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After 13.5 years of ownership, I got rid of our GL. I picked it up as a CPO with 38K miles and it gave the extended warranty a workout during the first 50K miles, but settled into a "normal" level of reliability for the rest of its life with many of the expected GL repairs. Since I bought a W164 ML550 about a year ago that can do all the "truck" jobs I need done, I didn't really need it anymore and it was just serving as an extra car that got used occasionally. At 251K miles (most I've ever gotten on a car by far), it needed new tires, a new windshield, the A/C was acting up again, and it was throwing various codes related to the timing chain that came and went.
While I was trying to decide if it was worth spending the significant amount of money needed to get it back into good condition, an acquaintance sent out an email that he had an 07 Audi A4 with a manual (with new tires and clutch) he couldn't get to smog, and he was going to just sell it to the state unless someone wanted to buy it from him for the same amount. For the price, I couldn't pass up the opportunity, and after taking the intake manifold off to clean the intake valves/bowls (which were horribly gunked up from being a direct injection engine), it was no longer throwing misfire codes. I enjoy driving it quite a bit more than a 5,500 lbs. SUV and gas/tire costs are quite a bit lower, so the GL became expendable. After getting quotes from Carmax and Carvana (didn't want to deal with selling a cheap car on Craigslist again), it went to Carmax. It didn't get much ($800) as would be expected for a car of that mileage with that many needed repairs, but at least it was the 4X the Carvana offer.
It was a great family car. It left us stranded once when I had 5 kids in the car for my son's birthday party at an out of town waterpark on a 110F+ day when the A/C compressor seized and shredded the accessory belt, but Enterprise was fortunately open to provide a minivan for the trip home. The kids weren't very happy with it when the latch on the rear hatch stopped latching about an hour before departure and killed a planned weekend trip to Disneyland, but they got over it. I'll miss it. Went on many family trips and kid sporting events over the years and gave me an opportunity to use my 13 and 16mm sockets and wrenches that had never been used in many years of wrenching on Japanese cars! I'll still be around since other than the steering rack and a not missed at all lack of air suspension, the ML is pretty much the same mechanically as the GL.
If anyone wants the MB chrome crossbars from the rack, I hung onto them and I'll sell them cheap although when I got them used they were missing the rubber strip that fills in the channel at the top of the bar. Leaving that open results in a unbelievable amount of wind noise, so I've just filled it in with round grey weather stripping that has to be replaced every couple of years.
I had to do the pump a couple of years ago, and digging through my large file of receipts, it looks like the dealer also replaced the pump and the hoses at 60K miles. I'm probably going to forget things, but over the years:
I replaced: PS pump, PS reservoir, alternator (twice), starter, many cam magnets, transfer case, driveshaft, many front shocks/air springs, rear air bags, rear shocks, airmatic pump, power window switch, power seat switch, front control arms, ball joints, normal maintenance items (plugs, all the fluids, belts, batteries etc)
I upgraded: headlights with better projectors, replaced the command unit with a double din Pioneer head unit
Mostly under warranty, the dealer replaced: PS pump and hoses, front shocks/air springs, cam seals, rebuilt the transmission at 42K miles (service adviser said it looked like the previous owner abused it), steering rack, later replaced the steering rack pump head, engine heads due to a problem with porosity that doesn't seem to be common (and it looks like installed cylinder sleeves?) to fix an internal coolant loss issue at 60K miles, seat belt buckle, engine wiring harness (due to oil contamination), camshaft solenoid, A/C compressor/condenser, intake cam hall sensor, fuel pump/filter, rear hatch latch (2X).
It certainly needed its share of repairs, but on the bright side, with the exception of a small section of paint on one of the fender flares that started peeling, the paint held up remarkably well and still looked new after waxing. The interior held up really well too. It looked like a car with 51K miles rather than 251K.
Thanks for the list.
how about radiator and water pump of your GL, probably also got replaced at least once?
regarding the headlight upgrade, did you purchase the new headlight assembly from rockauto.com? at $250 each, seems pretty good option.
Thanks for the list.
how about radiator and water pump of your GL, probably also got replaced at least once?
regarding the headlight upgrade, did you purchase the new headlight assembly from rockauto.com? at $250 each, seems pretty good option.
Believe it or not, I never had to do the water pump. Also, unless the dealer did it when they rebuilt the transmission, the conductor plate was never replaced either. WRT to the headlights, I heated them up in an oven (240F for 12 mins seems to work well), popped the lenses off and replaced the stock projectors with dull bowls with EVOX-R projectors that drop in with minor mods and Morimoto HB projectors for high beams. I and others have posts on the topic that will show up with a search for evox-r if you're interested in details. I liked them so much, I did the same thing to the lights in my ML.
It certainly needed its share of repairs, but on the bright side, with the exception of a small section of paint on one of the fender flares that started peeling, the paint held up remarkably well and still looked new after waxing. The interior held up really well too. It looked like a car with 51K miles rather than 251K.
A long time ago @alx said something that stuck with me: That truck ages well.
I met a fellow with a similar vintage ML. His comment: "It grows on you."
If my old X164 GL450 didn't leak water into the cabin like a sieve, I'd still be driving it with over 300k miles. Darn fine car that still looks good today.
A long time ago @alx said something that stuck with me: That truck ages well.
I met a fellow with a similar vintage ML. His comment: "It grows on you."
I'd agree. The most reliable miles on mine were 100-200K. All the stuff that wasn't right from the factory had been fixed and the other stuff hadn't worn out yet. I'm hoping the same will apply with the ML since it currently has 112K miles. So far so good. I fixed a couple of things that were wrong with it when i got it (leaking oil cooler and CV boot), and haven't had to repair anything else after a year of ownership.
I'd agree. The most reliable miles on mine were 100-200K. All the stuff that wasn't right from the factory had been fixed and the other stuff hadn't worn out yet. I'm hoping the same will apply with the ML since it currently has 112K miles. So far so good. I fixed a couple of things that were wrong with it when i got it (leaking oil cooler and CV boot), and haven't had to repair anything else after a year of ownership.
Time marches on. I remember when I moved on from my 94 Saab 9000 Aero. I took it from 157K miles to 285K miles. Something sweet about being a caretaker for so long.
Thanks again for your writeup on the Morimoto projector upgrade. You gave me the motivation to do them on my GL and then on my daughter's CLK320.
It needed several thousand $ of parts and repairs. A set of name brand 295/40/21 tires are $1,800+ alone. I could have probably sold it for somewhat more on a private party sale, but it wasn't worth the hassle.
12-06-2023, 05:17 PM
