leapingpoint

not enough ML550 here... i know price is an issue. but how about fuel economy? is ML550 much worse than ML350? would it be crazy to have a ML550 in southern california being on freeway more than half of the time?

i much prefer ML550 styling over ML350... the front airdam on ML550 just looks so much better.

any thoughts and comments? thanks a lot in advance!

fabbrisd1

You can use fueleconomy.gov to do the comparison, you might as well add the 3rd and 4th conternders ML350 BlueTech and the ML63 - although you have diesel fuel price challenges in Cali.

Yes - the ML550 is a rarer bird - however when you put that 550 V8 power + airmatic suspension in the picture - the ML550 has a different/better value presentation when comparing to the ML63...

The torque profile of both the 550 and the 350BT give a "backbone" stength/feel to the ML - where with the 350 gasser you feel "carried along" the V8 and BT give you a ramrod power feel thru the backbone axis of the ML - and "seats of the pants feel".

That said - for a long term buy/hold - out of warranty airmatic suspension (Mercedes or others) can get problematic and expensive versus the "standard" ML suspension - however airmatic does have owner slectability where "standard" suspension does not.

The "detuned" ML550 is 402 hp and 443 ft lbs of toque - several ML550 owners I know plan to "chip it" - for comparison the ML350BT has 455 ft lbs of torque and sounds puny at 240 hp but not puny by feel.

The ML550 is a mad bomber in disquise !

Keep the beat !

GregW / Oregon

True enough, my Airmatic on my W164 had multiple issues just before warranty expiration (luckily). On my W166 with Airmatic + Adaptive Shocks + Active Curve, I will likely get extended warranty.

2012MLBlue

Get the 550 unless you are on a budget and hate filling up. The power is worth every penny to me.

Anakclk

I test drove both of them and ended up buying the 550. I fall in love with the power of the bi- turbo engine! If you drive on freeway most of the time, I don't think the gas mileage will be a lot different.

Get the 550! You will love it!

Thimee

I test drove a 350, and was not wildly impressed (coming from a S550), I was about to walk away when the dealer let me test drive a GL550. I bought my ML550 solely on how well that GL drove.

I've put nearly 1000 miles on mine in the last 2 weeks, the engine is amazing. Scary actually - it makes you forget about how big and tall she really is, which could put one in a dangerous position trying to take a corner at 100MPH because it actually feels like 40MPH inside...

Another factor to consider is the extra features that come standard with the 550 that you have to pay for as optional extras on the 350.

The dealer strongly recommended regular suspension vs. airmatic, I agonized over this for a while before deciding to go with regular suspension. I am glad that I did, since it turns out that the regular suspension is actually better than airmatic IMHO, which I found to be either too "squishy" in regular mode, or too "hard" in sport mode. If I was going for a 350 I think airmatic would be a nice option, since you go along for the ride rather than actually driving the car. But in a 550 I can highly recommend thinking about not placing airmatic on the options list because it makes it a much nicer "drivers car".

nosnoop

There is no argument the 550 is a much more powerful car.
If you like raw power, look no further.

OTOH, I feel that the 350 is a more balanced car. 550 is almost 250lbs heavier, and almost entirely over the front axle. So 550 has a more front heavy feel than the 350.

iankayem

The ML350Blue Tec has so much torque, that the boost from the ML500/550 would not become significantly apparent until you got up to high speed. It certainly pulls like a train and accelerates uphill to overtake the semis, and caravans with ease.

And as we live in a nanny state where we are strictly limited to 100km/h (62mph), I believe the diesel would be quicker on the long run, as it spends less time in the filling station.

Of course if you want to play...

GregW / Oregon

Well, I have a 350 with the Dynamic Handling including Airmatic and 20s, and I can tell you no way the Normal setting is to "squishy", like it was on my W164. Very firm. But Sport, as you say, is too firm except for smooth road. I have engaged it for taking mountain twisties, though, where it shines.

GMW

Please post some pictures of your ML. It looks like you have some 'unique' 20inch rims. It would be interesting to see your vehicles color and wheel combo.

Thanks!

Benz Werd

Hi guys, thought I'd throw my 20 cents worth in.

I've chosen the ML500 (550 for USA) purely because I'm a V8 lover and just love the sound and feel of a V8. Here in Aus there is only around $20K difference in price between the 350 & 500, but the 500 has so much more standard kit, and when you price up a new 350 with all the same options that a 500 has as standard the cost works out pretty much the same.

I have only driven the new ML350 BlueTec as a demo, and there was nothing wrong with it at all. It had plenty of power and it drove really well. Unfortunately at the time (back in June) there were no new W166 ML500s in the country for me to drive, but I did drive a new E500 sedan with the same engine to at least get the feel of what it was like. My W164 ML500 had the 5.5 litre engine so you really can't compare it to the new bi-turbo 4.7 litre. If I was going to tow alot, I probably would have chosen the BlueTec, but for me that's not an issue.

Another thing to consider is resale. Not sure how it all works in the USA, as you guys aren't as partial to diesels as we seem to be here and they are in Europe, but my W164 being a V8 petrol wasn't easy to sell, and the trade price the dealer offered was a joke, probably because they knew it wouldn't be easy to unload themselves. I was unofficially told that if I'd had a diesel the price would have been alot higher as they're alot easier to sell because the demand for them is higher. Makes total sense! I ended up selling my W164 privately for almost $9K higher than the dealer offered as a trade.

I will close off by saying what I always say to people when they ask me similar questions .... go drive them both, if possible for a whole weekend each, or at least overnight, not just a 15 minute drive around the block with the salesperson blabbering on in the passenger seat. That is the ONLY way to get a proper feel for a car. Drive it during the day, in rush hour, and at night to see how the lights work too. It's amazing how much different a car can feel if you take it for a drive at night with a full belly after dinner and you're in relax/at home mode, not in daytime/at work mode.

Good luck and hope you end up getting exactly what you want in the end!

Cheers from Down-Under!!

iankayem

GMW, please add to your post so we know where you are from.

The 20" wheels are not "unique" as they are standard fare in Australia dependant on the option packs you pick. I was originally dubious about the 20" but now I have them, I am wrapped. The painted spokes and machined alloy outer surfaces look great.

Hopefully they show out in this picture. There are more pics in the post:
My build date is Wed 31 Oct. Is it a MY12 or MY13?

Guess I should get the camera working to take some more. So far I have been too busy either driving it or reading the handbook to find out how!

iankayem

Aussiebenz, I totally agree with taking a car home if you can. I recall a few years back I had read the articles checked the specs and was wowed with the price and decided I wanted to buy the Nissan Murano. Fortunately the dealer said take it for the night. We did and we were pissed off. "A" pillar blocked half the forward view, couldn't see the satnav in the sun, dash lighting shocking, no passenger electric seat...

So when we test drove the ML's they didn't seem willing to let us take one home, but preferred to stick to the routine test route, you know the one without a single pothole or sharp bend.

Halfway along I said I might just take a detour past my home. Ok he said.
The W164 performed very well. Brisk, comfortable, easy to drive.

The W166 was different. Selected sport on the Airmatic, and the gearbox responded precisely to the throttle. Didn't need to manual shift as it was in second for the hairpins up to fourth as we hit 120Km/h, full brakes to drift sideways around the next hairpin etc. etc.

The SA had to run to the little room when we got back. I was sold.

PS: I live in Puffing Billy country.

2012MLBlue

I've got to disagree with the comment above. Having owned the both the last gen diesel ML and the 2012 BlueTec (briefly before trading it for the 550) there is a good amount of torque with the diesel but the 550 explodes off the line in a very different way. If a 550 and a BlueTec took off from the same red light it would take about 1 second for the 550 to have the BlueTec in its rear view mirror.

Not hating on the BlueTec (other than the common cold start hesitation issue) but saying the boost from the 550 would not become apparent until you got up to high speed is very inaccurate.

GMW

I'm a long way away from you , in Kampala, Uganda, I've fixed it in my details. My fault, I should have said rare rather than unique, as I had not seen another ML with them on in real life. They look stunning and go very well with your exterior color too!

Your vehicle is a MY13 as anything past August is usually MY13. On your detailed code list for the vehicle there will be a code 803 which stands for 2013 model year, 802 is 2012 model year etc. :-)

iankayem

GWM, you are the only post I have seen from Uganda so I am unaware of the option list available there. But these wheels are option "50R".

I was not asking a question about model year, the phrase in bold type is the title of another post in this W166 forum, one in which I have posted other pictures.

But regarding those model year reference numbers, neither 802 or 803 occur on the VIN or any paperwork in my possesion. I have model number: 1660242A if that means anything. Perhaps they work different model designation by country.

iankayem

Of course I agree the V8 has got more go, and I will concede before the lights turn green. The W164 ML350 had a horrible pregnant pause before you got going to the point where I was dragged off by an old lady in a Nissan Micra. The W166 on the other hand, will pull imediately and keep on going. You would lead it away but not by much, until the speed got up and then your ML550 would leave the scene. And by speed, I refer to within the local speed limit.

But drag racing is not why anyone buys a diesel. If you want to race, I will turn up in the Aston with its V12.

GMW

I think I'm the only one active in this forum from UG. We have the international option list which is pretty much the same option list as in Germany, all options are open to us except the distronic and other radar based stuff. Licensing issues!

Thanks for the wheel code, I had seen it on the option list but there was no picture. Now I can match the two.

The number you mentioned, without the 2A at the end, is the baumuster (model code) . Sorry, I've seen the other pics now. That interior and exterior color combo works very well. Nice Aston too.

Your dealer can find the '803' code off your vehicle's data sheet from MB dealer systems such as Vedoc. They just enter your chassis number and the system lists all the codes. The 802, 803 etc is a used in all MBs regardless of region to identify the model year.

Kaasmann

I have chosen a 350 btc and it arrives tomorrow at 2:00. We tried the ML550 but didn't like the thought of premium gas and numerous refills. We plan to use it mostly on the highway. The Grand Canyon in May sounds like a great idea. We will eventually buy a trailer to pull & the torque of the Diesel seemed like a good choice.

TangoRed

I just got back from test driving both. The ML550 will kill the ML350 BT instantly from a stop. The BlueTec is certainly torquey but the ML550 moves out authority. I'd say past 20mph the ML350 BT is nowhere near.

This made my decision much harder. Can't decide whether to go with a 2011 Range Rover Supercharged or a new ML550.