Floobydust

While I love my '550 from the driving experience perspective, I have to say I'm disappointed with the choice of materials and/or the quality of the materials. My car is only 8 months old and has just over 8K miles on it, yet things like the door sill aluminum (completely scratched) and the lug nuts (rusty) look horrible. Things like this on my 2000 SL are still almost perfect after nearly 8 years. This is a $60K car! Come on MB.

Has anyone else noticed the noticed things like this on their ML? Is it an MB phenomenon or just an US build/supplier phenomenon?

- FD

dgiturbo

Mine are the exact same way. I thought the lug nuts were rusty from our Chicagoland winter salt, but now that I think about it, I have never had this with any other vehicle, and this car is always washed.
That is a shame.
Wonder if they would warranty?
As for the door sills, I do have a few light scuff marks, but nothing as bad as yours.
I agree, for $60K, this shouldn't be an issue.

lkchris

German auto industry has gotten away from zinc coating nuts and bolts as it's an environmental hazard. New BMW motorcycles look like crap quickly, too.

MB Dave

audi still does, i bought my audi with a salvage title with only 1k on the clock in 2002 for 10k put another 5 in repair and had a great car now with 100k miles i wish i used oem paint as well as oem body parts the paint is **** on the car now you can see bare metal but no rust on it what so ever

alewifebp

Mine aren't as scratched as yours, but the problem is that they are using plastic in a lot of places that used to be metal. From the grille to the skid plates to those, it's all plastic that doesn't really stand up to the test of time.

Brian_74

I was vacuuming out my baby the other day and the sill got scratched from contacting it with the plastic vacuum attachment! Never mind what rocks and shoes are going to do to it. I still love it though.

vinceching

you can actually get those things replaced by the dealer. they will tell you they will do it as "goodwill"

doesn't matter what they call it, just as long as they replace the things.

AR.Shah

I agree, everything seems less solid on the ML compared to my E-class. Even the paint is easier to scratch on the ML, as I accidently did with my wristwatch when entering the car. The bottom of front/rear bumber and sideskirts are not painted and they are dull and grey to look at, I have to spend almost a whole hour treating them with wax after my carwash. In my experience German build quality and suppliers are better.

CrazyDonkey

well this doesnt have anything to do with outside material quality, but a gripe none the less.

My ML320 is a month old, and i noticed that when i fill it up the gauge only shows quarter of a tank. now when i bought the car they filled it, how did they not notice that it was only 3/4 full on the gauge?

PHYBENZ

MB has had a general problem with their lug nuts as of late.. don't know exactly why, on almost all cars.

MB Dave

diesel was cheeper duh its 75 dollar limit on a pump didnt you know that i can fill my mini till full my a4 my ml to 3/4 and my sprinter to 3/4

lkchris

See post #3 above

C-rod

lug bolts switched under warranty..no questions asked....

PHYBENZ

funny though because I haven't noticed the problem on BMW's, though their lugnuts seem to have a sort of black coating on them.

Floobydust

Yes, indeed, the dealer replaced the lug nuts just for asking. MB must have a lot of extra nuts these days. They said that the rust would return and there is nothing they can do about it. MB's older solution was to recess the lug nuts so the rust didn't show, but they went back to the long lug nuts on the ML. My wife's Acura RDX is two years older and has no rust on the lug nuts (or scratches on the door sill) whatsoever. Hmmm.

As for the door sill, MB says I'm S.O.L. on that - "it's just a cosmetic issue". Don't they mean a cost issue? My SL has stainless steel door sills. The ML has stamped aluminum door sills (much, much cheaper both for the materials and for the tooling to do the stamping).

But, what the hell, at least my nuts aren't rusty. . .

- FD

rcf8000

I wonder if you get stainless steel sill plates if you get the illuminated door sill option.