Matt300ZXT

Since I'm up here in Maine now and need a good awd/4wd vehicle, I've started looking around and 2 Benz SUVs caught my eye. One is a GL450, but the owner is using the $$$ to pay off the loan to get the title back and situations like that always come off as a little fishy to me, so I'm going to pass on that one. However, there is a 2011 GLK in a nice gray color with only 124k on it I may go look at. It needs 4 new tires soon and they're asking a noticeable amount higher than the KBB average so I may have to see if they're negotiable before I go down to look at it.

Had Mercedes solved the balance shaft issues inherent in this design by this time or did they have it through the life of the engine run? Also, with it being a northern car I'm going to have to pay attention for clunks when shifting or accelerating due to the issue with no driveshaft bracket. I wouldn't want to buy a car where the driveshaft is ready to fall out the first time I drive in snow.

Mmr1

I would want written proof they followed the maintenance schedule. At that milage my 13 would need about 4 brake fluid flushes. At least one trans flush. And all other fluids , or did they skip maintenance?

have you had an mb, unless you can do some of the work and have a good mechanic repairs will break you . A pvc valve replace is easily 1200$. On an old American v8 it’s maybe 5$ and 5 minutes. Motor mounts on my 13 are maybe a 1200$ job. Many things mb did not care about making repairs cheap or easy. The front drive shaft took my mechanic 5-6 hours. If it was maintained and driven easy then it’s a good vehicle. Test drive it hot and beat it to see if the trans slips, get a mechanic that knows mb to inspect it. My 13 costs about 600$ for a trans drain and refill , You don’t want to buy 5000$- 10000.00$ in maintenance and repairs .

habbyguy

Most of the issues mentioned by Mmr1 are endemic to nearly all dealerships and nearly all models of cars. If you're a competent DIYer, the GLK 350 is (IMHO, YMMV) easier than most, and more reliable than most. It's certainly easier than my previous car (a 2006 BMW E61 530xi Touring), but that's setting the bar pretty low. ;-)

A 2011 (same as mine) 4Matic should be checked for that front driveshaft problem, and (especially) for looseness in the internal U-joint at the front output shaft from the transfer case. A problem there will be quoted at $10K by a stealership, but IS DIY-able (again, you've gotta be pretty competent). I did a couple videos on that process (but won't post it here hoping it's not necessary). ;-)

he motor mounts are normally toast by that many miles / years (they live about 1" below the exhaust manifolds, and are oil-filled rubber mounts), and are NOT a fun (figure 10-12 hours) job. If you can feel the engine idling or while starting, they're bad (or well on the way). With new mounts, I can almost not tell that the engine actually started, or is running (wasn't a BIT difficult with old mounts). ;-) Here's a short video showing the difference (it helps to turn up the volume to really get the feel for the vibrations).

NYCGLK

Balance shaft is non issue in M272. Intake still is.

Proper maint aside, which is fairly basic in this car, there are other things that will need attention on a 13 year old car.

Biggest issue is transfer case bearings and potentially front shaft u-joints

Other simpler things:
Pulleys should be replaced by now
Waterpump
Motormounts (PITA on AWD) and tans mount (easy)
Front and rear diff flushes (not recommended maintenance)
Stock pads are garbage
Rear subframe is under warranty now for 20 years for corrosion so should check that
There was airbag recall as well.

All in all GLK is a great fairly simple car if you can DIY.
It's fairly small so GL might be better. GL also doesn't have the same transfer case bearing issue, but chain can stretch. Not sure if there is issue with front shaft as with GLK so you might want to check GL forums (just don't get diesel). GL550 is probably a good deal.