hello everyone. I am a rookie here [newbie is NOT a word!] and I would like your advice. after reading ALL of the posts on the edmunds ml message board and coming here to get more knowledge I need to know if buying the 320 is the right thing for me. I dont do off roading and I need the cargo room that the ml has. I have wanted a benz for a long time and I think the best overall deal is the ml for me. the brake issues I have read about in the 430 [dont want a 500 and can afford it if I did...] scare me. I have mainly owned japanese cars and as is the stereotype, they dont break. styling sucks in the suv realm though and the ml is just beautiful as well as practical. drove the 430 last week and loved the engine and ride and the extras it comes with over the 320. can I get xenons installed after the fact by a dealer? I am buying used or leftover and probably wont have the choice since the benz dealers tend to have cookie cutter mls on the lots. on the circa 2000-1 ml can the fog lights be installed by the dealer? I really want the navigation but am wondering if the 2003 dvd based system will fit in the older model mcs bay. just today I was at a local dealer and the uninformed sales guy couldnt tell me anything. whats the real world mileage on the 320. no lead foots please. there are other mods I intend to do to it but these questions pertain to what I hope are dealer installs. the sales guy actually told me when I asked him that the 99 and onward mls are the ones to buy though the forums and message boards I have read say its 2000 and up. is this true. are many of you planning on keeping your ml for 5-10 years? and finally , is warranty gold a viable alternative to the mb warranty? sorry for the long post but thanks in advance. you can reply at my email address if you wish. [digitalb@subdimension.com]

ps.

is drew [ailing] the former edmunds ml host here now? thanks to all the moderators for your work too.

 

On the 98 ML320 that I had mileage around town was 17/18 and on the road 23 or so. Believe on the newer ones its a little less as the ML gained quite a bit of weight. My curent ML500 gets around 10 in the city and 19 or so on the road.

 

Apparently there are some people who are very disappointed in their ML quality, but I am not one of them - It has been a great vehicle so far.

The only thing that has happened in 35,000 miles has been a fuel pump failure, which was fixed with same-day service on warranty. The fuel pump did not strand us, the engine just cut in and out occasionally.

Our 2000 ML320 gets about 17-18 in the city, and about 23-27 on the highway, so our experience correlates well with sosh's.

The 98's and 99's are essentially identical, as are '00 and '01 models. A new model is expected for 04. I imagine the '03 model will be essentially identical to the current ('02) one.

I think MLs just get better - the newer ones will always be better than the older ones - MB continually updates their cars, fixing problems, etc.

We have had to replace brakes pads pretty frequently (fronts at 24,000, rears at 35,000) - that does seem to be endemic to MLs. They are an expense, but compared to everything else in life it is cheap.

Yes, I am pretty sure you can xenon's installed by the dealer, but if you know you want them you should get them new - it will be a lot cheaper.

I would not count on the DVD nav system fitting - in fact as far as I know it has not been announced for the ML - only the W211 and the SL. As you noted, the ML uses the MCS system which is totally different from the COMAND systems in the other cars.

I would seriously consider the extended warranty - we didn't do it on ours but if you plan on keeping it more than four years it might be worth it - they refund your unused time if you trade it in before it's used u.

You can have fog lights installed later ( I hate the fact that I have a fog light switch but no fog lights) but the MB units require the front nerf bars, which I dislike. So we still have no fog lights.

When we bought ours we specified the options and colors and got exactly what we wanted within three days - the dealer searched around for our desired car and hauled it in.

 

Not certain if the DVD based Nav will be on the 03. The 02's have built in fog lights as std. I got 40K out of the front pads on my 98 and the rears still had 40% left. My 02 ML500 had all pads and rotors changed at 4000 due to severe squeal. Brake squeal and erratic wear are a problem on all the V8 ML's. I suggest a new 02 model, great improvements over all previous years and many new neat features.