Hello,

I am already the very happy owner of an S class W221, an SL R230, and it was time to add a GL X164 to the garage on account of twins

I bought a car with 68000 Miles, 2007 year, 1 owner.

Car needs:

* Rear left control arm bushing is shot, will replace the arm
* Rear left air spring is original, looks like a bubble forming, I'll replace it
* Will send both rear shock absorbers to be rebuilt
* Intake manifold will replace with new, the variable runners are stuck
* Oil in wiring harness, didn't reach DME, so will just replace harness (easy)
* Car has 19" wheels, with 275/55/19 tires, will replace as they're 2019

Other than that, it's perfect. Everything works, and I'm very happy with the car.

Feedback from a W221 owner >15 yrs:

* Car rides much smoother over horrible roads than my W221 (long wheelbase v221) with 255/45/18 + 275/40/18 Michelin Pilot Sport 4's
* Performance is excellent
* Car feels stable even in the rain
* No torque steer or weird shuddering under acceleration
* 4MATIC seems to be amazing, my next S-class will likely be 4MATIC
* No rattles at all, which is amazing
* Comfortable seating position, not like the W221, but *very* close

Now, I have just one question for now..

How, do you get the transmission to sit in Comfort (C) mode? There's an S/M button on the center consoles which switches between Sport & Manual, however I can't get the gearbox into Comfort (C) mode.

The manual says that on each restart the vehicle will go to C comfort mode, however it doesn't do so - it goes directly to S.

All the best & thanks!!

 

That Comfort mode on the gearbox must be a “USA” thing. My gearbox modes here in Australia is just Sports/Manual.

My suspensions modes though are Normal, Comfort, Sports modes.

 

Comfort/sport/nothing mode only changes the shock damping rates - that’s what Advanced Dampening System does.

it does not alter the shift points of the transmission in any way.

 

Rear left control arm bushing is shot, will replace the arm - OK
* Rear left air spring is original, looks like a bubble forming, I'll replace it - replace both while you are in there as they are cheap and easy DIY
* Will send both rear shock absorbers to be rebuilt - probably a good idea as it looks like you have ADS suspension. A working replacement may be tough to find.
* Intake manifold will replace with new, the variable runners are stuck - don't bother as it will just break again. Did not notice any difference in performance or economy with or without. I wish I had not replaced mine as it was a waste of money.
* Oil in wiring harness, didn't reach DME, so will just replace harness (easy) - that's a first I've ever heard of that on the 164.
* Car has 19" wheels, with 275/55/19 tires, will replace as they're 2019 - good idea.

 

As Max notes ... while transmission modes are available for selection on your S-class, they are NOT available on your GL450. You will start in 1st every time. Vehicle too heavy, I assume.

 

Chris, I believe it is second gear start.
I have to left paddle to get to D1 granny gear if I ever need it.

 

Today I drove the car on the highway for the first time, I'll need to replace the tires immediately as they're week 33 of 2019, some terrible Pirelli all season (granted they're MO, but.. Pirelli.. arghh)

Vibrates at over 100KM/hr it's 100% the tires as they are shot.

I plan to purchase a 2nd set of wheels and use those for dedicated Winter/Snow tires, although tbh I may just skip that as I have a new set of Michelin Arctic Pilot for my W221 so perhaps I'll save the money and just use the W221 when it snows.

Regards to summer tires now:

* Michelin Latitude
* Michelin Pilot Sport 4 SUV

These are the main choices here.. The car has 275/55/19 tire size. I'm leaning towards the PS4 SUV on account of the improved wet-weather performance. This is not a vehicle that will move quickly (no spirited driving), as probably 95% of the time it will have the children in it.

I use the PS4 on the W221 S-class and the R230 SL, as well as my brother's X5 4.8 E70, and they do inspire confidence.

I don't expect them to last long, as they'll get old before they get worn anyway, I just want to have that extra performance envelope for dangerous situations. This vehicle is extremely heavy, and I do feel a sense of responsibility towards other drivers of much smaller cars, even shaving off 1 meter of braking distance can be the difference between life/death/or a hospital visit.

The vehicle feels huge to me, I can't even imagine driving it the way I used to drive my SL. I was driving it today and couldn't understand why a GL63 was even built, i.e. 612 HP in something this heavy just feels frightening if something goes wrong..

At any rate, I'm happy as this feels to be the best choice for a 7 seat vehicle, I have absolutely no regrets for choosing this over the Vito..

The previous owner had replaced the COMAND head unit (which he included, and I tested it - it's failed/dead) with an Avin Avant PX30 android unit. I'm fine with this, and I'll likely buy an Audison 5 channel amplifier and setup new Focal speakers front & rear, and *probably* buy the HK original subwoofer with it's assembly and just use that on the 5th channel.

I need to see what to do with the rear screens now, perhaps I can get them to work via the RCA video-out signal the Avin Avant provides. I spent some time on these displays yesterday and I get the feeling that without the COMAND head unit they are in a difficult position, I have the remote and was able to change TV channels alas no video. I'd like to be able to play youtube videos on the rear-displays to keep the children occupied on long trips.

Other than that, no issues. Car feels good, and as I said, I'm glad I chose the GL over anything else.

Thanks for the feedback guys!

 

The reason I'm thinking of doing the intake job is that I have heard that the runners can break and be ingested into the motor, bending valves and such.

RE: efficiency, I drove the car 170KM total so far, mix of city, slow-city (traffic) and highway, and this gave an average fuel efficiency of 16.2L / 100 [ 14.52 US MPG] , including all the 'new owner' acceleration tests, i.e. "Wow, I wish I had an M273 in my W221, how is it so fast" acceleration blasts

This efficiency figure was tested at the pump i.e. full-actual, although I must say that the figure I calculated manually corroborates the vehicle's dashboard claimed efficiency.

 

I have not read every single comment on the thread.

and four of my cars including the GL putting the selector in s means that I will start in first gear not a second. That said, many people myself included have used services and programming tools to make the car always start in s mode with Eco turned off. Could be your car had that modification prior