I had a rear wheel bearing going out on me, so I deemed it prudent to sideline the GL for a few days until my appointment at the shop rolled around. It is 25 miles to the shop, my BMW 5 series sedan was already scheduled for an oil change, and I can only take one car in at a time. The upshot of all this is that I did not drive the GL for nearly a week.

Now, I am not seeking sympathy - having to fall back on an older and high mileage, but nearly pristine 5 series does not qualify as hardship duty. It is supremely comfortable and a pleasure to drive. But coming back today from the shop with the now much quieter GL I could not help noticing again how much I love my Mercedes. There are more quiet cars, and there are certainly more luxurious ones, but sitting in that big leather chair, listening to some Rachmaninoff playing quietly in the background, running smoothly down the road, and looking at the countryside out its virtually panoramic view helped me remember why I have stayed with it for so long now. If I then stop to consider the 25 mpg I am getting, the nearly 700 mile range, and the capacity to haul pretty much whatever I want; well, no car made since - not even a new GLS - has been able to tempt me.

At the ripe old age of 13, and now with 344,000 miles, I have to recognize that there is a time coming when it will no longer be a viable means of transportation. People often give up on a car when the repair cost exceeds the car's value; this happens to me every time I buy a full tank of diesel! But oh! How I love this car!

This forum is full of problems and issues and complaints - and it is only right that this is so, else what is this forum for? But I wanted to post the perspective of this one GL owner who has found it worth it through it all.

Details: This was the third wheel bearing to go, leaving only one of the front wheels with the original factory wheel bearing. As a precaution we changed out the ball joint as well since once you have the hub off it is right there staring at you. These parts are not cheap, but they sure last a long time.

 

Man, I quoted it before, I'll quote it again: "that truck ages well" -alx

 

Congratulations on 300k+ miles. That is a great accomplishment. Your CDI engine experience is what diesel ownership should be.

 

This is giving me hope that my Bluetec might be worth saving.
And the fiver. E39? If yes it's a modern classic and a great car.

 

Let us know what it took to get there other than wheel bearings. I'm over 250k miles on my 450 with only one wheel bearing replacement. What was the miles, if you remember, when the bearings starting going out.

As far as the Bluetec, probably not worth saving. Get the money from the law suite and sell. The CDI is about the only chance for a semi reliable vehicle unless you violate EPA laws and remove the emissions control systems. Seems like most reliable CDI's are owned by those that really drive them as they were meant to be driven.

 

By far the most expensive miles were between 180,000 and 220,000. A major valve train issue on one side, transfer case, turbo, the fuel pump in the tank. Since then nothing has occurred that one would not associate with normal wear. Somewhere along about 290,000 miles the alternator gave out. The radiator finally sprung a leak about two months ago. At a bit over 300,000 mi. it went into limp mode due to issues in the variable induction system. There were a surprising number of plastic pieces in there that were cracked or even broken. I was 800 miles from home at the time, but shutting down and restarting got me out of limp mode. I had to do that three times, I think.

At 280,000 mi. inspection showed one rear and one front bearing with noticeable play. I should have seen the front one as it was starting to eat the tire.

What interests me is how many components have never failed. No computers. Nothing in the HVAC. Nothing in the drive train itself other than the transfer case. The Arnott air bags have needed nothing since I replaced the factory units 220,000 miles ago. Never a transmission fault. I am still on my second set of batteries. Still have the factory starter motor. Nothing at all in the brake system except pads and rotors.

 

I did a water pump early on under warranty and intake flappy repaired around 180k miles (would not bother fixing if broken for anyone else thinking of the repair). Did a DIY radiator swap a month or so ago and it was a serious pain for a radiator. Replaced the AC compressor around 200k miles. Of course, the usual strut/airbag replacements and one airmatic compressor around 200k miles. My GL has the usual drivers side rattle from the suspension or steering just not sure where it's coming from. It's been very reliable so far and extremely cheap to maintain as compared to most other MB's I've owned. It gladly eats regular unleaded and has done so for around 200k miles. Ran premium early on but found it was not necessary.

 

@GL528 You have the 7 speed 7G-Tronic, correct? What is your opinion of the transmission? What service or repair work, besides oil and filter change, have you done on the transmission? Great mileage that you have achieved. Same for @BlownV8

 

The transmission fluid and filter have been changed twice - at 150,000 and again at 300,000. That is all I have done. Functionally it is excellent - shifts are smooth both up and down. I have the paddle switches on the steering wheel which are occasionally very useful as I spend a fair amount of time in the Rocky Mountains.

My mechanic has rebuilt several of these transmissions and tells me to expect $2400 or so if and when.

 

Wow. To have the fluid go unchanged for that long and not have failure is unheard of, at least until now. I'm guessing you did a lot of highway driving.

Folks, if you drive with stop-and-go at all, do not take this as a recommended fluid interval. 30K-40K seems to be the consensus for pan drop, filter change, 5 qts fluid.

$2400 is about right for the rebuild, at least based on what I've seen. A fair amount of labor for the swap. Granted, it was in Cali, but I paid $5K total.

 

GL528, was the GL owned since new or is it used? Almost all if not all earlier GL's need the valve body/turbine speed sensor replaced around 100k miles. If I recall correctly, I changed mine at 40k, 80k when the turbine speed sensor was replaced, and again at 200k miles. Tranny is still smooth with no shifting issues.

 

that gives me hope that when I flush my 200k tranny (hasnt been flushed since 80k) it’ll survive. And even then, $2500 for a rebuild is approaching what I’d have to shell out for a domestic heavy duty one (Allison 1000, another fantastic tranny btw).

 

Agree ... my only concern is that it seems the more I drive across Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, etc. all I can find is biodiesel, most often B20.

 

I had a CDI and it was let down by its poorly integrated EGR system. That would have been the first thing I’d yank when out of CPO warranty, EPA or no EPA. I never got there because I dumped it with 40k on the meter. But I do seem to remember that B20 was ok...?