s4play

I have always loved the new ML63 and now that my ML320 is showing it's age with over 120k+ miles, I'm looking at pre-owned ML63 or ML500's.

I know they started building these in 2007 and had a facelift in 2009 but are there any major issues with these cars?

With depreciation, what is a good price to pay for a mildly used ML63?

Oddly enough there is not a lot of used ones around even on E-bay so this means one of two things: Either the car is so awesome that no one wants to sell their used one or it's that rare you never see one (even in norcal where exotics are king, I think I have seen maybe only a handful).


rk

M3=AMG

i think they go for around 65k-70k low miles

ldangeli

Check this forum. A lot of us have had similar problems. Its to be expected..

kokanee

Im sure someone can remember but I though 800 per year worldwide was the number. A city like Vancouver gets less than 20 I think I saw. Good luck finding a used one. I can say I wont be selling mine to take a loss and upgrade to virtually the same thing. I like it to much. Think about a brick that most guys in an M5 cant leave behind on a technical track!

EURO KNG

yeah just save cash nd go for a 07

FloridaE55

07s go for MUCH less.. $55ks, to be exact.
This one is offered at $59K, but I'm sure you get a deal at the mentioned price. And no, it's not difficult to find one - right now, there are 35(!) from 07/08 on autotrader alone!

http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.js...e=&cardist=977

s4play

I'm on Cars.com searching right now ~ thanks for all the tips guys!

May I ask what you guys average mpg wise city driving and what is your range?

Even here in norcal where exotics were a dime a dozen when the economy was good, it's super rare to see one driving around.

This won't be my daily but sure would be more fun to drive around than my 99 ML320...haha


rick

blazinginder

Come on 120k, now thats low...my 98 ML320 is looking at 180k+ haha

But yea it's always good to have change, the new W164 ML's are pratically a whole new car my 08 and 98 are night and day...that being said go for the pre-owned 63 over the 500 for sure, look around and as someone mentioned earlier you can get a good one mileage/color etc for 50's, especially with the current economic/market situation

transferred

ML63 is a great car but I'd fancy my chances of slaughtering one around a technical track in an M5. What I wouldn't do is line up at the drags vs one in my M3.

pepboy1

If you have to ask about the MPG, then you can't afford it.
It is below 10MPG in the city about 17 on the highway.

AWDman

evo magazine's beford autodrome west circuit (technical) M5 1:29.95, ml63 1:30.05. may 07 issue.

tblountman

I am currently getting 12.5 in town and I keep my foot in it regularly. I haven't been out of town in it yet. I have about 2,500 trouble free miles so far on my '09 and love it and haven't missed my Range Rover at all.

ldangeli

No it's if you have to ask about the price of the car, then perhaps you can't afford it. Gas mileage questions are just being proactively efficient in your decision.

s4play

thanks for the rea world answer

Affording the car is not an issue here with the cheap price of gas these days, nor is this my daily driver anyways. However I don't like to be purposely wasteful either so can't hurt to know the "big picture" before buying any car.

My Oregonian neighbors love to be responsible citizens and this has rubbed off on me!

rk

acicchelli

IMO the ML63 gets better mileage than the 12/16 that the sticker indicates. I recently averaged about 17 a gallon on a 200 mile trip, and I was driving mildly aggressively with the average speed around 80mph for the entire trip. My Fiance gets over 18 a gallon on long highway trips. Around town, I am seeing about 13-14 with mostly regular driving.

Aaron

pepboy1

I have the 2007 ML63. 40,000 miles on the car.
I love it, but I get 10 to 11 miles to the gallon driving around LA. Sometimes less. It is what it is. It is the achilles heal of the car, IMHO. Hard to justify not just $ wise but environmentally. I do sleep a little bit better because I bought the car used, and buying used is usually better than buying new in terms of impact.

I have gotten 18 MPG in hghway driving with speeds up to 90 miles per hour during a 200 mile highway trip.

ldangeli

Back to the OP's original question. Years to stay away from.... hmm.... Lemme think.. 2008. 19k miles and I blew the tranny this weekend. Yippee! Talked to my local MB dealer and they are going to "get me out of this car" into another AMG.. We shall see...

AWDman

uh oh. not what i want to hear.

could you provide detail as to what went wrong and perhaps the cost to fix (if the dealer told you)?

kokanee

If you do buy a used one the extended waranty should be an option but only at time of purchase from an MB dealer. I would strongly recomend this route. These vehicles are technologically advanced and as such repairs can be expensive. Certainly if you keep it buy the end of the warranty all issues should be resolved and if not it should help the resale value.

BTW transferred:
Ill mention my reasoning again. Evo magazine, professional driver on the 1.8 mile technical Bedford west cct
ML63 Lap 1.30.05, M5 1.29.95
So you are right the M5 with a comparable driver is faster, but not by much!! And as Dr D pointed out he was there the day they tested the ML and for a few reasons they could not run the Ml as fast as possible (either a wet track or someone else on it I forget). 1/10 of a second for a 5500lb brick compared to a true sports saloon on a twisty track is impressive in my mind anyway. I know that the M5 will feel much better yada yada but its not as much quicker that the ML as I would have thought. Certainly not a "Slaughter"

Edit: I see tblountman beat me to it LOL.

s4play

thanks for the wealth of info - this is why I'm scared to buy a pre-owned ML63 AMG. I know these cars are high tech and awesome when running but when they break it can be $$$$ to fix with no warranty

Let me thrown another question out there as I just got back from the Porsche dealer who sold me my GT3. They are offering a $17k off msrp incentive on new 08 Cayenne GTS's!!!!

So that brings the GTS to $74k for a new one....

my question which is faster: Cayenne GTS or the ML63 and which one would you guys take?



rk

red00lght

Goggle is your friend to 0-60 times.
I did find this written in another forum (so I can't authenticate the times, but they seem close to what I've seen in mags...):

Porsche's 2008 Cayenne Turbo does 0-60 in 4.9sec. Mercedes ML63 AMG does 0-60 in 5.0sec, and the Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8 0-60 in 5.0sec. 2008 does not have a Cayenne Turbo S, but 2007 did and it did 0-60 in 4.8sec. The Cayenne S tops out at 155, the Cayenne GTS at 157, the Cayenne Turbo at 171 and last year's Cayenne Turbo S topped out at 167- 2008 is under construction. The Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8 tops out at 155 and the Mercedes ML63 AMG does 155.

kokanee

The ML test times by the magazines seem to be 4.5-4.6 seconds. The 5.0 is a manufacturers spec. The Cayenne twin turbo is apparently a very good offroad vehicle. It officially goes around bedfords technical track slightly faster than the ML but as noted Dr D said the ML times wern't quite as fast as the ML could go. The cayenne was about 50k more than the ML when I got mine in late 06. Had the price been closer I would have definitley looked at it. Worth a test drive for sure. In the real world I suspect they are very similar in terms of straight line performane with the nod going to the ML. The reverse likely for track performance.

AWDman

not that anyone will be flinging these behemoths around a road course with any regularity but the cayenne was the better handling car. slower but more satisfying. the driving dynamics will translate onto street use to a given degree.

ldangeli

The transmission blew up, literally. The gears ate themselves. 19k miles on it now. And the dealer, where it was towed to, 200 miles from my house, won't release it to my dealer, because according to Merc, its a 10k dollar job. So now I am without a effing car until these retards work this crap out and am forced to drive my M3 in this weather.

The ML63 in multiple tests around the world, by both professional and non professional alike has beaten the Cayenne Turbo and the Jeep. Therefore it is definitely faster than the GTS.

CPD SLK

I know Modesto Mercedes was selling a Capri Blue one for 55K!!!! You can get a great deal on one (that was an 07) so dont pay too much. Be firm with what you want to pay and dont get swayed...they'll cal you back...trust me.