sirees01

Can this feature be disabled the wife can't stand it, I have to say she is not too keen on the car at the moment & regrets not buying the facelift Cayenne.
I hope her mood changes quickly otherwise it will have been an expensive mistake

Whoopsy

ouch, I don't think the auto function can be disabled.

sirees01

I didn't think so either, i'm just hoping she will get used to the MB issmms.
Anyone else not like the Auto Tailgate or is she in a minority

BTW: what is the point of the limiter, you have to crouch down to load the boot/I know you can move it manually it is just a pain in the arry.

DoctorD

I am no fan of that auto tailgate either, it takes for ever to rise up and makes that stupid boing-boing noise as it is doing so. What was wrong with just manually opening and closing it? Coming from an X5 which had a soft-closing auto shut system that seemed just perfect.

Vik888

Yes, I'm giving myself more time to decide between the new Cayanne, X5 vs. ML

kokanee

The limiter is the factory default in case you are in a parkade. It can be set to off, meaning it will open all the way each time. I find it quite convenient when carrying packages especially when its raining. Its open before I get to the car.

Whoopsy

The limiter is for preventing the trunk lid to bang on a low hanging roof. At full open the lid is about 2 feet higher than the roof of the car.

Auto open/close trunk lid is the new craze in the high end cars. I am impartial to it, nice to have one but not a required item. I just wished the action could be quicker but I guess the damn American lawyers are just too powerful. Same comment for warning screens for navi, damn American lawyers again.

Tell your wife to step on the car and run for a few miles, mine was hooked after a while and stop complaining about the nagging stuff.

sirees01

It's not the power that she doesn't like, I guess she is comparing the ML63 to her Cayenne Turbo that she had. And from a personal preference she says "it's no Cayenne" I know that, she knows that but she still decided to buy the ML.
I think it was the 8% discount that swayed her judgement against 0% discount from Porsche.

DoctorD

Would you mind elaborating on that point a bit, bearing in mind I should be comparing both cars later this week. Was that a comment about 'quality' or 'functionality' ?

sirees01

Even though MB has raised their game lately with new designs & have improved their quality in their cars, it still lacks the quality you would expect in a £80k car.
I can see lots of cheap plastic materials & switchgear which you would'nt expect.
Porsche on the other hand in it's top of the line cars provide a more luxurious feel inside the cabin IMO.
Leather dash is one huge improvement over the ML (no leather for UK market), granted this is only standard in the Turbo (Full Leather Interior) but I am comparing CTT v ML63.
The Cayenne does feel like a sports car as close as you can get with a 4x4, & after reading many reviews on the new PDCC option (expensive) it does seem to transform an already excellent car into an unbelieavable car.

The bottom line is, it's all a matter of taste & a CTT in my eyes maybe superb but in your eyes may be no match to the ML.Each to their own.

I'm just hoping she will learn to love the ML as she did her Cayenne

DoctorD

I agree about the quality of materials. They are ok, but not up to Audi standards for example. I was really dissapointed that Merc didn't fit an alcantara roof-lining as in the CTT or leather dashboard. However I find the CTTs interior to be the 'least' sporty of the SUVs, it's so flat and featureless and I really dislike the thin steering wheel and flat seats. I had a look at the facelifted Cayenne recently and noted that none of these shortcomings IMO had been improved in any way. That's a shame. I will see how it drives later in the week.

Overall I quite like the layout of the ML, but I still struggle with Merc's single stalk and the stupid multi-function wheel. And where were the ergonomisists when they designed the buttons to adjust suspension and gearbox settings? They are impossible to use without taking your eyes off the road. Really stupid.

sirees01

the alacantra roof lining on the Cayenne is beautiful compared with the cheap grey lining in the ML.
the 63 seats are awesome I have to say, probably best seats we have had.

If I could change some features to the 63 it would probably be better than Cayenne, they would be.

Leather Dash
Alacantra Headlining
Better quality plastics & switchgear
Ability to change digital speedo from KMPH to MPH
Parktronic to start beeping as soon as yellow lights start showing
Chunkier winscreen wipers, they seem fit for a ford fiesta not ML63

Mostly cosmetic as you can see.
However, if they could come up with a PDCC system that Porsche have i'm sure that would be perfect.

DoctorD

I suspect you will actually come to like the windscreen wipers, they are really rather effective - probably the best I've ever used. And (for a change) we in the UK do not get penalised for sitting on the wrong side of the car!

kokanee

You must get better pricing on the Porsche than we do in Canada. A loaded ML63 is $104k Cdn (46,000 pound sterling) and a loaded Cayenne Turbo is $155K Cdn. I would hope for 50K they would give you a nice roof liner. BTW we do get the leather dash, a rather nice one IMO.

sirees01

A similar spec Cayenne Turbo v ML would probably command a £7k premium over the 63.

The Cayenne also has the Autotailgate option on the new Cayenne, it is virtually identical to the ML i'm not sure if it goes "boing boing" though.