jayj

absolutely. i'm by no means a porsche zealot. if the ml63 offers more power and similar handling, i'll be the first one to trade in my cayenne turbo for it. in the meantime, nothing comes close to it, imho. however, if you are considering a cayenne or the cayenne s, i'd say ml500 may be the better choice.

dserban2

Well, I got today the ML500. I drove both and I can say that with the Airmatic the ML handles great and it has plenty of power.

Paul Le Corre

I'm always suprised when I hear people so much worried about th handling of the SUV.By their design these cars won't handle like a regular sedan but, personnally, it's not what I search. I drove the 163 on many occasion and its ride quality was more than enough for me (except perhaps the aerodynamic noise at high speed).
If I buy a SUV it's because it's a car with a great driving position, plenty of space for a family, a good towing capacity and some of road abilities.
If I was so focused on handling, I would have taken an E-class estate.

PHILIP 777

I read that Rubensans blames again the brakes as a weak point on the w164!

I really do not understand that such a company with intelligence can not copy the super brakes of x5 or Cayenne.

We drive x5 and w163 and brake difference is huge. It feels even insecure when used to drive the x5.

We ordered the w164 with the trust and evidence that that problem should be out of question.

Still hope for the best !

amb9800

It's 5 states -- the ones that follow California's emissions standards.

The diesels (including the 3.2 CDI in the E) aren't able to meet emissions standards with today's US diesel, which is quite dirty and has a lot of other stuff in it. We should have clean diesel by some time in 2006, by which time diesels should speed up sales-wise in the US.

ruykava

i always am interested in questions abot MB brakes. many people supposedly seem not to like them, but i found them powerful if not really progressive. i nvr got used to driving my other cars after my W211 E-class, finding the brakes not powerful enough. so i think it's safe to say the ML wouldn't have a problem in that department

just a point of interest, is mercedes still using SBC in the ML or have they switched to some new system? (hopefully this hasn't been discussed before but i couldn't find anything on the forum regarding it)

rubensans

I think they use the traditional system

Paul Le Corre

I never had problem with brakes on the past ML and I don't like i will with the 164.

dserban2

So far the breaks are fine. No problems and from driving the Cayenne and the X5, I do not notice any major differences.

beemaze

Coming from someone who actually owns both and having driven the new W164 ML, I like the Cayenne much better. Way more reliable than all the media B.S. I've read. You can find a good deal on a used S or turbo and it will drive like a Porsche.

I can't wait to get rid of the ML -probably in a couple of months. Yesterday, our ML just lost all of it's power steering fluid in my driveway for the 4th time. Basically, it's undriveable and I will have it towed in on Tue.