NickW

I like my ML350, it's been a good vehicle. I've put over 30k miles on it and really haven't had any trouble from it. As I'm approaching 70k miles, I thought that maybe I should consider buying something else. I went through a long process of elimination based off of my needs and wants. I considered American, European and Asian vehicles. I've decided that I wanted something that was at least a little bit of fun when I pressed hard on the accelerator. Anyway, to make a long story short I ended up narrowing my selections down to a 2012+ E63 or a 2012+ ML63. I had some concerns about how a SUV would be able to accelerate and handle with that much power. I basically didn't think it would be much fun to drive, compared to an E63 that is lighter and has a lower center of gravity.

So I test drove a 2014 ML63 with 16k miles. Wow. What a blast to drive. Very quick and quite capable to be a kid hauler or travel vehicle. In comfort mode I felt like it drove nicely, even on the small sidewall tires on the 21" wheels. But when I put it in sport+ mode and hit the pedal, I was very surprised. It's not the fastest vehicle I've drove or rode in, but I think the biggest surprise for me was due to having such low expectations from a SUV. It handles and accelerates fantastically. The exhaust sounded good, but not obnoxious. It's capable to take the kids to school and take the lady to dinner. And it's also capable of being quite fun to drive. In fact, my thoughts were "there's no reason why a SUV should have this much power". So the ML350 is up for sale, and I plan for my next vehicle will be a ML63. Looking forward to that!

peter2772000

Judas......and congrats *wink*

Starfollower

I have gone the opposite to you. We traded our ML55 to a ML350 (gasoline) due to the fact that we never really needed to put our foot flat (only for fun) and the petrol consumption in the ML55 was horrendous around town. The ML350 (2014) feels almost as quick as the 55 when given some stick! Yet so much better on gas consumption, probably because of the newer engine technology.
I also have a 2003 CL600 twin turbo V12, one of the most beautiful coupes MB has ever made, so know what fast MB's are like. BUT - this model has tons of extras therefore tons of things to go wrong - and they do!! $20,000 spent on the fluid suspension,(on warranty by previous first owner) $1,100 on the cooling system and I have $3,000 on a new coil pack (still in mt boot/trunk to be fitted). From personal experience I would never buy another Mercedes-Benz with fluid or air suspension. The 6.3 engine has some inherent fault (head bolts,intake manifold leaks, noisy cam adjusters, oil consumption etc)) - go to the AMG section
The point I am trying to making is if money and possible repair costs is not an issue - go for it! You will love it.!!!

drwolf

Judas would be if we went to BMW, Audi, or porsche, or bentley lol..

peter2772000

I know *he said, sheepishly*. I had nothing better to comment.

What's the saying?
"Better to be quiet and look stupid than to open your mouth and remove all doubt"

NickW

That's a good point, I do have some reservations on maintenance and repair costs, but I do almost all of my own maintenance so there's some "savings" there. The one I drove had the 5.5 bi-turbo motor with the performance package and it was fantastic. I honestly didn't think I would be so impressed with the ML63 over my 350, but it really is a completely different animal. Totally unnecessary, but it's exactly what I'm looking for right now.

I should've added that I also test drove a 2008 ML63. It felt slow and very dated. It was in good shape, but I wouldn't drive it over my 350. This particular one had the head bolts changed and ran good, it just wasn't impressive at all. I felt like my 350 was comparable in speed and like you said, the W166 is much nicer.

Starfollower

Clean forgot - the newer ML63 is not a '6.3' but the 5.5 turbo motor, which I know nothing about. yes - you will love it ! Enjoy!

peter2772000

So Nicko, did you drop the hammer on one yet?

NickW

Not yet man, I've got the 350 up for sale, but I've put a lot of miles on it so value has dropped a lot on it! Once it sells, I'll get one though! I would definitely recommend driving a 63 if you get a chance!

peter2772000

I'm sure it's a hoot to drive, but after having just come off a 14' Grand Cherokee SRT with 475 horses, I'm done with those ticket magnets.