wrenchinthewest

Hello,

Full disclosure; I've grown up with Audi, BMW, and VW, but never looked twice at Mercedes.

Presently, there's a very nice ML400 sitting in the shop where I work, RO is 'get ready for sale.' Poor thing has been sitting for a while, and it was entirely, completely unalive. The exterior and interior are like new, the thing looks like it belongs on the lot. Today I replaced the battery, which actually didn't fit out of its hole without cutting the carpet, per Mercedes's instruction, and breaking some trim tabs on the battery housing cover, which was of my own prerogative. It was the original MB H8 battery, an ungainly beast, crammed in a toaster-sized hole under the passenger seat. Much fun.

The flat battery caused a grip of codes, most of which cleared, save for those related to the Electronic Power Steering (EPS). I didn't write the numbers, but they are 'message from EPS module absent.' I tried to further diagnose the malfunction, which renders the EPS inoperable; Autel 906 scanner could not communicate with the EPS module. At this point I was moved to an Avant with flooding problems, but I kept thinking about this ML400. Its a very nice car and its had a hard life, and I just so happen to have a good home.

After perusing the forums here briefly, I caught wind of some specialized, Mercedes specific diagnostic speak, which leads me to believe there are better systems for diagnosis and communicating with MB computers. There's another 'CRP123' scanner that I might try tomorrow morning. Its not as fancy as the Autel, but who knows, it might run on a different protocol. Has anybody here worked with EPS before, because its new to me. There isn't a fuse listed for power steering on the fuse sheet. I will prolly get on the Alltel web tomorrow and look up diagnosis instructions. I kind of ran out of direction.

The KBB is pretty reasonable for this ride, and depending on what the owner wants to do with it, there may be the possibility of acquiring this at my apprentice wage. What does everybody think? I'd love to hear criticisms, ideas, and stories. This forum seems to have some pretty comprehensive information and knowledgeable patrons.

Cheers

eddieo45

Welcome to the forums @wrenchinthewest ; please complete your profile to include what country you're in! There are many members with far more scanner savvy than I, and I'm hopeful someone will steer you to the Star Diagnostic System or other. I have my own ulterior motive for you to buy this vehicle: I just got mine a month or two ago and you seem like someone who will soon be answering questions, not just asking them! Would you please share how many miles are on the ML, and what the KBB value you see is? I paid about $25K for mine, and because I bought it via the internet and over the phone, financing was the simpler option. Once delivered, I decided to refinance, rather than pay it off, and my new lender told me I paid over KBB. This being the third Mercedes I purchased in 2022, having sold two cars outright and traded a third, I'm well aware that the 2022 used car market has been a roller coaster ride, to say the least. If I paid a G-note over some arbitrary book value I'm fine with that, as, like your, it came nearly pristine at 7+ years old with about 86,000 miles.

Also: what is an "Avant"?

wrenchinthewest

Thanks for the welcome @eddieo45, and if I don't make it to edit my profile then at least I'll tell everyone here; I am in Montana, USA. I saw your restoration post of the similar ride you have, it is very nice!!

This 2015 ML400 has 90k miles and still looks brand new, inside and out. The KBB for my area is $17,000-$19,000. Someone else was working on it today and it got moved outside, so I didn't get to mess with it. From what I heard the people didn't leave a valid phone number so I assume it got the battery and some diagnosis, status pending. I would love to buy this; its rare, in really good shape, a balance of economy and sport, and, I'm sure there would be a lot of opportunity to share informations here in the forums. Unfortunately, there would have to be extenuating circumstances that brought the cost down, in order for me to be able to purchase it. Not like I'd wish a large repair bill on anybody, but something similar would have to line up in order for me to be able to pool enough resources to make a move on this.

Did you know they only made this variant for 2015? I thought that was kind of neat.

Avant is an Audi wagon.

I'll keep you posted either way, maybe something favorable will happen.
Cheers.

C280 Sport

2015 was the last year before the refresh GLE400. Should be solid if all the upkeep was done on it. Does it have Airmatic suspension? That would be something to worry about. V6TT engine is pretty solid.