So my wife and I went on a +-3K mile road trip last week and decided to turn the ML63 from a weekend-mall-grocery-hauler into a well rounded long-hauler.

We drove from the white beaches of Fort Lauderdale and Fort Myers in Florida, to the historic Savannah GA, then thru the cozy southern hills and woods of South Carolina.

Then continued to North Carolina and its beautiful mountains where we got lost on muddy roads (not shown in the GPS, more than once) in the search of the perfect bike trail.

We followed the twisty sections of the Blue Ridge Parkway in Virginia, playing cat and mouse games with a few motorcycle enthusiasts, never passing them, but never leaving their tails either.

The ML63 also run two laps around a portion of the Bristol (TN) Motor Speed Way, surprising many non-familiar-with-this-soccer-mom's-SUV faces before starting to head south. "Is that a diesel?" was the question asked right before the ML took on a (sounded like) somewhat modified, mid 90's Mustang GT....well.....as someone else said afterwards: "there ain't NO WAY that thing's a diesel!"

This Country is beautiful and it's countryside folks are genuine and generous. If there was one thing that we wish we could have done, was to keep driving HER further and further away..... maybe next time

Here are a few pictures that we took of her along the way.

1. Loading her up before leaving FL.




2. River Walk, Savannah GA.



3. Tybee Island, Savannah GA.



4. She's a thirsty beast!



5. Somewhere in SC



6. Hauling @ss, chasing BMW bikes on mountain roads.



7. Hauling @ss again.



8. AFTER hauling @ss



9. Lost in the mountains, North Carolina.



10. Lost in the mountains of Virginia.




11. Spent a couple of nights here.



12. Grandfather mountain

Great pics,mi relly like those stock wheels they pit on the face lifted models. Looks like a fun trip! Drive safe

Thanks! Sure will

Mario, pics interest and layout are great. Didn't know you had that talent. I might want to copy some for the SWFL MBCA Newsletter...but I'll ask your permission, and for sure give you credit.
Great articles, and love the ML! Nice family car.
Now, take those resonators OFF.
Jerry

Hey Jerry! Please consider this as a written authorization to use them. I have more if you need them also.

In regards to the resonator....BIG BUMMER as (I found out today) the ML63 does not have them!! I did not think it was worth it to mess with the cats. So I will stop for now and regroup.....I'm telling you.....Renntech seems to be the only way to go.

I believe it has secondary cats, removing those will make a difference

^ +1. There ya go! Secondary cats on the CLK500 are on my removal list. Should gain a little HP and a little growl.
DOOOO it! Cheaper than Renntech. Gotta find a good custom exhaust shop around here.

Thanks for the authorization on pics. No room this issue, but just you wait.

My ML63 had secondary cats/ resonators. I removed them and it made a difference to the sound.

The secondary cats are the bulky things right before the exhaust tips right? I took the car to the (according to a Google search anyways) best exhaust shop in the area and the guy strongly suggested me not to remove first or second cats. He (who happens to be a retired MB dealer man) mentioned potential backflow issues that could actually rob me a horse or two. The only safe bet, he says, is to go with a Renntech, despite the fact that it will mean a lost costumer for him....darn it.

Thank you Jerry!

I thought secondary cats were always up front, not too far from primaries? The CLK's are.
Back pressure affects torque on the low end. I got the same warning from Joe about removing the resonator. If I lost any torque, I sure can't tell.
However, on the Harley I have a 2 into 1 Supertrapp exhaust that has adjustable flow depending on the number of 'plates' installed; the more plates, the less restriction (counter-intuitive, unless you've seen it). It was dyno-tuned with all 15 or so plates in. Later I removed 3, which increased back pressure, made it a little quieter, and torque now comes in earlier. Butt-dyno sure felt that.

It sounds that I may have to continue doing some research about this. I would like to get a perfect blend of adding some extra noise without compromising the performance of the car. I know the renntech folks do good work per my own experience with the C63 but they are not cheap. Maybe a trip to their shop with the rest of the guys of the club will settle that

I have heard that if you add in a connecting "H" pipe you will pick up any lost low-end torque and help mellow out the tone. If you don't have to worry about emissions that's what I would do. If you do need to worry about that then leave them alone. The inspectors will see from the VIN that there are 4 cats and they will need to visually inspect and see 4 cats regardless if the secondaries are not monitored.

Cheers, AV

Yeah, let's go to Renntech! I'll get a t-shirt.

I've read about that being done to the C63's. I'm in FL so that's a blessing. For what I hear those inspections are ripoffs.

Wonder if they make keychains.