Thimee, what size wheels and tires are on yours in this photo? Thanks

 

10,500 miles and zero problems, had A service done at 8,500 and that has been it. Very nice vehicles

 

24,000kms, 16 months and yes, quite a few minor issues.

First problem was the passenger side window wouldn't close properly. It often would slow down while it was going up, start shuddering/shaking, then bounce back down to the fully open position. Then, flicking the switch to close it again most of the time it closed properly the second time around without any issues. Dealer lubricated the tracks and all is fine for now. (This also occured on both our 2012 C-Class, and a friend's 2013 C-Class ... weird!)

Then I had the rattling engine noise issue which MBAuP initially told me was normal, mind you after having my car nearly 2 weeks and checking everything (or so they said). I then found the thread https://mbworld.org/forums/new-m-cla...ease-help.html, printed out mb techman's service bulletin, and showed my dealer SuPER__S Youtube videos (all can be found in that thread) and they finally acknowledged there was an issue and they could fix it. After another week in at the dealer, and then initially telling me they had to pull the whole engine out, I got it back and it's been fine ever since. Fortunately they only had to pull the top part of the engine apart.

After that came the subwoofer rattling in the rear on certain music tracks that had high bass level. Another 5 days in their workshop and they pulled everything to bits and added "magic carpet" around all the speakers and that helped alot, but hasn't completely solved the issue. I have Harman/Kardon Logic 7 surround sound, and never experienced this with my previous ML, no matter how loud I turned up the volume.

Had some issues with the transmission being a little clunky when the car was new, but that seems to have sorted itself now. Dealer said it was just getting used to my driving style.

I then noticed my passenger side aircon vent thumbwheel wasn't illuminated like the rest of the dash vents were. They replaced that.

Shortly afterwards I noticed the right side rear aircon vent wasn't moving the little flaps inside to change the direction of airflow when you moved the little piece outside the vent from side to side. They replaced the whole vent.

Now just the last couple of days we've noticed a strange stretching sound coming from the front wheels when you have then turned on full lock and are driving at slow speeds (exiting our driveway that is sort of L-shaped). Not sure what this is, but it sounds awful and as though something is going to break, so off to the dealer I will go again.

All of these repairs have been covered under warranty without any issues, and they've always provided loan cars for free, but the issue for me is the dealer is up to an hour away in traffic so it's the loss of time and the hassle of going backwards and forwards all the time that annoys me.

Absolutely love my car, it's driving and performing so well now that it's over a year old and the engine has run in nicely. However, I feel the quality on this car compared with our current C250, my previous ML500 and E500 sedan just isn't there anymore.

A little disappointed I must say, but all in all still a very happy ML owner, and would certainly buy another one, but that raises another issue for me ... they're dropping the 500/550 engine soon and I always want V8s so not sure what I'll buy next. I will look at the new X5, but I have a feeling I'll probably end up in a new Jeep Grand Cherokee, and save half my money too! Don't want a ML63, they're way too noisy and expensive for what I need.

Happy motoring folks,

 

I have had my 2014 ML350 BlueTec for almost three months with only one issue which is not mechanical or comfort in nature. I had a problem with the MBrace Apps not connecting to the Data feed. After getting the remote support group to reset it several times I had to take it to the dealer for them to install an upgrade and reload/reset the software again. Everything else has been fine. Although, I am still under 1,000 miles so I can't say it is broken in yet.

 

Over all my first 4000 miles have been great and my 350BT has operated without a flaw.

 

Mine is a 2014 ML350BT and I hear that "STRETCHING" sound as well, usually as I have the front wheels turned to the right, to exit my garage. Difficult to describe, almost like a SCRAPING or GRINDING noise. And, the huge problem, is that it doesn't do it all the time, so I KNOW that the dealer tech will say "cannot duplicate," when I bring the vehicle in. I would be very interested to hear what your outcome is on this problem. Please post your results. Thanks.

 

I have the scraping sound issue from time to time, as well.

This is just speculation, but I have Airmatic and 20-inch wheels, so perhaps the noise is the tires rubbing on the wheel wheel liners when they are on full lock and the Airmatic is in the sport mode, which lowers the chassis. The Airmatic is always adjusting itself--I sometimes see the front end rise a bit after coming to a stop--so perhaps it sometimes is in a down phase when the car is shut off.

 

I have AirMatic and Active Curve on mine, with the standard wheels and I never use Sport Mode. The noise happens even when the wheels are not turned all the way to lock. I really think it is something other than a physical scraping of the wheels against anything. Mine is a Diesel. Is yours?

 

Yes, it's a diesel. One of the early 2012s, among the first off the line. I had one bug in the Command software which was fixed with a reflash. Other than that, the car has been problem free.

 

Hmm that's interesting because when I drove the car today in the exact same scenario there were no noises at all. Sounds like it's going to be an interesting issue ... here we go again. I also have airmatic, active curve and 20" wheels, and the car is usually driven in sport mode. I will investigate further.

 

Only two issues.
1. Check Engine Light - Software Update.
2. Check Engine Light - Replaced Temperature Sensor.
I though I had an issue with the Keyless Go and the drivers door but was told when you approach the vehicle when it is locked and the key is in pocket, you grab the door handle and it opens. Yes, but when you exit the vehicle and grab the handle it will not close, you have to tap the indent on the handle, problem solved. Never had a problem since.
My gas mileage is averaging around 10L/100, no complaints. I do miss the ridiculous speed of my 11 ML550, but do find the torque on this vehicle to be quite sufficient.
Of all the M-Classes I have owned, the fit and finish and quality materials of this 14 model is impeccable.

 

I remember when you railed against the w166. Welcome to the club.

 

I had mine for a year and 24,000km, and so far the only time I had to go to the dealership was for the A maintenance. Looking thru the threads, I guess Im lucky, but for me it's been flawless till now (touch wood).

 

My husband drives a '13 350BT that just turned 36,000 miles. He's a real estate agent and consequently really racks the miles on. We took it from Arizona to Montana last summer and got around 28 mpg, with 22 mpg around town/freeway mix. Absolutely nothing has gone wrong with it. Only time it's been in is for routine maintenance. More miles will be added next month when we get away from this heat and head to Montana again.

 

I have no problems with mine, pure pleasure. One snag is there's condensation in the mirror's LED turn indicator. Waiting on the replacement LED to come... Well, to be honest, there's one problem I never ever had before with other vehicles... I find myself driving 100 mph waaay too often.

 

I was a little too judgemental. My 11 550 had close to 80,000 Km's and had put an order in for a MY15, which would have been several months away, so of course, less trade-in value for mine. The owner of the dealership was driving a Palladium Silver 350BT with 20" AMG rims, very sharp. I test drove it and made the deal. I have tinted the front windows and added the AMG pedals, I'm quite happy, plus I got over 800 Km's on my last tank. Lesson learned.

 

'13 ML350BT 10,000+ miles. No problems. Love the vehicle and the diesel.

One minor annoyance for me that no one else seems to have a problem with is the behavior of the Distronic (adaptive cruise control). Often when passing a truck, on the left or passing a car on an exit ramp as I am continuing by on the highway, the Distronic will brake. I have to override it with gas for fear a car behind me will run into me. The dealer can't replicate the problem.

 

I don't seem to have that issue although I do find the distronic somewhat reacts too quickly..over sensitive...like brakes too hard too late.
Also collision avoidance assist ( I think that's the alert that sounds) almost always activates (tones..beep beep) as I pass exit ramp signs..

 

I've had several cars with the "radar" type cruise controls, including 3MB's. I currently have it on my 2014 ML350BT. The radar is not pinpoint and as a large vehicle may have left your lane, the radar still "sees" it until it is totally in the other lane. I sometimes have a similar problem going around sweeping freeway ramps with the system engaged, and it loses sight of the car in front of me and accelerates too much. It is not a perfect system, but, in my opinion, Distronic Plus w/Pre-Safe Brake is "THE," all time, nothing-even-comes-close, best option available from MB or any other maker today.

 

I feel the Distronic is overly sensitive, as well. In normal driving, without the cruise control, I normally adjust my speed to the car ahead by feathering the accelerator--speeding up or slowing down as required by giving it more or less gas. Under Distronic control, when the car ahead speeds up, even slightly, my car surges forward and then brakes to match speeds. It must be annoying to the car behind me to see my brake lights going on and off all the time.

Still, I suppose it's better to be overly sensitive than less so. It doubtless will take another generation of software to fine-tune the system.

 

Don't feel lonesome. It happens on mine also. It also causes the car to hesitate as I come up on another car in the next lane. I can see the MPH figure fall a mile an hour or two when this happens. It is too sensitive imho. I've a Jaguar XK with Adaptive Cruise Control (similar to Distronic) and Mercedes needs to copy cat it to make their Distronic better

I've turned OFF the Lane keeping feature all together. Dangerous in two lane hwy construction areas. Pulls you towards the car/eighteen wheeler next to you. The Attention Assist I turn off but have to keep turning it off because it won't stay OFF due to it coming back on each time you restart the car. It's an annoying 'feature'.

The chrome around the vents shines/reflects into the side mirrors and is annoying. Probably reflects into the side window area where you view the outside mirror is a better way to put it. Annoying.

Drive train is without any problems. Fourteen K miles since mid Feb. Service A was sort of messed up. They forgot to fill the DEF tank up and I had to go back to get it filled.

Volume switch on the steering wheel is 'not right' in that the UP volume has no 'feel' to it. As if the return spring isn't there at all. It does its job though in making the volume go up. Due to be fixed in a couple of weeks when they get the part from Germany?

 

Found out my rattling noise ( like a loose suspension part ) was in the steering column and there is a TSB on it. LI46-20P-005.
NHTSA # 10052151. MB dealer could not find problem so I took to a local independent shop recommended to me through our classic car club. They found it right away and told me about the TSB. Maybe MB should put these guys on as consultants.

 

Ok 77K miles now. Volume switch on the steering wheel failed again after being replaced in the cars first year underwarranty. No spring back when the buttons are pushed......but the switch does work.

I had a mist of oil on the front of the engine around 50K. Fixed at the dealer. They said it was a turbo inlet duct seal failure. Cost out of pocket 500 bucks. No leakage since.

Tailgate will unlock/lock, but will not raise up nor go down by itself using the key or using the handle on the tailgate. It WILL open and shut by hand. This happened a couple weeks ago when I went out to the car one morning an found the battery completley dead. Somehow I think the two problems are tied together. I've no idea why the batt was dead. No batt problems prior to this event nor after. Odd

Around the first of the year I'll take it to the dealer to have the problem diagnosed. Might be costly if the rear SAM (signal aquisition monitor) is kaput........or it might just be some reprogramming to be done for little. Fuses look good in the rear fuse box.

Distronic sucks big time. As mentioned a couple of posts above, it hesitates the car at speed when passing a vehicle in the other lane. Wish I could turn it off and just have regular speed control without distronic/adaptive speed control. I've SL550 with the same problem and it's a pain in the bottom when passing cars in the other lane at speed. In fact it's a feature that's not well engineered imho. I've Lane keeping turned off in both cars and 'drivers alert' or whatever it's true name is turned off in both cars. Fortunatley in the SL, once you turn it off it STAYS off vs the ML where you have to turn it off duing each drive to keep it off.

Oh, i was looking at reciepts for the pre-paid maint earlier today and noticed they repaced a line before the fuel filter around 40K because it was leaking. That's interesting. I missed noticeing that on the reciept back when that service was done. No charge was on the reciept for that.

 

We had a lot of problems for the first 6 - 12 months. Worst was the engine killing when we'd come to a stop after highway driving. Quite dangerous. Puddle lights worked and then didn't and then finally did again. Not huge but annoying. Numerous noise problems that drove me nuts. Very unimpressed with our dealer (Mercedes of Maplewood) and how often I had to tell them about their own service notices (thanks to folks on here) and that they'd say something was normal when I wouldn't have accepted it in a Toyota.

All of the problems were eventually fixed and my wife has been quite happy with it.

Until she drove a Tesla Model X. No comparison. She'll have her X in April 2018. She's quite jealous of a friend who just got one.

 

Seems most of the issues have been ML550, which have slotted rotors and other upgrades not on the ML350. I think the ML550 has the same struts as a ML350, I wonder if the V8 engine puts more weight on the front suspension. Personally, I wished I had a ML550 and would put up with those sounds, just to have a kick *** engine.