Benz Werd

She just ticked over 6,000kms today, and I'm a few days short of 2 months since delivery.

In all honesty I'm not convinced this car is better than my W164.

Just got home from a road trip from Melbourne to Sydney and back, almost a 2000km journey.

These are the things that I'm NOT liking about this car (that I can remember at the moment):

* I know I've winged about the whole multi-contour seats thing and my seats being flat before. That was from just driving no more than about 2-3 hours at at a time. This trip had us in the car for 9 hours solid each way and now I dislike them even more. I have designo too. But when we arrived in Sydney my back was a bit sore and I really knew I'd been on a long drive. This never happened in the W164 as that had multi-contour seats, which unfortunately weren't an option (in Aus only it seems) on this one when I ordered, but were available less than 3 months after mine was built

* The edge of the drivers seat is already appearing to show creases on the leather and I have a designo interior. Perhaps reading this, and what I wrote above, you're thinking I'm a large person, but I'm actually only just over 70kgs! I know there's been alot of talk on here about whether leather is better than MB-tex and/or ARTICO etc. Mine is nappa leather and I realise it's super soft but I didn't expect it to be showing signs of age this early

* It certainly doesn't like the wind and gets blown around alot more than the W164 on windy days. The oldie was solid as a rock on the road at all times. I'm guessing it's all got to with the newer V8 being lighter, along with the whole car. My W164 was on 19" rims too, this one is on 20"s. Guess I need the new cross-wind assist feature that's in the new GLs

* Using either distronic or the speed-limiter function I can feel the car slightly grabbing when going down hills which is the car applying brakes to keep it from going over speed. The W164 was flawless and I never felt a thing, didn't have distronic in that though. Still getting used to distronic though, and it's got some good points and bad ones. It's not great on metropolitan freeways when somebody changes lanes and darts into your gap between the car in front, and then yours applies the brakes quite heavily. Slight issue of tailgaters here in Aus so I have to be super careful

* Still not sure if the HK audio is as good as the W164 was either. But I'll never get the chance to compare them. This one is still great, but it doesn't seem to wow me like the old one did

* A few people on here have complained about creaking/rattling noises inside their cabins. Mine seems to creak sometimes due to the edge of the drivers seat slightly rubbing against the centre console. If I put my hand in between them it stops. The W164 was quiet as a mouse the whole 4 years and 50,000kms it covered before I sold it. I've also noticed the gap between the passenger seat and the console is almost twice a big as the driver's side. Seems a bit odd

* Still can't believe there's no auto feature for the rear wiper. It's a pain turning it on & off all the time because unless it's raining heavily and you're driving at high speed if you leave it turned on it often is just wiping an almost dry window

* Transmission has 'clunked' about a dozen times. Always seem to happen after coasting for a short time, then reaccelerating, otherwise it's flawless. My W164 was bad for this clunking, and used to do it alot. The dealer always told me they couldn't fault it, but updated the software anyway. Got a mate with a W164 ML350 and he has the same issue. Seems Benz still can't marry up their 7 speed tranny with AWD properly as I've never felt this in our C250, my old E500, my old man's S500, or my late mother's C280. Although we rented a GLK350 for a week, then a X164 GL450 for another week in the US last year, covered over 1500 miles in total, and they were both fine. So it's a bit of a head scratcher this one. Anyone else have this issue?

* Loving the iPod integration as I didn't have this in the W164. But why won't the track, album or artist names scroll so you can see the full information. Even my old 2010 Australian built Ford Falcon used to do this.

* Also like a few other members here Attention Assist drove us mad during our trip to Sydney. Went off quite a few times when I wasn't tired at all, and failed to go off when I was

* Keyless-go doesn't always work. I would say there's been around 3-4 times it wouldn't unlock the door and probably 3-4 times wouldn't start the engine if the car was already unlocked and I just got in. Everytime it said 'Key Not Detected' but the key was in my pocket. I know a few other members in cold climates have had issues with this, but it's summer time here

* Where's the damn carpet type material that used to line the inside of the wheel arches? No biggie, but why is it gone now? It used to be a nice feature and made the insides of the arches much easier to keep or probably just look clean. Plus the little chrome strip that used to run along the inside of the doors at the top of the woodgrain is gone too. That seemed to just add that little touch of class before that feels missing now

* Had a proper MB towbar fitted recently. Towing capacity has dropped. W164 was 3500kgs, the new one is now 3285, which isn't a huge difference, again no biggie I guess. But I did tow a small 8' x 5' tandem cage trailer a couple of weeks ago, with about 200kgs of weight in it, and the trailer itself is only around 500kgs and it towed like a bit of a pig, I was quite disappointed. It was a rather windy day though. Again, nowhere near as stable as the W164 seemed to be, and I towed a few close to 3,000kg loads with that car without any issues at all. I've got ON & OFF road on this newie as well, which has 'trailer' as one of the 6 modes. Didn't seem to do anything

* When we drove up to Sydney we left Melbourne at midnight. High beam assist is a joke on the highway. Kept dipping to low beam for no reason at all apart from possible reflection from road signs, and little road signs too that were even smaller than speed limit signs, and often failed to dip for oncoming vehicles until they flashed me first. Ended up turning it off and doing it manually. I will say though that the headlights themselves are awesome and light up the road very well. Love the cornering light feature. Sorry to my fellow Canadian members, as I know you guys aren't able to get them there or something.

About the only thing I love about this car is the way it looks & sounds. And it is great to drive generally, but as mentioned above, there's alot of small stuff that I'm unhappy with and it's really dampened my whole experience of finally being able to buy myself a brand new Benz and order it with the exact specifications I wanted.

I'm going to annoy the hell out of the dealer very soon about some of these issues, and I'll report back.

But if anyone else is an ex-164 owner now in a W166 I would love to hear what your thoughts are ....

Anyway, such is life .... safe & happy driving folks!

clk200

Familiarity breeds contempt?

Like all enthusiasts (myself included), you may become overly critical especially after some time driving the car, and loose sight to the overall qualities.

Although I currently own both a w164 and a w166 ML, older is a 320CDI the newer a 63 AMG, so it is difficult to have a direct comparison. However, driving them back to back they are worlds apart, especially overall refinement and tactility. As to the HK system, I do have it in both, and are equally good - no advancement over them. As to Distronic, I do not have it on the W164, but compared to the one on my W209 CLK (i.e. same generation as the W164) the W166 distronic is light years ahead. As to Keyless, I do have it on all of them. W166 is smoother and quicker. They ALL suffer occasionally from "Key not detected", the W166 less so. Do note that they are affected by interference. If they are close to a mobile, you are more likely to get the "key not detected message". The older the batteries, again the message will come up more often (judging from last 8 years using the system). I am at the 4 months / 4000 km mark and still no sign of any wear on the porcelain designo leather! Hope it stays that way.

Cyber GS

I previously had a 2011 W164 prior to the 2012 W166, but to be honest MB bought the W164 back from me after two years because of numerous problems so I may be a little bias when comparing the two.

The transmission in my W164 was one of the reasons MB bought it back. Delayed shifting, it always felt like it was searching for gears and couldn’t make a decision. Sometimes bucking when shifting, hesitation when accelerating, it was a mess. MB updated the software and even reset the adaption’s and nothing worked. The W166 trans has been great.

My W164 had numerous creaks, rattles and clunking sounds that were all duplicated by the dealer. The W166 has been rock solid so far.

The Command in the W164 would occasionally shut off, the Bluetooh would cut out 80% of the time, the radio would increase and decrease the volume and not because of speed. This would happen when stopped.

The backup camera would sometimes take up to 50 seconds to come on after engaging reverse.

I have only had the W166 for three months but so far it has been flawless. I understand it’s hard to evaluate a vehicle after only three months, but I had problems with the W164 the day after delivery with only 50 miles so to me this is an improvement

IMO the W166 is a much more refined vehicle, it’s not even close. Smoother, quieter and everything I would expect from a newer model.

jellies

I haven't had any keyless issues, you might want to get that looked at.

If you want to set a speed limit, the car has to apply brakes if necessary. If you never felt the 164 do that it might be because it had poorer rolling efficiency and more engine braking out of the box?

ChristoFir

Thanks for the detailed 6000k review.

My 2013 ML350BT (Comfort package, Off Road & Airmatic) is now 2 months,4600k old so I’m also starting to form some opinions.

re Seats - I've found the seats to be just OK but the muti-contour seats inmy 2006 E-class are way way better.

I'm thinking I might go to lambs skin seat covers that I found great in aLandcruiser in the 90s. Disappointing to have to step back to 15 year oldsolutions. Any thought suggestions would be most welcome.

re Distronic - I'm having the same experiences and find the “distance to carinfront” control to be a very functional way of softening the distronicsantics.

The other thing I've found is that if the vehicle infront has moved to a RHturn lane then slowed, the distronic tracks it for a bit too long resulting in unnecessarybraking when there is actually no vehicle directly in front.

re HK audio - also not wowed.

re Transmission - perhaps the calibration for the Diesel is better as I'vehad no clunks so far (unlike my E280CDI where it happens occasionally)

re High Beam assist - agree - more frustrating than usefull - but the lightsare excellent.

re IPod - agree.

Am I having a D'oh moment???
I'm playing audio books from an SD card and have been frustrated by not beingable to "rewind" or "fast forward" within a chapter whichare often up to 30minutes long. The books are just a combination of MP3 filessame as music tracks. All efforts so far have only sent me back to the start ofthe chapter, start of the previous chapter or to the next chapter. I hopesomeone can tell I missing something obvious.

My two disappointments have been higher than expected fuel consumption at9.4 l/100 over 4600k of country running and that the trip fuel consumption isinaccurate, giving a reading 5% lower than actual.

The ML came with the standard 20” rims. I will soon be fitting up a set of 18” rims for some outbackholidays. I still have to selectsuitable tyres for the planned easy off-roading excursions. I’ll be interested to see how the ride and handlingare impacted. My current view is thatthe 20” setup is a little harsh for the usual back roads.

Overall a very nice bit of kit.

Cheers all

jellies

Isn't it funny how the Euro (copy pasted to australia) fuel ratings state the 350 Bluetec CITY consumption as lower than what we can get in the COUNTRY.

I knew there was no way on earth to get the combined rating over an entire tank, given the weight of the vehicle. But it is amazing how stupidly optimistic the australian fuel ratings actually are (for all cars, not picking on the 350 here).

I was pleased to get do a run within sydney yesterday that took an hour, and ended up averaging about 35kmh, with a dashboard consumption of 9.4l/100km. But this was (by distance) mostly 80kmh freeway. And note that I still didn't get within a bulls roar of the advertised combined, let alone city, consumption figure.

I think the bluetec does very well considering the 2000kg heft of the car, but australia should dump the european ratings and use the US EPA ones.

another_geek

Pressing and holding the FF or Rewind buttons doesn't work?

ChristoFir

It looks like there has been increasing cheating in the Euro Standards,probably to meet the CO2 benchmarks.

In my old 2002 C2220CDI I could easily get the book figures and with alittle effort could do better breaking 5L/100.

In my 2006 E280CDI I can make the book figures but with concentrated effort.

I was stupidly hoping that MB had actually made some solid tech advancesthat further improved economy – and hoped that I would get close to theirfigures.

The USfigures sure look to be representative of real life – and would be a muchbetter benchmark. - Thanks.

ChristoFir

Hi another_geek,

Thanks you are absolutely right - Phew! only a D'oh moment on my behalf.

Regards

Vincecam

Thanks for your report AussieBenzLover. Very interesting. I'm looking forward to hearing how you make out with the dealer.

I just bought my first Mercedes. It's a MY13 W166. I've only got 300 miles on it and I've got a lot to learn about the systems. I have some complaints but I'm loving the sound of the diesel engine and almost everything else about the car.

I've had similar Keyless Go problems. At first it work flawlessly but now I'm having to touch the handle numerous times to lock the car from the outside.

I'm hating the navigation system. I wanted directions to the local hospital the other day but I didn't know the exact address. The navigation system is of no help as it had no idea where the hospital was of course.. When I got to tell the city I said Doylestown, it refused to accept it saying "just say the name of the town." Evidentally it didn't like "town" on the end of the town name. I couldn't get anywhere with it.
So I got out my iPhone and simply said to Google Maps "Doylestown Hospital" and admittedly I had to touch the selection it came up with and then start, I got turn by turn voice commands through the blue tooth that worked very well.

iankayem

HaHa! You can never win!

I was part of a convoy heading to the "City View Motel" in Hobart.
They all had TomTom or Garmins, I had the Mercedes system. They took the right fork on the freeway as advised, whilst I took the left as instructed and entered the motel.

I was unpacked and enjoying a nice pinot when the second car arrived. The bottle was empty as the last came in.

Nothing wrong with the MB system!

Benz Werd

I think you are right, I'm a huge MB enthusiast and probably expect a bit too much from them. I do love my car, just a little disappointed with some factors as mentioned below. No car is perfect. I've had issues/disappointments with every car I've owned or driven. Thanks for your feedback!

Benz Werd

Sorry but I have to disagree. The MB system is good, but not a pinch on my TomTom. On a long trip I use both, and the TomTom is far more accurate at guessing arrival times, plus it gives you so much more information (ie. speed of travel, speed/red light camera locations etc). The best in-car fitted sat nav I've ever used is the one in my FPV (Ford) ute. It has so many features and it's touch screen too. Thanks for your feedback though!!

shortspark

How glad am I that this is my first MB! I am thrilled with it even though I bet there are things slightly wrong or perhaps not up to previous MB standards. Having no personal experience or even a frame of reference to past MB automobile achievements, my ten months with the ML350 have been the happiest time I have spent with any of my many automobiles in my 50 years of driving. If I had something go terribly wrong (such as the stalling or "balking" issues so many speak of) that would be different but nothing has gone wrong at all - knock on wood!!

People that have had extensive experience with MB products, such as the OP, have a frame of reference and expectations that will be difficult to maintain car after car and year after year. The reason is they compare and they know what MB has accomplished in the past. It certainly is not unreasonable to expect the same or better with every MB but sometimes that can not be achieved in every respect. Before my MB I came from a long line of Honda and Dodge products - good cars and I enjoyed them but my ML350 is in a totally different ball park and playing an entirely different game. Sometimes too much of a good thing can spoil us.