2012+ ML63 common issues & reliability?
 

Good day to all,

My wife and I are looking to purchase a 2012-14 ml63 in the next few months. We've seenever a few of them, all needed at least 4 wheel brakes and tires. I'm an ex master technician of 10 years. When looking over a vehicle, I'm aware of what to look for. I have a spread sheet of various maintenance item costs (my cost from mercedes), however, I'm not too familiar with any common issues or things to look for. I've done research after research on this generation ml. They seem to be more reliable than the previous generation. My daily for work is an 06 ML350, had suffered the conductor plate issue, but has not suffered the balance shaft issue. About to hit 100k and has been pretty solid, other than the typical maintenance. Only two issues out of the normal, e-shifter broke and the blower motor failed. Any insight of what to look for and real world reliability stats would be appreciated. We are looking to get one with the most dealer maintenance done and or CPO by Mercedes. Thank you for your time.

A couple of issues I've had so far on my 13 plate

1. The driver seat clunks like crazy, been back to MB dealer 5 times and still as bad as its ever been, they keep "making adjustments" instead of replacing what must be a broken base, seat rail or something?

2. Parktronic front dash display is very unresponsive, doesn't really give me the increased light illumination as I close in on something then goes to red with beep noise even when I'm a couple of feet away, dealer says cant find a fault in the software.

3. The suspension rides very soft at times and really gives a choppy ride on most road surfaces. Dealer drove and said they all do that but I know its not right and recently found that the suspension isn't raining properly and is overworking the compressor (I'm getting a cooling compressor message but no error message). I've looked online and suggestion was the compressor wasn't man enough to do the job on the 164 ML & GL so perhaps its also the same on the ML 166? Compared to a Cayenne Turbo it currently drives like crap, way to much roll.

5. The big one:- Apparently a clip on the coolant pipes is a known failure to MB on the 5.5 engine, mine failed and coolant leaked out, engine got very hot very quickly, luckily I was 1 min from home. MB dealer fixed in 5 minutes but knew about this issue. Where the f*ck is the recall?

One thing i would say, the vehicle may have a few gremlins but the dealer is really poor, gives really bad explanations and their attempts to fix mine are lacking. I pay for extended MB warranty but so far its kept costs away without the fixes. Id deffo have the warranty, Ive aleady had mine back half a dozen times for the above in 4 months of ownership.

I had a 13 plate Range Rover L405 before the AMG and that was just as bad if not worse. All high end cars I've ever owned have these kind of problems :confused:

Still a great drive and sounds like the devil shouting at you when its on full throttle in S mode in the gearbox, love the downshift exhaust blip, from an SUV, get in !!!!

Carl

Well I have own mine for 4 years now and never had an issue really... It's driven hard and it s extremely reliable and mine is heavely modded:naughty:

Just make sure it was well serviced, by a good dealer and that the previous owner took care of it. If well taken care of the w166 ml63 is very reliable.

However just make sure everything is great with the hydrolic suspension system because that can get very pricey to fix !

any more updates on reliability ? common problems ? going to look at a 2012 ml63 with 30k miles this week..

gonna trade the jeep in for something with a back seat, some storage and that can tow a boat..


Thanks


Mike

I've had my '14 for 1 1/2 years, and it has been bulletproof. Love it, and this is our 3d ML. My wife drives a '14 ML350 with 70,000 on it.

Glad to hear, we pick it up today at lunch :) Test ride went well, looks/rides like new...

2012 ML63 with P30 and DISTRONIC, Diamond white/Black Interior... I think the napa leather ? Tow Package... never been used as far as i can tell..... 29k miles....

Can't wait to pick it up!

Mike

They gave me what I payed for the Wrangler... I added about $2500 in extra's of course when i bought it... That works out to be $89 bucks a month to drive it... I think that's pretty good :)

The ML is costing significantly less than half of MSRP... I think that's not bad either...


Mike

Congratulations, I think you'll like it. I came out of an SL55 that I had for 6 years, and I was totally satisfied with the change.Eurocharged has a pretty good program to re-map the ecu if you're interested.

A tune in time my friend :)

So happy, just got back from picking it up.... a few quick pics....

Red Calipers.... hmmm little boy racerish... but then again do we really need a Twin Turbo V8 to pull the boat ? boy racer it is :)

Congrats on your new ride. I'm thinking about buying a used one myself.

I'm debating between the G class or ML. I love the last gen ML but I also love the G class. It will be my daily driver, plus use it for snow boarding/skiing in the winter, camping and beach days in the summer so both vehicles would work.

Thinking to buy around the end of this year. Leaning towards a 2012-2015 ML 63 but doing some reading on both now.

Anyway, got lots of research to do on both!

This is a good thread. Still have some time left on my current Land Rover lease, and am thinging about an ML63 as my next car. Had a 2010 ML and it was solid, but I wasn't impressed with the quality of my W204 C63 at all, despite how much fun it was. Anyone care to offer any comparisons to the Older ML63 or C63 as far as build quality or reliability? It doesn't seem like there are any achilles type issues like the M156 and it's headbolts... and this thread/other forums I've researched don't have nearly as much info on "common problems".

I came from the early 164 ml63 to my late 2012 166 ml63, its better in every way and cheaper to run and service, brakes discs are cheap if you go with after market and just keep OE pads.
Comand is better, same as your C63 the NTG4.5, in later cars the 4.7 so the iPhone works with comand on line.
Very quick and fully planted on the road.

Thanks for the response. The Build quality of my ML was actually much better than the C63. Seemed much more refined, less cheap, less rattles, and didn't have the steering lock issues or other things that plagued the W204. I've had two MB's, an Audi, two Land Rovers, and a BMW, and the C63 overall quality was just not what I expected, and the headbolt issue was a headache... the W166 ML63 looks awesome - I remember the first time I saw one. It will either be that or an E70 X5M but I've heard those have been plagued with issues too. No car is without issues, but I don't want to walk into a headache. I'll definitely go CPO (for what it's worth), and get the best warranty possible through MB. Like I said before, I have a while left on the LR Discovery Sport lease, but I start my research way in advance. Any input is greatly appreciated - trying to get over being gunshy of MB after the C63 (no complaints about performance when it was healthy, or smiles per mile).

Hi all, looking to pick up a ML63 between 2012 and 2015. Coming from a 2009 ML63. From my research I don't believe there is any major head bolt like issues on the newer ML63s?

It will have done around 60,000 kms/37,000 miles when I buy it. Are there any big ticket items that are due for replacement/work around that kind of mileage? Brake rotors maybe? Will be checking the servicing has been kept up to date etc, but just want to know what costs I might expect for the next 40,000 kms in terms of stuff that needs replacing (tyres, servicing aside).

if it has the Pirrelli tires the treadwear is awfull, the conti wear much better, check the treadwear rating....

Brakes, Im at almost 50k and Im at 3-4mm on all my pads, rear rotors at 24mm, just shy of the 25mm where it says replace... they wanted $3k to replace... im seeing less then $1k for OEM parts... I'll be doing this....

Some odd stuff, rear AC control is flaky.... 2 vent pieces broke and fell on the floor ? very odd.... Other than that it's been great...

I have to admit the sounds coming out the exhaust are intoxicating...

I picked up a '15 ML63 last November w/ 40k miles on the odometer. Previous service history was done on time for everything. However, since I got it, I've had the following issues:
-leaking oil from front of engine cover (dealer had suv for a week to fix it)
-leaking oil from a sensor that sits on top of the engine (dealer had suv for 3 days to fix it)
-all 4 door wood trims cracked
-loud annoying rattle from front passenger seat
-blown woofer in the rear hatch
-warning that says pre-safe system and blind spot system inoperative

Luckily, my ML is still under the original warranty so all of that stuff was taken care of. Otherwise, the total cost to have these fixed would've cost me $6K+ in just several months. I'm sad to say that this SUV's reliability sucks big time. I may dump it after the warranty expires.

Hmm, not good to hear. Thanks for your input! Warranty is critical with these things I agree...

Thanks, I found the Conti would wear out very easily on my 2009 ML63 also.

Good to know re the brakes, will double check they have be done or what the status is. Can I ask where you found the OEM parts BTW?

Re the exhaust, do you have the sports package?

Cheers both

ok, Did the brakes this weekend.... easy peasy with basic tools... torx, half inch sockets and breaker bar, torque wrench, found the chart here for specs on everything, that was nice... did some dance with steering wheel buttons to get the parking brake to release. otherwise typical pad/rotor swap....

Front/Rear Pads and Rear rotors, all in about $750 in parts, all OEM parts... took under 3 hrs being very careful not to break anything and making sure it was all torqued etc... found it all on amazon and the best price too...


good references

Torque Specs

https://mbworld.org/forums/gl-class-...l#&gid=1&pid=2

step by step

https://mbworld.org/forums/gl63-amg/...placement.html

how to get the rear parking brake to release..

https://mbworld.org/forums/m-class-w...#ixzz3JSpXdsvK


Remember to pull the cap off the brake fluid reservoir, passenger side front under the hood...

all 4 caliper's pistons are to be pushed back after each wheel is done, even though the rear ones look like they screw in, they dont. I tried :)

After each pad swap, go in and pump the brakes to seat the pads and lower the fluid in your reservoir, if ya do that after each wheel it won't overflow :)

had issues getting the rotors off the back... no anti-seize used so they where stuck... already had it on jack stands, hit the lug holes and around the axle with wd40 and used another jack to lift the rotor from underneath about an inch to put some pressure on it, then a couple of taps with a mallet and it came un stuck...

just remember as soon as you start tapping that rotor your at risk of warping so your committed to get it off at that point :)

after it was all back together, did a half dozen or so slow NEAR stops.... then another half dozen of ever increasing speed NEAR stops... and good to go :)

saved myself $2,250 and got to do some mechanical work which is always good on occasion... :)

Mike

I'm due for some front and rear brake pads as well. Did you not change the front rotors with the new pads? The rotors are ridiculously expensive so I'm contemplating if I should change them with the pads as well. Nice tip on releasing the rear parking brake.

Rotors had already been done on the front and where in excellent shape....

Go online and you can get the OEM pads on amazon.... maybe you find cheaper somewhere else, I did not...

Delivered Mar 13, 2019 Sold by: $199.40 Buy it again Sold by: $199.40 Buy it again

I've learnt engine mounts commonly go around 60K-70K km.

well the 2012 ml63 got traded in after the radiator let go.... was at 52k miles... kinda early...

symptoms where the low coolant light came on but no fluid anywhere that i could see a few months ago... put some water in it and off i went for another few months... well this time i saw a 4inch puddle but couldn't find the leak.... a week ago it was a basketball size... found the leak on top driver side corner... there is small rectangle cover about 1x2 inches... you could just see a little stain going down the side... at $2700 dollars and no more warranty, decided to trade it for something newer and a warranty... 16 gle63s coupe

I likewise have a front seat rattle. Did they ever find its origin and fix it?