andrewsugg

Will be talking with my most excellent MB indy mechanic tomorrow; however I wanted to see if there is any way a 2008 GL320 CDI could ever be considered a reliable vehicle long term? I can find many comments on various forums about significant problems some have had with suspension, transmission, and some electronics. Many seem to have been left stranded on the side of the road. I have the chance to purchase an 08 GL320 with 110,000 miles. It has been dealer maintained by Leith MB in Raleigh NC for its life and is a one owner. Depending on what my mechanic finds in the pre purchase inspection I will know if this is something I want to pursue. If certain things have been replaced over the years, is there a much better chance I could get a 250,000 mile vehicle out of this purchase? Back in the day, one of the major problems with my former 94 E320, is that you had to make certain the wiring harness had been replaced as it was almost guaranteed to go bad. Do these type of design issues crop up within the first 100,000 miles on a GL320 and may have been replaced? I realize an 8 year old vehicle with 110,000 is not new, but multiple regular thousand dollar repairs is not what I need. Thank you all for your feedback.

joshd2012

I purchased a 2008 CDI with 85k on it, so a bit less than what you are looking at. It was a single owner, an old lady who used for her real estate business. It was dealer serviced and had nothing major on the record.

So for I have replaced the power steering, glow plugs, door lock, battery, rear shocks and wheel bearings. I still need to get the sway bar links replaced. I've had it for 2 years and 6k miles.

There is little about this truck I would consider reliable. The only reason I still have is because there is no other truck that meets my needs. I don't like the repairs, but the compromise would ultimately be worse

andrewsugg

Thank you for your reply. Wow, only 6,000 miles and all of this has come up. Leith doesn't report to Carfax, but hopefully they will share what major things have been replaced over the years to my indy shop. I really like the look and feel of this vehicle, and would rather stick with CDI versus Bluetec. But I'm beginning to think this isn't the tank I was hoping it would be. THe ML body style I don't like at all. I love the feel and solid feeling of a diesel engine. There aren't many of these particular vehicles out there, partly because I don't think they made all that many, but also perhaps because of exactly this.

BlownV8

The diesel versions are not very reliable and are not cheap to maintain.

Captincvmn

I have an 07 320 and while it is proving to be a PITA vehicle as you said there isn't anything quite like it. We bought ours with 115k on the clock, one owner and in 7 months I've replaced both passenger side airmatic bags, turbo intake gasket, exhaust pressure sensor and fixed my seatbelt SRS sensor.

All this aside I LOVE the thing. I feel like an absolute king driving it. Our former vehicle was an 08 Honda Odyssey and it was very reliable but had no soul, no feeling of belonging. If it had burst into flames in a parking lot I wouldn't have pissed on it to extinguish it. The GL has soul. (And issues)

joshd2012

None of the issues I have seen have been related to the diesel, and nothing has left me on the side of the road. So I isn't a show stopper for me. And the 99% of the time it works, it runs like a dream. Getting well over 500 miles per tank is something that is difficult to replicate with anything else out there.

If you like the truck, buy it and put $150 in a savings account every month. It's cheaper than an extended warranty and will take the sting out of repairs.

alx

Tell us what was replaced and we will tell you what is going to break. As excels ice SUVs go they are ok in long term

andrewsugg

Thanks all. I will hopefully know more later today. Leith is willing to share service history, but only over the phone. No printout of any sort for my indy shop. I of course don't know the right questions to ask. I hope I can convince someone at another dealership to provide info from MB database. I'll bounce off of you all what things have been done, and see if you see any red flags. Andrew

BlownV8

If you go to a.different dealership, they will probably pull the records for you. Sounds like they may be trying to hide something?

andrewsugg

I've moved on. I was able to finally get good information from a different dealer, and we determined the oil cooler seals/gaskets had never been serviced. This is a $3000 repair, and was just not worth the risk. However I've located a 2009 GL320 Bluetec that looks more promising. I had hoped to stick with the 2008 CDI, but that I don't think that is in the cards. From what dealer info I was able to get, the oil coolant gaskets/seals have been replaced, 3 of 4 struts, the air compressor for suspension, and bluetec heater have all been done at dealer over the past few years. Any major differences to note in the 2009 model? I presume there is no audio input jack anywhere? Hopefully the glovebox has the Ipod connector. I have no interest in bluetooth if my music can't be played through audio system. Again if there are any thoughts, comments or suggestions, please let me know. Although this one is silver instead of the pewter metallic that was my favorite color, the gut feeling on the silver is much better. Andrew

BlownV8

Sounds like you made a good decision. Those parts typically are a failure point and being that they were recently replaced, while it does not mean the issues won't reoccur, is better than buying one that hasn't had, I'm sure, the needed repairs.

Mine has an ipod hookup in the glove box but that, I believe, is an option. You may want to ask them if it has it or not. Either way, you can always add the connection after you purchase the car if you wish to listen to music off your iphone or ipod.

jenxo

I just bought a nice GL320 CDI with 88,000 miles.
SRS warning light is on, an also says"BRAKE WEAR".
Starting my DIY fixit journey. Any advice ?

I'm reading all over the forum , and it sound slike I need to CHECK :
1) DIFFERENTIAL OIL CHANGE 1.6 QT MERCEDES FLUID
2) Oil Cooler seals/gaskets

Anything else you guys can think of?

Captincvmn

Srs light may be the wire on the seatbelt latch on the drivers seat.

In my car (truck) the wire has a black factory zip tie below the "gator" below the latch on cable/stem. I cut wire tie and could feel the wire was softer at the point where the wire was strapped. I stripped the outer insulation and then carefully stripped insulation on the broken wire and soldered the ends together. After that I taped up everything and like magic the light went out and hasn't come back. I posted pics on here somewhere. I think it was titled srs repair?

alx

leave diff fluid alone. you have another 10-20k on original one- mb says it is good for life. it pretty much is. however- you may replace the center diff fluid right now- it is never early lol. that one is for life too, but you want it changed every so often... (like every 50-75k miles).

change engine oil, fuel filter, air filters. be advised air filter change requires adaptations reset via star/das. you can skip the adaptations reset, but it will mess up your service indicator and/or engine performance a bit. change cabin filter.

check and see if records indicate tranny fluid has been changed at 37-40k miles. if no knowledge- change it now.

check your brakes (obviously)

srs light needs to be read with das. it will tell you what is the cause. seat belt latch switch is common. so are 100 other causes.


good luck.

jenxo

Thanks!!
What is this OIL COOLER SEAL issue everyone seems to be talking about , they say it is a $3,000 repair if not fixed early.

alx

It is a pair of seals deep in the v of the motor. Intake manifold needs to come off which is time intensive. If not fixed oil will leak into the v and then seep onto the floor or on the exhaust producing a burning smell. As long as you stay on top of it and add oil as needed you don't have to fix it immediately. There is no "if not addressed it gets worse"- they either leak or not.

Fourdiesel

The oil cooler seal leak, if not discovered (and corrected) MIGHT cause a servomotor back there to gunk up and fail. Ask me how I know!! Later, the oil loss was hugh and cost a bunch to get fixed.
Check deep into the vee at the rear of the engine. If it is black and gunky spray clean it with brake parts cleaner and make plans to replace the defective O rings.