DC-BENZ

After 2 decades of dealing with MB SUV's beginning with helping my parents fight the 1998 engine seizures issues in 1999 with the help of the old MB email list, to my own 163 (ML430 most reliable so far, RIP via deer) in the early 2ks, my 164 Bluetec (not sold yet) and now my '13 x166 Bluetec (my first GL) which is the best ride so far.

Pro's

Quiet even with Pano (weird that there's no sunshade in the 3rd row). Tint or buy the sunshade?

Alot of bells and whistles (missing keyless go, HK, massage seats, infared). I think I have everything else), of which many are actually useful. I enjoy adaptive cruise especially during rush hour. (I often think of the nefarious things I could have used it for in my single days)

I don't use the adaptive suspension (sport/comfort) button as often as I did in the ML164 (this is a big truck to throw through the back road corners so I now I try to straighten them out vs attacking them). Also the 164 has 3 settings Sport/Comfort/Off vs Sport/Comfort. The Comfort mode isn't as "floaty" as the 164 so that's where I keep it most time (Except in the mountains of Western MD).

The cornering headlights are ok but wow, the HIDs are so bright (coming from a lifetime of halogen headlights)! I do wish the automatic brightness feature worked at lower speeds (neighborhood speed).

The auto parallel parking is fun except trying to get it to work timely on busy Georgetown/city side streets (vehicles pile up on your bumper not knowing you want to park regardless of your turn signal). I tried it out in the burbs with the family and they all screamed when I removed my hands off the wheel (Hilarious). My 4 yr old calls it the robot car. But since my vehicle isn't a 14 or 15 ( or what every year autonomous pull in/ back in features became available) I don't get to use it much in my daily or weekend commute/errands.

The engine is quieter than my 164 Bluetec or more insulated. And the GL feels faster than my 164 as well. It's supposed to get better gas mileage than my old 164 but that's yet to be seen. My 164 almost always hits 300 miles at the half tank mark. The x166 is not as consistent. This past week was about 280 miles. The highest "trip calculator" MPG on the 164 was 31 mpgs vs 27.5 in the x166. I'm not quite sure this is a con so I'll leave it alone here in the Pro's sector or maybe I should say it's just an "observation"..

The X166 isn't as common as the ML 166 and 164 in my area which is a bit strange because there are tons of Land Rover products and XL Cadillacs. I say all that to say, I kind of miss blending in with the ML whereas, the GL sticks out like a sore thumb. One good thing is that it's white, the same color as most others I see in the DC area.

The interior looks really nice, I'm impressed. Do any of you remember the plastic 163 interior? Kind of like going from halogen lights to HID .

I wasn't so interested in the rear monitors thinking "who wouldn't want to engage with their kid on a nice drive"......until a buddy of mine loaded his son in the rear with mine. Boy were they loud! I stopped for fuel just before the quick 50 minute ride to Baltimore, loaded a DVD and OMG peace!!!! Genius! My buddy and I were able to catch up on the old days with out worrying about someone repeating something to the wives at the absolute most inconvenient time.. Gotta love MB headphones!


Cons:

The seats are uncomfortable compared to any other vehicle I've owned. And the wear quality is atrocious. Acording to the VMI the driver's seat bottom was replaced at 17k miles. I had it replaced at 38k. But they sure are purdy..

Can you get white paint to have a deep shine? I'm new to the whiteness.

The wood veneer is still kind of fragile as it was in the 164.

Boy are those headphones expensive!

I'm still nervous about the issues Bluetecs have. I paid dearly for that in my 164.

The active lane departure is an issue for me on the back roads I travel on a daily basis. On single lane, 2 way traffic roads, passing a road bike club and or pedestrians in the roadway, the system thinks you are crossing the center yellow lines by accident so it pulls you right back toward the people in the roadway. Scary!

The pano sunshade seems like it will deteriorate in the future if I don't retract it when I decide to drive with the windows down/open. It buffers quite a bit in those situations.

Maverick0394

Thanks for your thoughts...

DC-BENZ

Update:

Pano Roof is very loud when the rain pours. Quite annoying, even my 5 yr old covered his ears.

It was nice to carry 6 people around comfortably ditching the need for a 2nd vehicle.

Also, with a the vehicle full of people no one noticed that I was using Adaptive Cruise while in the Myrtle Beach stop and go traffic.

rominl

one idea is when you try to pass the bike group, trigger the turn signal. that will cause the lane departure to not react

DC-BENZ

Yes, I discovered that but I really don't think of doing so when avoiding deer, debri and animals.

Ericlojo

I have the third row pano. I tinted it (and all other windows) and got the sunshade. My dogs travel with us back there and need to keep the heat down. But it is nice to have light coming in back there when I have 6 people in the vehicle, feels less claustrophobic in those rear seats.

techfutbol

Thank for sharing your thoughts.

I hear you regarding the loud noise especially when it is raining. I just have a moon room and mine is very loud as well.

One thing that had made a bit of impact on reducing the noise is removing the 2 horizontal cross bars on the roof. Once I removed them the noise has come down quite a bit.

DC-BENZ

Interesting thought, the pano does allow it to feel less claustrophobic. I ended up tinting all the windows and purchased the sunshade as well.

My 4 yr old has officially moved himself to the 3rd row. He can see the road better and out of the 2nd and first row pano with ease now. I'm thinking he has the best seat in the house now.

DC-BENZ

I need mine for at least the xmas tree pick up from Coscto.

mpmGL550

Nice post, thanks. Was so looking for a 350 with active curve suspension, which dramtically helps L/R body roll. But they are super rare. Also rumors of MB getting caught up in its own diesel drama (I'm suffering from the effects of VW Touareg TDI seperation), made me shy away. Once I started looking, I fell in love with the AMG looks, and found a loaded 550 with 900 miles.

Have to agree with the posts on the driver aides. Lane departure is very intrusive, so I turned it off. Adaptive cruise works well, but it slows you between cars a bit too far away when your at a speed slightly above the flow of traffic. Haven't tried the auto park, because, like you, parking in a city has to be done quickly. Also my control module for the adaptive aides crapped out a 5,000 miles. Covered under warranty, but surprised it failed so quickly.

Still trying to figure out the right seat configuration for the kids. We have three, and are talking about #4. I'm thinking the 7 and 5 YOs in the 3rd row, and the babies in the 2nd, with hopefully enough room to have the single 2nd row seat open. Kind of bummed about how quickly the interior space disappears with 4 car seats. Guess I'll have to get a roof box for full family road trips.

While I preferred the Touareg for fuel economy and spirited driving (shorter wheelbase + diesel torque at speed), the GL is quite the 3 row cruiser for our family.

To many fun, and safe, years ahead!