There have been at least two folks on this site who seem to feel that their new ML is the absolute worst vehicle they have ever owned. I would like a "show of hands," from those of you who love your new ML and who have found it to be completely or relatively trouble free. What have you got to say about yours?

 

I have only about 3000 miles on my 2014 ML350 Bluetec. Came from the dealer without an issue, and not a single problem yet.(knock on wood). Only problem is we haven't taken enough long road trips yet. It's an absolute joy to drive. Love the diesel power.

 

Bought a beautiful 2012 diamond white ml350 (gas version) in May 2012. It has been the best vehicle I have owned in fifty years of driving cars and trucks. A few weeks after delivery the hatch would not open and close properly and it required a new right shock (an hour and a half job). A few weeks ago the case around the driver's side mirror developed a small stress crack and the mirror was replaced. Both these replacements were under warranty. Other than those minor problems the ML has been problem free, get close to 22 mpg and every button and knob works as it should. Like I said, I have owned almost everything both foreign and domestic over the past half century and this is the best of them all - and by a considerable margin.

 

So far a perfect vehicle, I love it.

 

2013 ML350BT. AMG sport pack, airmatic etc. 12000km

Zero issues. Perfect vehicle.

Mlee. ( ex MB service manager, auto technician, auto teacher, car lover )

 

21 months and only back to the dealership for one scheduled oil change.

Perfect.

Flawless.

Excellent.

Quality.

 

'012 BT, almost every option. 12,XXX miles. Love it.

 

You'll usually read more from those having issues than those who are not. 29k mi so far & only major things (off the top of my head) were a replaced front right shock & engine module software update.

 

wow, i guess i'll be the first black sheep to respond with a lemon. after one week in our possession, the 2012 ml350 stalled on us. took back to the dealer, they blame it on bad gas and kept it for a few days. they then said mbusa suggested it's a high-pressure fuel pump defective and replaced it. driving for a few months, the problem returned--intermittent stalling at stop sign. took back to the dealer. they couldn't do anything else and said the software update is on the way. after a few weeks sitting at the dealership, the software update finally came. took it home drive for a few more weeks and the same problem returned. fed up with many trips back and forth with the dealership, i finally contacted mbusa and declared that they must take back the vehicle under the lemon law.
a few months go by of back and forth with mbusa, we finally received the new replacement vehicle. despite being bad luck with the lemon, the performance of the ml350 is excellent. hopefully the new vehicle is closer to flawless than that we experienced the first time.

 

Around 12'000 miles and i am very impressed incredible hp suv!! congrats to Mb and amg the harder driven, the better it feels

Although its already highly modified its been troublefree and its very fast and already enjoyed track days at the amg academy

 

’12 BT, Premium 2, Hitch, Panno, Intelligent Lighting, Navigation – Ordered March 2012 – Delivery June 2012. 47K km/29K mi; Completed A,B, A Service

This is absolutely the best vehicle that we have ever owned/driven. We have ordered numerous new Domestic and Japanese vehicles for personal and professional use. Our dealer is a multi-year Star Dealer (Mercedes Benz Barrie – Ontario, Canada) that provides exceptional customer care and service.

Our vehicle is a daily driver and long trip vehicle. I have recorded the fuel mileage and maintained a cost benefit of purchasing the BT vs. gasoline since delivery. The overall mileage from delivery has been 27.75 MPG (Imperial), 23 MPG (US Gal.) or 9 Ltr/100 Km. This mileage incorporates City/Highway/winter driving conditions. The savings that we have realized on diesel vs. premium gasoline to date is $575.

The cost of maintenance for the first A & B service during the first year was approx. $1,100. I feel that this is reasonable and I expected more for the price of maintaining a luxury SUV. Much lesser vehicles have cost me far more during the same/comparable period/mileage service intervals.

At ten months the right headlight assembly required replacing. One LED segment of the indicator would not light and was barely noticeable. It required a full replacement (part cost approx. $2,600) due to the Bi-Xenon Intelligent Lighting. It was a full no hassle warranty repair. If one does any night driving, the Bi-Xenon Intelligent Light is worth the cost and wait.

The vehicle is best described as ‘Drives like Butter’(a phrase used elsewhere on this forum). It is exceptional during all road conditions especially during winter driving with Pirelli Ice & Snow winter tires.

Improvement
The one element that could be improved is the front seat comfort. I am 6’4” about a foot taller than my wife. Both of our front seats are fully adjustable (including head restraints). However, we are unable to achieve adjustment for complete comfort. If the front of the seat cushion could be adjusted/extended forward and back as is available on the S Class, this would make the seat perfect. Also, if my seat is properly adjusted to accommodate my height, there is no room in the rear seat behind me. This impacts the comfort of passengers.

A technical issue is the ability to subscribe to the traffic link feature on the Nav system through Sirius in Canada. This feature was available on the six month full trial and was/is tremendous in the heavy traffic of the tri-state area, however, it became unavailable when I attempted to include on the renewal subscription. I was advised by Sirius that it is being worked on between MB Canada and Sirius and hopefully will be available soon.

That said, we enjoy the vehicle each and every time we drive it and continue to discover new features on a regular basis.

We appreciate the insight that we have gained from this forum (Thanks to Fabbrisd1 & GregW) pre and post-delivery. Hopefully this feedback helps another reader…”The Best or Nothing”

 

Almost 9 months and I have zero complaints! Perfect all weather compliment to my 63!

2013 ML550 Steel Grey Metallic/Auburn Brown Leather/Anthracite Poplar, Premium, Lighting and Driving Assistance Packages, Multi-contour heated/cooled seats, 20" AMG wheels, Black Roof liner, Trailer Hitch, AIRMATIC, Night Vision, Pano roof, Tinted Windows

 

I have it for more than a year now and 27,000 kms. It went back to dealer once due to shaking while braking, they replaced the brake disk and no complains since then. So far so good.

 

I'd buy another today. That should help

 

2014 BT, Diamond-Silver. Three whole months, and 4,000 miles trouble free.

 

I've had my 2013 ML550 for 18 months, 10,500 miles. It's in the shop right now due to issues that will be covered under warranty. Issue 1: the sporadic engine rattle noise on some cold starts that many other threads have detailed. Issue 2: my media interface will not recognize any phone via the wired method (new control module is being installed). Issue 3: I've always had some subtle front end suspension noise that I viewed to be strut related (noticed at lower speeds when I hit bumps), but in the past few weeks, the noise became much more noticeable and I characterized it as creaking and groaning anytime I came to a stop or pulled away from a stop. It was sounding like those old Fords circa 1970s that always seemed to have squeaky shocks. The mechanic says my front struts need replacing and lucky me, they are on back order in Germany so I will get the ML back tomorrow and wait for the struts to show up someday. Not happy with the issues, particularly the strut issue, and hopefully the mechanic is correct in his/her assessment that the suspension noise I'm hearing is in fact strut related.

All that said, I love this car. It's just the right size for me, it's quiet, comfortable and I love the quality materials, and oh yeah I love the grunt in that twin turbo V8. This vehicle just giddy ups and goes like stink. Despite my current mechanical issues, I'm a long way from ******* this vehicle and hopefully I won't come to know my mechanic on a first name basis going forward.

 

I know that this thread is supposed to be a lovefest and all but there seems to be quite a few problems even in the cars that people love. I really like the car when it's not in the shop (steering feels a little sloppy but maybe I'm just used to something tighter).

Can you expand on the strut problem. I have something similar but the techs can't ever "replicate" the problem at my dealership. I was thinking that if it really was a problem, it would just get worse over time??? Was there a visible leak on the strut itself??

 

Way too early to be a good statistic but 300 miles and 10 days and perfect. 500 mile trip in morning, then 2500 trip end of month. Better info then. Very nice upgrade from 06 ML 350.

 

I hate to hijack this thread so I will send you a PM.

 

2013 ML550 18k miles
Steel gray
Auburn Designo/satin ash
On/off road package
Premium 1
Airmatic
Driver assistance package
Parktronic
HK stereo
Lighting package
Heated rear seats
Heated steering wheel
Ventilated front seats
Trailer hitch
Ambient lighting/door sills
Soft close doors
Keyless go
20" AMG wheels
Remote start(mid-city)
Problems:
1. From delivery- subwoofer rattle
2. Approx 3500 miles
-active headlights didn't swivel
-front rotors warped(replaced rotors and pads)
-memory switch lights inoperable
-random downshift while stopping, felt as
Though I was rear ended. Reprogrammed
trans
-drivers door handle sticking(replaced)
3. -6800 miles
-vehicle stuck in park. Started and turned off
Numerous times. After two hours it operated
Normally. MB kept for over a week,
numerous tests, couldn't duplicate.
4. -13,300 miles
-front rotors warped again(replaced rotors and
pads again. Service report stated that it was
due to poor quality of brake material,
replaced with updated brake materials
-speedometer display no longer lights up
when using cruise control. Stopped working
After all the tests for the truck being stuck in
Park. Updated software...
5. -14,900 miles
-command screen randomly blanks out,
Only shows MB symbol
-drivers side soft close door inoperable.
-key fob randomly doesn't work(battery new)
Dealer couldn't duplicate.
-rear parktronic beep stopped working
6. -17,409 miles
-vibration felt in seat and steering wheel
when engine up to temp and stopped while
in gear. (Replaced 2 engine mounts)
-randomly at cold start while pulling away
felt as though it was in low range with
emergency brake applied. When restarted
all was normal. (MB found fault codes in
trans control unit)
-rattle upon start up(since new, was
originally told that it had to do with the
direct injection which I never believed)
MB replaced chain tensioners, oil return
valve... Thanks to reading this forum
7. -while having these issues resolved TWICE
I had a C class with less than 1000 miles
Have massive electrical issues. One
stranded me in the drive thru of a
pharmacy.
I love the truck, the engine is a beast and it
Instant torque though out the rev range. It's handles great, is quiet, looks great and is excellent off road with the on/off road package(I actually go off roading and my last two trucks were grand Cherokees). Sadly though it has had far more problems than I expected in the first 15 months of ownership. My dealership has been outstanding so it's tolerable but it is definitely disappointing.

 

2012 ML350 4matic
20,000 miles

Battery replaced after 2 years (under warranty)
OEM Pirellis were crap, replaced them at 15,000 miles, huge improvement in driving comfort and handling.

that's it! been very reliable.

 

Which Pirelli's, scorpio?
Thanks :-)

 

What tires did you replace them with?

 

We have a 2013 ML350 bluetec for 14 months and the car has 30k miles on it. We love it! Problem free and one of the best luxury suv we have owned. Our 2010 ML350 had 75k miles after 3 years and it was problem free too.

Only issue was crappy damn Pirelli Scorpion Verde all seasons which vibrated badly and were replaced with similar Pirellis at 1k miles and again at 20k miles the tires started to make cupping noise and vibrated again. Junk tires.

We replaced it with the hallmark Michelin Latitude Tour HP tires and the car rides smoother, handles better, quieter, and better traction in the snow. I had these on the older ML350 so I knew these tires are the best for this SUV.

 

Regardless of how much you like this vehicle, it sounds like it has been in the shop way too much and I would file a Lemon Law suit and demand a new one, but that's just me. An ML550 off road! Hard to imagine.