complaints about the service from Mercedes once I broke down. I just want to avoid breakdowns. Having an accurate fuel gauge is a pretty basic, but pretty important thing to have working correctly. I appreciate having 4matic, ESP, a working nav system, mbrace, airbags, computerized antilock braking, etc., but if I don't know how much fuel is actually in the tank--it's a serious problem.

I guess what I am most interested in knowing is what are the clear downsides to getting a new 2011 Bluetec diesel Bluetec, other than having no spare tire, having to use run flats, potentially having the sloshing sound of the adblue tank, having to refill the adblue tank.

I am half inclined to just keep a rotation of 3 year leases going and never own a vehicle again; I am likewise half inclined to just stick with the 2007 as long as it will go and let it ride to see what happens. But I am the type of guy who expects my cars to work, to be reliable, and to not break down.

Its a tough decision.

43221B

The adblue is completely a non issue other than the cost. My local dealership charges $99 to refill irregardless of whether or not I need to evacuate (every 20,000 miles) the tank. So basically it costs me an additional $99 every 10,000 mile service. You have to get your oil changed every 10,000 miles so it isn't like you are making extra trips for adblue service. The adblue tank is good for 15,000 plus miles so you shouldn't ever be even close to running out. Using diesel, you are still way ahead cost wise from where you would be if you had a gas engine using premium. As far as sloshing is concerned, it is noticeable but you get used to it and it isn't really that loud. Usually I only notice it when I'm parking and I'm going back and forth.

The bigger issues for me if I were in your position would be the date of the next generation GL release and what kind of deal you can get on a 2011. If you can't get a good discount, maybe you should wait until next summer to see if the 2013 is a redesign.

captivabenz

My 07 cdi has 47,000 mi and virtually no significant problems. I too have decided to keep the car and not purchase the extended warranty. Approx $3,000 for 2 years extension did not seem reasonable. I will be waiting for the re-design in 2012/2013 and compare carefully to the Audi Q-7 and the VW diesel.

fmr

went through same decision at end of my lease -- buy my 08 320 or get an 11350, decided on the 11. the key things I always regreted not having on my 08, not getting the lighting package and no ads, so got them both on the 11. only thing I would have preferred from the 08 was the regular tires vs run-flats and the spare wheel. 11's have runflats and no spare wheel because of the location of ble-tec tank. also liked the pewter color option which is no longer available

lkchris

For sure ... the REAL issue is you're forced to run runflat tires with the 2009-on models.

43221B

I think I agree with you. The runflats themselves I actually like. While expensive, they seem to last about twice as long as the other non-runflat OE tires. Not having to replace worn tires as frequently is a big plus as far as I'm concerned. The REAL issue is not having a spare. Hopefully, in the future Mercedes will find a place to put the Adblue tank other than in the spare tire well.

As we've discussed in another thread, I can live with not having a spare because I have had very good luck repairing damaged tires on site with tire plugs. Still, I would prefer to have a spare. A full size spare would be even better but probably not realistic due to space constraints.

On one of my other vehicles I got a nail in the tire about 20,000 miles ago. Despite it having a full size spare I put a plug in it for convenience sake. There has been no pressure loss relative to the other tires since it was installed. On a previously owned vehicle I repaired a tire with a plug and the tire lasted another 55,000-60,000 miles without any pressure loss relative to the other tires.

So if I'm 200 miles from home and I run over a 4X4 lying across the width of the freeway and my rim gets bent (happened to me) am I in trouble? Yes. But 90%+ of your flat tires (on a properly inflated newer tire) are going to come from nails. Am I confident that I can fix one of those and get to where I'm going? Yes, very confident. Plugging by the way is a lot easier than changing a tire if you have the right tools with you.

stickygreen

Consider keeping a spare wheel/tire at home. In case you do get a flat, I can guarantee that NOBODY will keep this size runflat tire in stock due to cost (including the dealer), and you will have to wait at least 2-3 days for a replacement. When I upgraded the wheels on our GL to Forgetec 20's, I purchased an extra Goodyear Runflat tire and mounted it on one of the OE wheels, and it now sits in the garage. I do throw it in back for long trips, but otherwise I like knowing that a flat will not incapacitate the GL for several days.

For those of you that might need a spare wheel/tire for your Bluetec, I do still have 2 oem wheels available for sale individually. The wheels are the '09 style, but I suppose it doesn't really matter for a spare. I even have a couple extra oem Goodyear Runflats that are a bit worn on the edges, that I would throw in with the wheels for just the cost of mounting. PM if interested, and sorry to get off topic.

To OP, In 30k+ miles of driving, I have never once heard any sloshing from the AdBlue tank. The Runflats are a blessing in disguise, as they do have more road noise and ride harsher, but (depending on who is driving the vehicle) not having to sit roadside waiting for AAA might be worth the trade-off. It is for us.

lkchris

You may not be aware of all the issues with runflats.

IF you drive any distance at all on a deflated runflat tire, it is ruined and must be replaced. This is the same as with conventional tires, of course, but it's still an expense. The ONLY difference is that the runflat tire won't come off the rim doing this. The limit is 100 miles at 50 mph.

WHEN you need a new runflat tire to replace the ruined one, unless you live in a very large urban area, you'll find the only source is your Mercedes dealer.

If, like me, you live out West where there's only one dealer in the whole state and you can easily have your flat 150-200 miles from the nearest dealer, you'll find yourself waiting for a replacement tire to be shipped to that location ... and it may make no difference anyway as there may be nobody in the small town where you're stranded able to mount/dismount runflat tires.

Yes, if you never leave town, runflat tires are fine (if you can stand the ride).

stickygreen

Not necessarily...any tire shop that can get Goodyear or Bridgestone tires (depending on the ones you want to run) would be able to order these tires for you. You can also buy them from tirerack.

mdadgar

TireRack can usually get them to you overnight no matter where you live - they have warehouses scattered all over the US. For example, I live in the SF Bay Area and the closest TR warehouse is in Reno, NV. Even with regular ground shipping tires get to me overnight from there.

Little known fact: most of the local tire shops get tires from Tire Rack if it's not a brand they carry in-house.

- Mark

43221B

I would also add that the problem with Mercedes dealerships not keeping runflats in stock was more of an issue in 09 when they first started putting them on GLs. Since then, at least half of all GLs sold have them. Chances are, your dealership now keeps them in stock.

If you are that concerned you could buy a donut spare as a cheap alternative to a full size spare for your garage. Personally, I have a full size OE matching spare in my garage.

43221B

Per the Goodyear Tire EU website your statement is not true. They recommend that you keep your speed and distance to a minimum so as to keep the tire from being unrepairable.

pteam

Tirerack is probably wayyy cheaper than buying tires from the Mercedes dealer.

stickygreen

Just bought a pair of Bridgestone Runflats from local dealer...believe it or not, they were willing to match America's Tire, who was willing to match tirerack.

$295 OTD per tire, including mount, balance, & tax.

EWT

Bridgestone says that if inflation drops below 15 psi on a RFT, the tire is trash.

43221B

That and the Bridgestones are not repairable. Didn't another poster say that the Bridgestones say that on the sidewall? That might be why they cost half as much as the Goodyear Runflats. There are a variety of different construction materials and technologies used in runflat tires. They are not all the same.

robalo220

Well, getting back to the OP's original question. I had an 08 GL CDI. I had several issues that the dealer took care of. Electrical having to do with the rear hatch SAM and another small drain in the overhead console that caused the battery to drain dead several times. Also the right front air strut sprung a leak. All were fixed in warranty. I originally thought that I would keep the 08 long term but after looking at the 11's there was an $1800 tax credit available (I'm not sure if it is still available) and with the trade in value and equity I had in the 08 and MB Financial had a 66 month 1.9 finance rate so after looking at the numbers, I went for the 11. I had thought about extending the warranty but that cost was more than I spent getting into the 11. I took delivery late November. I love the improvements. I went from black/black MB tex, P1, rear entertainment, trailer tow package to black/black MBtex, P2, rear entertainment, tow package. The 10's had 19" runflats that were expensive. The 11's now have 20's and the runflats are about $250 per tire at Tirerack. My local dealer usually matches the price that tirerack gives. So while I'm not crazy about the runflats and no spare, most of my driving is local. However when I tow my boat, I have a full size spare mounted to the trailer, just in case.
Personally, I like the ride of the 20's better than the 18's on my 08. The sidewalls were too tall and soft and the ride was leaning toward swaying on the road.
I am aware of the model change for the 13 year. I may keep the 11 model long term if I don't have any issues. Good luck with your decision.

TamZ

Here is the noise I recorded from my Adblu tank yesterday.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McvwQ9GWMBo

Nstar

Keep it for three reasons.

1. It runs great
2. It'll be far cheaper to keep
3. Bluetec and all this new diesel tech is not perfected

bbtrlb

Thanks to all for your responses/thoughts.

I think at this point I am going to just keep going with my 07 for a few months and see what happens. If there are no major problems, I will probably wait a year or so, perhaps even until the new models come out. The runflat issue bugs me for some reason and I do not like the idea of a louder ride. One thing I enjoy so much about my 07 is that all in all I think the ride is phenomenal for a vehicle with that size and towing capacity.

One final question about the run flats: how are they in snow? I take several trips to the mountains and to Eastern Washington/Northern Idaho/Western Montana every year. I am not looking for snow tiers, but do the run flats perform significantly worse in snow than the standard Contis or Scorpions that came OEM with the 07-08 GLs?