Hi. Let me introduce myself. I'm a C-class owner, myself, but both my mom and dad own MLs. My mom has had the '00 ML320 since the beginning, and my dad just picked up a '01 ML 430 this weekend. It's an interesting experience when you have nearly identical cars, just engine differences and such. I use these similarities to draw upon in asking this question.

I've never had this occur with the 320, but when I started the 430 this morning (blocking me on my way out), before shifting the tach was above 1k RPM and didn't come down, and I waited for about a minute. Then I shifted into reverse, and the revs dropped down to about 800 (understandable while in gear). After parking it again, the revs again stabilized at about 700-800 (which is normal behavior on the 320). The question is: is this normal behavior for the 430? Does it just start high revving in the beginning to heat up the engine, or should I worry? (And no, my foot was not resting on the gas pedal! :p)

Thanks in advance.

 

it's normal...all cars should high idle for about a minute or so to warm up the catalytic converters quicker, therefore reducing emissions. If your 320 doesn't do this...that is not normal (unless you're talking about starting a warm engine). Cold engine, it should high idle all the time then drop down.