dante&david

I just reached 61000 km, about 70 % of which in the crazy Thessaloniki (GREECE) traffic, jams, and the rest in trips to Italy, etc. Everything perfect. The ML 320 CDI is, util today, my best experience with a SUV, comfort, economy, autonomy, wheel consumption, all conditions performance, smoothness, silenciosity, in general every single function was very good and me and my family strongly advice this SUV to everyone which can allow it. Not a single problem from 0-61000 km in only 1.5 years use. In my case the saying "a mercedes is always a mercedes" is proven to be true. I am found of this car, I live in it for a good part of every day, and that is why I wanted to share this with the rest of this community.
I attached a photo to this Thread.

mmc

You average 48km/h . This is HUGE !!! I average 24km/h and i think that this will be the best for me.

dante&david

Yeah, I have driven at speeds over 200 km/h, oftenly, as in Greece the tolerance of the police is high, almost no policeman in the highways, no cameras, and this is also becouse the highways are lately built. But the most time I driven in or around the town of Thessaloniki, a small space with 2 mln inhabitants, the second large city in Greece after Athens, where oftenly I do more then one hour to get from one side to another. The humidity and often rainy weather do not help the engine to perform as it should, and that is why in general I rated the highest this ML 320 CDI as it has really surprised me and my family with its performance. And in our days, with the diesel prices that are raising daily, having a 2.2 ton SUV, and driving it in this conditions, it is to be said that this car is also economic and this is pretty much welcomed! I pay about 120 Euros for a full tank of diesel and I do from 800 km to 950 km distance with it! It is not certainly bad. A Toyota Yaris 1.4 (less then half weight of the ML) benzine, hardly makes 450 km with 40 ltrs in the same conditions (my friend has one). I appreciate very much to be able to own such a reliable SUV and at the same time pay normal to feed it and have great autonomy in long trips.
Not to speak about the silenciosity inside the cabine, impresive and even better then any benzine car I had before (VW Touareg V6 benzine incredibly nervous and noisy in the cabine while accelerating or speeding).
My advice to those owners of an ML 320 CDI that I hear experience strange problems with the gear box performance is that this particular car, this particular project of gear box, is interactive with how you drive, the smoothness of your foot, the driving style, and the position of the car downhill or uphill, and the inputs the computer has in braking situations, surface, water, etc. So this car is to be driven with a special care from the driver towards the gear box and engine as the interaction if all, especially the driver-the engine-the gearbox really interact together is perfect! When I am not carefull, or my mobile rings or I speak to someone, I understand that my interaction fails and only in that cases the car responds poorly. When I drive - one piece - me and the car, I feel the engine, I feel where to release the gas pedal or when to help the car with brakes to down shif, or when to help by changing to N manually, or when to help downshift manually with my left button in the steering wheel, or when to wait the gearbox to change smoothly, this is a PERFECT CAR! In any sport driving, the change to sport setup in the central dash is crucial, and I never had problems to feel the car perfectly responsive. But it needs the interaction! It has a soul and a brain! It is not a standart automatic transmission that has one and static performance! It needs attention and LOVE!