Originally Posted by 2MANYCARS

Maverick1975,
I will post pics of the whole clan when the garage is finished (damn DOB, endless wait for permits), and every single piece is accuried.)

Originally Posted by kip

I was wondering about your garage too. Why dont you have any supercars???
Ok the Porsche is on its way, but why not keep the E55 for a daily driver, the ML for when you need space and sell the other 5 cars and buy a Bugatti Veyron or convertible Lamborghini. I dont see the point of having a SLK55 and a SL 65. In which situation you would ever choose of taking the SLK55 over the SL 65 for a drive?

However, nice list of cars!

Originally Posted by acicchelli

We got our ML63 because its simply the fastest and best all around SUV on the market. It also has very high safety ratings and I wanted my woman to be protected. The 7 speed auto is amazing in conjunction with the 6.2 liter V8.

I drove the Jeep SRT and its a pretty decent vehicle and it really flies off the line. They are in completely different leagues when it comes to amenities, suspension, fit and finish, etc. They are pretty even on 0-60mph acceleration, but after that the ML63 pulls ahead for good. Also from a roll the ML63 is a good bit faster than the Jeep.

I have not driven the brand new Cayenne TT, but I own a Cayenne Turbo S. When it was stock, I found that the ML63 was faster in most instances. To even be remotely competitive from a 0-60mph run, the Cayenne has to be power brake launched, while the ML63 did not. Overall both are great cars, and offer a few things the other car doesnt. I have since modded my Cayenne Turbo S with the EVOMS GT700 package and now the Cayenne runs away from the ML in any race. I still enjoy driving the ML as its a fantastic product right out of the box.

A few days ago I did some runs in the ML63 with my Vbox and here are the results.

(very flat road)
0-60mph 4.46 sec
0-100mph 11.11 sec

60-130mph 14.39 sec on 2.72% decline.
100-200kmh 11.95 sec

Accel Distance results
Distance() Time(s) @Speed(mph)
0-60' 02.0 34.6
0-330' 05.5 67.8
0-660' 08.4 87.1

I did power brake on the launch (2500rpms), but I dont think it helped all that much with the ML63. (maybe .2 second difference) It flies off the line strong without power braking. Now on my Cayenne Turbo S, it's a must to get its best times. (~ .7 second difference)

Below is a graph of the 60-130mph run as well as a picture of the vbox display of 0-100mph in 10mph increments.

Aaron

Originally Posted by ldangeli

At this point, I am almost sad I bought the ML63. It has been plagued with issues, big and small. Just another reason I walked away from Mercedes in the past.. I recently purchased an M3, my first BMW, and I am curious as to how it will pan out. As for the ML, she's beautiful, sexy, fast, but geesh, what a dissapointment in quality and service.

Originally Posted by peloton

I forgot that I wanted to react to your post too: every Mercedes I've owned has been a fairly frequent visitor to the dealer for warranty issues, big and small. Worse than Porsche's, about the same for the BMW's I've owned.

Every BMW I've owned has been pretty worn out at 50k miles (I think I've owned at least a dozen of them over the years). I will probably own one again in the future, but I learned long ago not to hold one past warranty expiration.

That said, I think the same holds true for Mercedes given their spate of quality issues in recent years. Indeed, to address that concern, I bought the 090 ML63 with an 84 month/100,000 mile extended warranty.

Final point - I really like my local Mercedes dealer service department. I have a good and long-standing relationship with the assistant service manager who writes me up at every visit. He is knowledgeable, honest and courteous. He always provides me with a decent Mercedes loaner when I drop my car off, so it's a pretty painless experience. I had repeated ABC (Automatic Body Control) issues with my CL600 - the dealer stayed on it and got the job done - just an example of the good service experience combined with full advance knowledge that these cars need attention because stuff breaks or malfunctions for seemingly no good reason other than perhaps poor quality control when they're designed/built.

Originally Posted by ldangeli

At this point, I am almost sad I bought the ML63. It has been plagued with issues, big and small. Just another reason I walked away from Mercedes in the past.. I recently purchased an M3, my first BMW, and I am curious as to how it will pan out. As for the ML, she's beautiful, sexy, fast, but geesh, what a dissapointment in quality and service.

Originally Posted by Newzchspy

[/B]

Lou, explain please? What issues have you had??

Originally Posted by ldangeli

Folding Mirrors - Replaced Motors

Brakes - Replaced Twice. The calipers are now discoulered. "Normal according to the dealer"

Engine - Was loosing oil like crazy, had to be filled every 1000 miles, AND had a misfiring cylinder.

Transmission - Vibrates uncontrolably at a stand still then stops. Gets stuck in gear when aggressively drving and won't switch.

Windows - pinch control went bananas.

Door Handles - Interior components broke, locking me out of the car. Handles popped open with no door release. Door release stuck closed after opening couldn't close the door.

Power Lift Gate - Couldn't open from the button in the car. Would start then close again. Latch stuck closed when open, so when you pushed the button to close it bounced off the stationary latch in the boot.

Sunroof - Replaced components as the pinch control went bananas and I couldn't close the sunroof at one point.

Electrical - The dash lit up all of its pretty lights and then went off. No explination.

Tires - Get the loudest whiring noise, explained as tire wear?

These were the basics.

Originally Posted by AVB-AMG

Here is an interesting question to the members of this forum:

Why did you buy an ML63 AMG?

I am very curious to hear what the reasons and motivations were for anyone here who has actually bought or leased a ML63 AMG, or is planning on doing so. Some reasons may be pretty obvious, some others not so obvious, and some probably quite unique.

Here are my reasons for leasing a 2007 ML63 AMG:

SUV’s/SAV’s - I like the BMW moniker “SAV”. Over time it has evolved from a pure marketing term to a name of a category that the X5 and ML actually fall into. That is an 4-wheel/all-wheel drive vehicle with decent storage capacity, that comes close to the size of a SUV, but has no pretensions of really being effective for off-road conditions or use. I have had two BMW X5’s over a six year period, a ’01 and a ’04, and really like the way they both handled and performed, being the most car-like of any of vehicle in its category, including the ML55 at the time.

Power - At the same time as having the ’04 X5, I also had an ’04 M-B E55 AMG which totally corrupted me towards truly enjoying brute acceleration capability from its supercharged AMG engine. Last year, when the leases were ending on the X5 and E55, I decided that I wanted my next daily driver to be more functional than the E55, while not sacrificing the performance capability. This meant that I really wanted a vehicle that has an acceleration capability of going 0-60 mph in under 5 seconds. Also, my wife wanted to get a smaller car that would be fast, fun, reliable and easy to park. The result was her ’07 BMW 335ci with the Sport Package. That meant for my vehicle, which would be a daily driver, I had to take into account our other vehiclular needs, as well as my desires. It had to be practical, (well ok, sort of practical….), functional and fun. Specifically, in addition to it being a SAV with significant performance capabilities it had to have all of the following:

• Aesthetics - A vehicle that I think looks very good (obviously a very personal and subjective opinion) and one that you do not see all the time. I appreciate a certain level of uniqueness of the vehicles I drive. (That is part of the reason I added the full Aero Kits to both of my previous X5's.) The ML63 certainly satisfies this with just less than 1,000 being sold in North America for the ’07 model year.

• All-Wheel Drive - All-wheel drive for the approx. 14 days of snow covered roads here in the Northeast US. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that my ML63’s 20” wheels and OEM Continental tires were actually able to work ok (slow driving), on light snow covered roads this past winter. I have no illusions that they would work in 6” or more of snow covered roads, realizing that I would really need to have a second set of narrower 18” or 19” wheels fitted with true snow tires to use the vehicle in a normal way.

• Cargo Capacity - Enough space to accommodate my wife’s and my luggage when we travel around the eastern seaboard on vacation. That means two (2) cart-size golf club bags, our luggage which usually includes four (4) suitcases / garment bags of varying sizes, one insulated cooler and one case of wine, and any other stuff that for whatever reason we want to also bring along for God only knows why…. (This means we need to utilize the entire back seat area as well as the cargo area). All of this would fit into most SAV’s.

• High Driver’s Position - A high, (or higher compared to a regular car), driver’s seating position for better road visibility.

• M-B Tele Aid - Some form of satellite-based communication system for its safety value, above and beyond what one can do with a normal cell phone/blackberry. (This eliminated the Porsche Cayenne and Range Rover)

• Quality - Solid build/assembly quality and quality of materials. (This eliminated the Range Rover)

• Service - Excellent Dealership attention and service

An important note here: Thankfully, I am able to afford a vehicle that approaches $100,000 (US). Also, I was willing to sacrifice good gas mileage if I could have all of my other requirements met. That decision is and will continue to be an expensive one and certainly is not the socially/politically correct one today. These reasons really narrowed down my consideration to the offerings from BMW and Mercedes-Benz and specifically the X5 and ML63.

Some of you may ask why I did not consider the ’07 E63 AMG wagon. I did, for about a minute. I am old enough to have memories of riding in our family’s station wagon as a kid and really have a negative psychological stigma associated with wagons in general. It is not really rational, since the E63 wagon is an excellent vehicle and meets all of my criteria listed above, except for the high driver’s position and costs less that the fully outfitted ML63. It is a good, if not better choice for some, but not me.

Those are my reasons. What were or are yours?

AVB-AMG

Originally Posted by Newzchspy

WOW!!!! My 01 ML 55, except for brakes and oil changes has never been in the shop? I had heard of brake issues on the ML 55/63 series BUT not all of these other problems. At least you've got a warranty and hopefully a LEASE!!

Originally Posted by ldangeli

Yes on the lease. Unreal. Thease are the same issues I've had with all AMGs I have owned. Not sure why I keep coming back to MB. But I still love my truck. Don't get me wrong. I think she is still one sexy beast. Just dissapointed..

Originally Posted by Newzchspy

You would've thought that after 10 years with the 320/430/500/55 series of trucks, they'd have a lot of these kinks worked out. The only issue (other than brakes) I have heard with the ML trucks has been the fuel sender. Tanks were misreading the amount of fuel and this too was isolated vehicles. My C32 has been reliable so far, BUT I also tend to buy the end of a production run so that a lot of the problems (seat cushions and radiator contamination into trans) are ironed out. My ML 55 was the second year out. The guys on the E55 forums also tend to agree with me that the late run 05 and 06 models are better than the 04-05 due to various issues that are later worked out as well.

Again, my ML 55 has been stone cold reliable, so maybe I just got a good run out of her. She is my third out of the ML series, (320/430 and then 55) and my 320 was a POS , BUT the 99 430 was never in the shop when I traded her in with over 60 K for the 55. I think that waiting a year or two always improves the breed.

Originally Posted by ldangeli

Yeah, this is my Second ML. I had bought my ex-wife and 05 ML500. Rock solid. No issues at all. Not sure, seems that since the last time in the shop the ML63 has been rock solid.