GMBALL

Awesome man! Very nice car! It seems like we both have absolutely same cars. I've got the same interior (check the W164 picture topic). And yes, the car is very powerful. I've got Michelin tires as well.
You have to tint the car for sure and put some side steps on it. I feel very happy for you! Finally you have your car!

AR.Shah

Well mine closes without any problems, I just softly slam it.
I will get the new command dvd next week, lets see if I'm able to watch dvd-film then. The cargo compartment net/cover is extra and I have to pay for it myself.. Really I feel MB is behaving cheaply.

Thanks GMBALL! I like the tint but not sure about the stepbars, do they actually have a function or is it more like a visual effect?

GMBALL

Well, yeah, they have a function and a visual effect as well. I would say 50 to 50. Here is an old pic of mine with stepbars.

dante&david

I live and work in Greece, usually i stay for a good part of the year with my family in Italy too, just close to Maranello (ferrari's plant), so a 30-35.000 km per year driver, completely sick about cars.

I have owned an old G-class, like an armoured vehicle, and the best I had as my last car was a VW Touareg tunned by me with Caractere Parts, I wish i could save the photos to show to you, which i sold last year for 40.000 Euros after using it for around 45.000 km, thanks to a very special design and good maintainance. The VW needed a petrol station to follow me as it was incredibly a high consumption engine, a 3.2 benzine v6, not powerfull enough for the weight of the car itself and for that reason always needed to bring it in high regimes to earn some speed or performance. I invite all the forum not to buy a VW v6 3.2 benzine, it will make only 350 km with one full tank of around 95-100 ltr and you will stop more in the gas stations then in your home. I could hardly get 215 km/hour from that car in the sport mode, with a maybe 35 ltr/100 km consumpion. Sometimes i did only 4 km with one liter of gas!!!!! The car was smooth in the ride and comfortable but not something to justify the around 60.000 euros i spent and the love i put on that car and with the level of stupid consumption it makes you feel an idiot! I drove my friend's last MB S-class, long version, 125.000 Euro just new car, and i did 390 km with only 41 ltrs of benzine, and the car was a 500 S-class!!! I drove average 140-180 km/hour all time!

So you understand the reason why i have ordered an MB ML 320 CDI as my next car! I ordered it here in Thessaloniki, Greece a week ago and i wish I can have it enter this year, but i will have patience, as this car, beeing liked so much all over the world it is normal that delays will occure as there is only one plant of production and we all will have to wait more and more.

My new car will be a 2006 ML 320 CDI, Navi, Park, wood inside, leather, entertainment rear, Irridium col, privacy glasses, Airmatic, Bi-Xenon, Sound Logic7 System, foldable mirrors, crome package, 6 cd mp3, front rear spoilers, crome mask infront, something around 81.000 euros here in Greeece!! Over 10.000 euros more expensive then in Italy or more then in Germany or the U.S.A. But we have here lower inssurance rates and in 4 years we get the same price, if one calculates everything!

I enjoy your postings and reviews and experiences of this car and especially this engine and i will be active too in this forum!

I wish all MB ML owner good luck and fantastic experiences!

puckrup

Just checked, they are Pirelli P-Zero Rosso's 255 x 50 x 19". Superb grip.

AR.Shah

Puckrup> Its funny your tires are different than mine (Michelin "diamaris" or something like that). Why are UK tires different than rest of Europe?

AR.Shah

dante&david> Congrats with your order, hopefully you'll get your car faster and with a lot less fuss than I did. Apart from that I am very pleased with the car. I drive about 30-40.000km a year so diesel is the obvious choice, diesel engines are usually more durable and re-sale value is also better here in Denmark. Currently I have 1500km on the clock and average consumption has been 7.2km per liter. I think this high fuel consumtion is due to my driving mostly in urban areas and perhaps also because the engine is brand new.

dante&david

AR.Shah> Thanks. The prices here in Greece, really no one here knows why, and Greece is being punished a lot lately by the EU and still preferres to pay the penalties but not to change legislation (Greece is the only EU Country still with customs against foreign products!!!), are too high, and that order was my maximum limit possible to me. With that price (around 80.000 Euros) one can buy 2 ML's in the U.S.A. for example! That is life, i can do nothing but empty my pockets becouse i believe in this car!

About the consumption you are experiencing, seems too high for a diesel engine! I would expect something better from the latest MB diesel V6! Why is that? Of course one that own this car can of course spend 100 euros more or 200 per month but the point is why a car that weights around 2100 kg and has such a powerful engine spends so much?

I had a horrible experience myself with my last car, a VW Touareg V6 benzine and i hope i will not have that repeated with the ML. I could hardly do 350-400 Km with a full tank of 95-100 litres and i did not like that short autonomy! But the VW Touareg weighted around 2600 kg or more and still their technology is not equal to MB and i thought that that was the problem!

Do you drive, full load on your pedal?

I saw with my eyes the S-Class, 500 benzine, of my partner cruising at 140-180 km/hour average for around 390 km with around half tank, about 42 litres i believe. How can a 500 engine, benzine!!!, spend less then our 320 CDI?

dante&david

This is what someone in the Forum answered when i asked him about fuel consumption in a ML 350 (benzine): -I average about 18 miles/hour or 7.65 km/liter, city and highway/expressway.

That is why i did not understand the level of consumption you mentioned for a 320 diesel. If you compare, the ML 350 seems more economic and with a longer autonomy?????!!!!! It can not be real!

AR.Shah

Nothing beats Denmark in terms of registration duties. First there is 25% VAT and on top of that there is 180% duty on all cars here. So when you buy a car here, you pay three times as much as eg. in Germany. This makes Denmark the most expensive car-country in the world! You're lucky to pay the double price.. My car ended up costing (including 11% discount) appox. 1.060.000Dkr. = €143.000

Yes I do put the pedal often and 80-90% of my driving has been in urban areas (lots of trafficlights etc.) with a/c on. I've been told that fuel consumption will improve in time as engine wears. Lets see what happens. My friend has the ML350 and he has almost the same driving pattern as me (80-90% urban), believe me he does not average more than 4.5-6 km/l. The official MB average value for the ML320CDI is 10.4km/l. Remember this is a heavier car and it has permanant four wheel drive. The best I have done so far is 9L/100km =11.1km/l (on highway), see enclosed picture.

dante&david

I feel released now that you gave me that example of your friend with the ML 350. Seems correct what you say. It would be imposible otherwise. In this view there is a big difference and sense on choosing a diesel instead of an benzine engine and i am more convinced now.

I am surprised about prices in Denmark, is this fair? Becouse we operate generally with the same currency, the euro, and why a german is even stimulated by the state to buy cars and we others have to pay twice or triple for the same product, inside the same continent and market field? I find this frustrating a lot. Our money has the same value, almoust when we get payed for everything we do and when we spend it, the value varies! It is very abstract to me. Especially when, like here in Greece, the infrastructure is far from being modern or eficient, there is nothing here like in Denmark or other northern countries in terms of nature and environment beauty, we even lack a full highway net, our roads are a shame to drive in, and more.

Only one thing here is in the proportion of the situation, we pay for the diesel 0.88 - 095 Euros and for the benzine 0.95-1.05 Euros.

The rest is unfairly expensive.

Thanks for your infos anyway..........

AR.Shah

hehe.. Denmark despite ranking among the top 10 richest countries in the world has very greedy tax policies, especially on cars where you buy two for the goverment and one for yourself everytime you place an order.

Wow diesel seems fairly cheap in Greece Btw despite being a member of EU we don't have the Euro here, just like Sweden and the UK.

AR.Shah

Rear boot lock