Evening Everyone, Hope things are well. Firstly please bear with me as I am not only new to the forum but also to the world of cars - have not much knowledge about them.

I own a Peugeot 307 at the moment however would like to upgrade to a Mercedes Benz ML 270 for various reasons. One is being the number of people in the household (i.e. 7 - I can't remember when we all went together somewhere), and the 2nd, number of times we got the darn car repaired. I already spent £2000 on the car repairing the same problem twice and also I heard that we can get same or similar millage in bigger cars these days. Hence, I am sick of my current car and want to buy something German (i.e. reliable and solid).

Now, I have a budget of upto £6000 (and thereof). I have been looking at some MLs on Autotrader (2003/4 models) but I am not sure what to look out for in terms of car itself other than making sure it's 7 seater. That is the reason I have joined the forum to get some 'experienced' and 'professional' guidance as to what things to look out for and perhaps what model (year and engine wise) I should be looking at. I have read the section https://mbworld.org/forums/m-class-w...out-163-a.html but I can't understand if it is also applicable to 2003/04 models as well.

As for traveling, mainly we travel long distances like four of our family members recently (3 weeks ago) went to Europe (France, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, and Austria). We also generally travel between Birmingham, Coventry, Cardiff, Bristol, London and Manchester quite allot of times (Bristol, Cardiff and Birmingham is more often then any other cities).

I'd really appreciate if you could please help me in this matter, I am happy to provide further details if required.

Kind Regards

Jehanzeb

 

The W163 was the last MB compact 7-seater. For MY2006, they split the model family into the W164 with maximum 5 seats and the X164 GL-Class (released a year later) with 7 seats as standard. The X164 is 450 mm longer than the W163.

I think it's an excellent choice for carrying 7 people. Some feel that the legroom is insufficient in the 3rd row but it's quite adequate for normally-sized people. A team of basketballers would be more comfortable in a GL.

Perfectly good for transporting 7 models.

In terms of long distance journeys, you put your shortest kids in the 3rd row and everyone should be happy. You can retrofit 3rd row cupholders (if the one you buy doesn't have them) to improve the amenities.

The W163 MY2002+ models are superior to the previous versions with a significant exterior facelift and 1100 new or redesigned parts. By that time, they had been making them for 4 years so they had their act together.

Strictly speaking, it's not a German car as MLs were initially made in the southern USA, using German engines, transmissions, technical know-how and design philosophy. From 1999 to 2002 many (over 70,000) were built in Austria to serve the European market. You can identify these by the VIN plate - the letter preceding the last 6 digits is X. (A if made in the USA)

If the idea of a US-built Mercedes appeals to you less than an Austrian one, then go for a 2002, otherwise anything from 2002-2005 is good. Wherever they were made, they are safe and mostly reliable vehicles. There is always the odd lemon in any batch.

I also recommend buying one with Parktronic if possible. It's a valuable feature I use every day. It can be retrofitted too - mine was.

If I may, I would like to know the ages of the people in your household.

 

Morning DrX, Thank you for your informative input, much appreciated. We are 7 all together and all of us are in our 20's except parents (obviously). I think the heights matter much of it then age, we're between 5'4 to 6'2. Anyhow, I was also looking at some of the 2002+ models i.e. 2003/4 but not sure which ones to go for. For example some of them are advertised as 'Family Pack' and some are 'Lux Pack', I wonder what do they mean by such things (what's the difference) and whether it really makes a difference (or is it just a marketing gimmic). Regards J

 

Yes, the heights are what I was interested in. And also if you had any children young enough to need a booster or child seat - these make it slightly squeezier. You don't, so that's fine.

Family pack is a term I'm unfamiliar with - probably means factory 3rd-row seats and opening electric 3rd-row windows. Some 7-seaters will have retrofitted 3rd-row seats which means everything except the opening windows. The flip-forward 40% 2nd-row seat to allow access for 3rd-row passengers is also a retrofit that some 3rd-row retrofitters didn't do (they let their kids climb over the folded 2nd row) - make sure the one you buy has that.

Lux pack means luxury package which is leather seats, steering wheel and gearshift knob. That's very common, almost standard. Some lower-grade trim levels were offered in earlier models (sit on cloth, vinyl edges) but weren't popular.

Other nice options are rain sensor (which adjusts the wiper speed according to the rain density) and heated front seats. These won't add much to the overall used-vehicle price but do add to the luxury you want to enjoy from a Mercedes - even an American one. Comand, the MB sat nav system controls everything except the air con and is great. (CD player, radio, phone, you can even fit a TV tuner.) That's an expensive factory option so it could jack the price up 10%.

If the ad includes the VIN, (many do) you can run that through a VIN decoder (there's a free Russian one at www.detali.ru, click on Mercedes in the left-side nav bar) then run the "datacard" result through Google translate and it will list all the car's factory options.

 

Bump vinyl.

 

Firstly apologies for the late reply DrX, have been busy with work so could not reply early enough. Your advise is priceless, I am surely going to look out for the things that you mentioned. While I am still searching for a better ML, I stumble upon the car that one dealer in Birmingham is selling, however I didn't notice anything about 'VIN' - is this term a short form of something? For example, this car http://www.tradecarsalesbirmingham.c...01233481643191 - Although the one I was looking for has been sold but on this one, I am not sure where to or how to identify VIN?

Oh and Is there any usual faults that I should be looking out or perhaps asks before buying ML? I am not car tech so hardly knows what to look out for in terms of faults or usual things like rust etc.

Your help is much appreciated

Kindest Regards

J

 

No worries. You can type "what is a VIN" into Google and learn about it yourself. If you inspect one in person, the VIN is printed at the bottom left-hand corner of the windshield, visible through the glass. Snap a photo with your camera phone and if you have mobile internet access, you can look up and decode it on the spot. This ad has a VIN you can play with: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/2002-...item5ae8fb401e

As for faults and rust, these vehicles had excellent rust protection at the factory. Read about it here from the factory's website: http://www.mbusi.com/pages/factory_paint.asp

You can tell if it has been kept in a garage or in the open. Most forums have a guide for prospective owners - including things to look out for when buying.