I am seriously looking for another car. What I need is something with all wheel drive primarily for winter and general utility purposes. My current daily driver is a CLK320 which is wonderful and I love driving the car. Now with just over 80,000 miles it will remain in service as a "good weather, warm months" vehicle. The "new car" with 4-matic will be the winter and bad weather car and the one used when the small CLK just hasn't the room ALSO the 4-matic car will eliminate the need to use winter tires and change the tires/wheels in the fall, removing them in April.

So the question is which Mercedes. My preference would be for a station wagon and my budget demands something from 2011-2013.

Since I am specific equipment requirements for this next car, station wagons are VERY hard to find and in the past six or so months have become quite expensive.

I decided to do some hunting on line for an ML that might be what I want/need. It certainly is big enough! What I have found is a very nice looking, one owner, ML550 (2012) with around 80,000 miles. Excellent Carfax service history (although some details are not itemized by the selling dealer). All services done by the selling Mercedes dealer.

The only hesitation I have as of this writing, is the V8 engine. I enjoy terrific fuel mileage from the CLK 320 and I expect the ML will be significantly worse, but since I do practically no stop and go driving, I am thinking this might be a better choice than a more expensive station wagon. I expect this car might cost a bit under $12K.

Comments? I will make a decision this coming week and travel some distance to buy it.

Roger

 

A CLK as an only car is not much a good idea. The ML550 is a fine SUV and as long as the airmatic suspension is working correctly. Are you dead set on a ML550? Or would you be OK with say a last year W166 ML350 gas? They are super reliable and suited for a daily. You can find a 2015 ML350 for near that price.

 

Research the M278 motor before you roll the dice. Could be good for another 100k or it could start using oil tomorrow. If you have a good Service history, I would personally not be too worried. It is a fairly economical motor for the power you get and the rest of the car should be pretty reliable. They are overbuilt and very heavy for a unibody. Our 2010 is still a bank vault - despite our crappy roads it has very few rattles. My wife loves it so much she turned down a chance to replace it with something newer this summer,

Go drive one and see what you think...

 

This particular ML550 does not have the Active Dynamic suspension option so the only air suspension is in the rear as would be the case with a station wagon.
I have never thought of having a V8 powered anything but this particular car is one owner and was serviced always (according to Carfax) at the local Mercedes Benz dealership where it was sold. The only reason this is really important to me is that there is great likelihood that their service records may well be complete for the car and I may get a better picture of EXACTLY how comprehensive the services were. CarFax shows when all services were done but the precise details were not provided in the report to Carfax, only that required or recommended services were performed. I am especially of concern was whether or not the drive line had been serviced by 80,000, especially the transmission and transfer case. I have a call in to the dealer's service department and will confirm what has been done. IF the transmission has not been serviced that I will have to do that immediately and will negotiate the final price accordingly.

The three most important features on an ML I would buy is the Zenon headlight/self cleaning headlight option, the pano roof option and the steering wheel with wood trim (I love the one in my CLK and I just want another one in the next car!). The ML under consideration has a lot of other options none of which I would order but since they are there, I benefit. This particular car has leather and black headliner over white exterior. From the photos and description from dealer this sounds like it has been primarily a local use car and with only 80K miles total, not heavy use at that.

I am a bit less enthused because this is a Northeast car after all, and my preference would be an ML350, but this is there now and I have seldom seen MLs as well equipped as this one is, and rarely, a station wagon either. I am turned OFF by the standard equipment 19" wheels, but that can be changed relatively easily if it comes to that. In the past I have had several Audi's with Quattro and am not necessarily expecting "Quattro-like" bad weather performance from the 4-Matic but some people I know who are acquainted with both systems over the years say that 4-matic is really pretty good. At the worst, I won't be doing a lot of driving in really bad Maine winter weather, and I KNOW the ML will be much better than the CLK was even though there were special steel wheels from Germany and dedicated winter tires that I bought specifically for the CLK.

Roger

 

An ML550 circa 2012-2014, you are looking at the M278 engine. Early production, say 2012, early 2013 are listed in a TSB due to some issues with chain tensioners and/or check valve behind the chain tensioners ( TSB)

In addition to that, the M278 has some costly maintenance as miles pile up, and the "dreaded cylinder scoring problem". Does it happen to all of them? However, MB decided to change the cylinder materials around 2015 for the future M278 engine ( WIS document for M278 cylinders), why? Your interpretation, not mine.

From an MB specialist shop, and a former owner of an M278 as well, their latest summary on the M278/M157. They print money servicing these engines,

If you visit their YouTube channel, you can review the older videos on this specific engine (@3 years ago). Nothing new.

A search in their YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/@603benztech/search?query=M278

My 2c advice, look for a W166 with a M276 engine, either NA or TT -> ML350 / ML400. ML400 is more likely with better options like the BiXenon you mentioned

 

Not long ago sold my 2013 ML500/550. It had 250,000km on it and was still going strong. I did a major service at 200,000 replacing cam adjusters, tensioners , water pump and all 4 air springs and shocks. I loved that car.
Don’t get too excited about the Xenon headlights they are nothing special.
Great car all round though, I replaced it with a 2014 63.

 

Do your M278 engine research but I would guess a one-owner, dealer-serviced, low mileage car like the one you found would likely be worth a try. If you look at my vehicle history you'll see I once went from a CLK350 to a CLK550. The 350 started showing signs of what we were then calling the "dreaded balance shaft issue" so I needed to act quickly and the 550 was the only CLK at the next Mercedes auction (back then I bought only at auctions). Like you, I liked the 6-cylinder fuel economy and feared a thirsty V-8 but I was pleasantly surprised: most of my driving is 70+mph highway and the 550 got better gas mileage. It was only after getting the 550 that I felt the 350 was underpowered, and when I bought my daughter a W164 2010 ML350 I felt that it too was underpowered. I often drive a route that has me entering a highway on the right only to exit left in 1/4 mile, crossing 3-4 lanes of traffic to do so, the "merge of death" lol; that ML350 could barely get out of its own way! I took that into consideration when shopping for my own ML and that's why I went with the ML400, but a 550 would have been my next choice.

I think you found a unicorn: a well maintained one-owner car in your local area that's equipped and priced to your liking. Pull the trigger!!


It is when you've been driving a 2008 CLK! I replaced the halogens on my 2006 CLK350 with xenons, a popular MOD at the time; difference was HUGE. Now the active/dynamic headlights (whatever they're called) are a must for me....

 

Roger M Woodbury <acadianlion@gmail.com>

to MBWorld.org

8:27 AM (1 minute ago)


Well the problem was the car was not in my "local area" and if it had been I would not have even looked at it. I am in mid-coast Maine so any car I buy will come from somewhere salt and sand are not used on the road. This particular ML550 looked so clean and the Carfax showed it had been serviced EVERY time when due at the selling dealer that I felt good about it. The bad part was it was in metro New York. No worries: I have a good friend who lives in the city and she knows how to get around. I figured I'd go down by bus and train and we'd have some fun a couple of nights and I'd complete the deal on Monday morning.


Seemed like a plan but for some reason the dealership didn't get it at all. I spoke with not less than six different people either on the phone or by text/email and each one told a different story and it was obvious no one was talking to anyone else. Yesterday I finished my last meeting with the local bank to see if they could offer some financing as attractive as Navy Federal. They did so armed with the dough, I was prepared to negotiate a final deal.

Late afternoon I got called by yet another guy who wanted to talk about the truck and my deal. I thought this was the final "chat" and this guy would make the deal with me. But he didn't or couldn't. What was really odd was that he never asked me for money...a deposit or something. He got all twitterpated when I told him I was planning on coming to New York on Friday and would be in the dealership on Monday morning to complete the deal, and drive north in the ML. He seemed not able to get his mind around that concept.

I began to wonder a couple of things. First, after all the chat about the ML throughout the week and weekend, why wasn't I talking to a decision maker? Secondly I wondered if they were in physical possession of the title? Then the worst thing of all, the guy said on the phone that "they" had other people who were interested in the vehicle. (That is a very old, sleazy and NEVER to be used, salesman's trick and it made me go directly to "angry"). I seem to have a touch of flu or something and had a rough night last night. Tossing and turning and running this over and over, I made the decision: NO DEAL. I had an email address for a woman at the dealership who wore the title of "Business Development Manager and I wrote to her early this morning telling her, "NO THANKS".

So it's over and I'll continue the hunt. I have bought the last seven or eight vehicles I have owned long distance, flying to pick the car up and it has never been a problem. I just show up, plop down a large check from the bank and drive off. Sometimes the cars have had a full tank of fuel.

Maybe I just can't do business in New York.

 

That’s quite likely. You’re looking at a cheap car in a busy area and you’re in the middle of nowhere (I did the opposite: bought a Nebraska truck and shipped it to Boston). Were it me, I might consider putting a deposit on it and getting down there to look at it but I wouldn’t expect the seller to hold it on deposit for more than a day or two. I bought mine based on a video tour and the clean records; financed it with $1000 down and had it shipped (faster than paying cash).

 

Oh, this was not cheap although my bank's data showed it a "good" value. I have received two phone calls from the dealership but have not answered any of them. I just have decided they were simply too confused internally and I won't go further. 62000 miles was attractive but there needed to be at least some organization to their sales approach.

I was just looking at a 2010 ML350 in Washington. One owner, PERFECT Carfax but one accident not long after it was originally delivered. More miles of course, but it was equipped the way I want it ex-pano roof. I'm not going any further right now but I am primarily interested in chasing value not low miles: this ML will primarily be a winter vehicle and for use when I need something that will carry more than two people and has that huge rear capacity. Plenty of time: there are a gazillion MLs.....

 

I'm just saying that $12,000-$13,000 is a cheap car and the "dealership" (isn't it just a used car lot?) expects it to sell itself to someone that sees it and comes in. Mine was $25,000 and was at a BMW/MB Dealer that sells more used cars on the internet than live and in-person in Nebraska. I can't find a White ML550 with 62000 miles in NYC; have a link?

 

I don't think you looked very hard. This was on CARFAX as well as several other sites plus the dealership website https://www.paragonacura.com/viewdet...lity?type=cash
This is not merely a used car lot but a fairly large Acura franchised dealer.

Your in Milton? I grew up in Natick but I escaped.

 

I thought you said 2012! I love that 2014; it looks like mine. Buy it you Maineiac!