98 ML320- Bringing it back to life!
 

I own a shop in Columbus, OH and yesterday I picked up a 98 ML320 that was sitting in someone's backyard here in Columbus. I thought it would be cool to make a thread showing the process of bringing it back to life!

The ML has 161,000 miles on it, but has a lot of potential!

A few things I have noticed right off the bat are....
-The transmission is stuck in limp mode
-Check engine light is on (due to transmission)
-Sunroof glass is shattered
-Driver's side window is busted out
-Wheels are rusted/ugly
-Cupholders are broken
-Tailgate struts are missing/need replaced
-Paint needs an extreme buff to remove imperfections, and bring back the shine.
-Interior is a little wet from sunroof missing
-Windshield needs replaced, also no wipers

I'm sure I will find more once I start digging into things deeper. Subscribe to the thread and stay tuned. I will be uploading pictures to show the progress as we go along.


Here are of a few photos of what it looked like when I picked it up...
http://i1126.photobucket.com/albums/...20/MLfront.jpg
http://i1126.photobucket.com/albums/...20/MLangle.jpg
http://i1126.photobucket.com/albums/...lsidefence.jpg

You are in limp mode because the shifter mechanism was left to the elements.

Remove the shifter, dismantle it and replace the range recognition switch,

This is good!!! Looking forward to this thread

Here is the old sunroof busted out....
http://i1126.photobucket.com/albums/...nroofontop.jpg

We removed all of the misc trim pieces, and the headliner. There were a lot of wires hidden above the headliner. They are for the dome lights, sunroof switch, vanity mirror lights etc.
http://i1126.photobucket.com/albums/...utos/Wires.jpg

Once we took the headliner out there were about 10-15 bolts holding the sunroof in. The hardest part about removing the sunroof assembly was removing the rubber hoses. There are 4 rubber hoses, 1 in each corner that connect to the sunroof to drain water. The 2 in the rear were very stubborn coming off, considering they have been connected for 15 years. We had to be careful when removing them that we did not break or crack the rubber or there would be big water leaks down the road.
http://i1126.photobucket.com/albums/...elookingup.jpg

Old assembly out
http://i1126.photobucket.com/albums/...sunroofout.jpg


I will post pictures later of the headliner and what we did to it, as well as putting the new sunroof back in.

For profit or will this be the shop cruizer?

I bought it for myself to drive in the snow this winter, so I wouldn't have to drive my E class in the harsh elements. I will probably sell the ML come spring time.

When the headliner was in the car I thought for sure I was going to need to replace it. It was wet around the sunroof, and filthy all over. After taking it out, I let it sit overnight underneath a heater and it was dry to the touch the next morning. I got lucky, the headliner did not separate from the backing, and structurally it appeared to be in really good shape.

Here are pictures of it dirty....
http://i1126.photobucket.com/albums/...linerdirty.jpg
http://i1126.photobucket.com/albums/...oseupdirty.jpg

I detailed the headliner before putting it back in, and now it looks BRAND NEW! Much easier to do out of the car, you don't strain your neck haha
http://i1126.photobucket.com/albums/...nroofclean.jpg
http://i1126.photobucket.com/albums/...oseupclean.jpg

Old sunroof sitting next to the new one, getting ready to put it in. My interior on my ML is gray, but the donor car had a tan interior. So I had to switch over the tray that slides to cover the sunroof on the interior. It would look really goofy if I had a big tan piece in there.
http://i1126.photobucket.com/albums/...oldsunroof.jpg

Don't you want to get it running properly before working on cosmetics?

Normally, yes, But my tech that does our in-depth diagnostics on transmissions has been busy working on other vehicles. And I didn't want to wait to get the project started. So I am getting everything else out the way, and the only thing left will be the limp mode issue.

Here is the sunroof completed, and working properly.
http://i1126.photobucket.com/albums/...ofcomplete.jpg

The passenger seat switch was not functioning, so I bought a new switch out of a tan vehicle. With my vehicle being gray, I had to take the switch out. If you turn the panel over, there are screws on the back holding it in. And the wiring plugs in the front middle of the seat.
http://i1126.photobucket.com/albums/...chassembly.jpg
http://i1126.photobucket.com/albums/...ckofswitch.jpg

Seat works perfect now!

Good work. Looks nice...someone must have painted the bumpers? I'm thinking all 98 ML320's had gray bumpers. At least mine did :D

Yes, all 98's had the grey bumpers so those bumpers are painted. I'm happy to see that this w163 is being restored and being put back on the road. With all this work you're putting into it, it might be hard to let go after the winter is over.

The windshield that was in the car had cracks stretching down the windshield from the top middle. If you ever replace your windshield in your ML with an aftermarket one, make sure it has the trim molding made to it. As some ML aftermarket windshields don't and those will leak.

Windshield out
http://i1126.photobucket.com/albums/...dshieldout.jpg

New windshield in, and new wipers as well.
http://i1126.photobucket.com/albums/...ndshieldin.jpg

have you fixed the limp mode problem?

It looks like the passenger air bag had been changed. Was the ML in an accident?

I agree with getting the vehicle weather tight before working on the rest of the problems especially if it's left outside when not being worked on.
Mike