zeddie

My ageing W164 just steps into the 9th year. I'm considering W166 ML350. However I'm aware the new engine for E400, M276 3L turbo with 333 HP and 48 Nm torque that should fit me best. Anyone know when will the new engine fit in for W166 - ML400 ?

Chasvs

Eventually.

ChrisMclass

Is it supposed to come with the refresh?

zeddie

Very attractive spec on E400 that is on sale in HK now....

Spec E350 vs E400
Engine/Configuration
V6
V6

Displacement (cc)
3498
2996

Rated output (hp/rpm)
306/6500
333/5250-6000

Max Torque (Nm at rpm)
370/3500-5250
480/1600-4000

Compression ratio
12.0:1
10.5:1

0-100 km/h (s)
6.3
5.3

scottm57

I've just ordered the new ML400 last week…bi-tirbo and +30kw and more torque than current ML350. Arrives May shipment to Melbourne Australia

galion

Isnt the 400 engine replacing the V8 550?

Benz Werd

Don't hold your breath for May ... I was told delivery after 4 months, it ended up being 7 ... although that was a year ago now, perhaps they've caught up a bit.

Nice choice though ....

Benz Werd

Oh I hope not, but I guess it's inevitable seeing they've already done it here in Aus with the E-Class. No more E500s for us anymore

Problem with this is now there's a huge gap in both price & features between an E400 and an E63. I'm talking around $100K difference. The E500 sat around half way between the E350 & E63. If they do this to the ML I suspect a similar thing will happen.

I also suspect it's MB's way of trying to push us V8 lovers into an AMG, and spend more $$$.

However, I'll be very surprised if they do this in the US as it seems the V8s still sell very well there.

galion

Mark my words : There will be no ML550 for 2015.
ML350 BT will be gone too.

Benz Werd

Hi, Thanks for your response.

Do you mean there'll be no ML550 in Brazil only in 2015, or worldwide?

And what's going to happen to the ML350 BT? That's MB's best seller, perhaps not in your country, but certainly here, and in Europe! And it appears it's catching on very fast in the US too!

Please clarify your comments. Are you a MB employee who has inside info?

Cheers!

galion

hehe, well... I am not a direct employee but I have my sources.... Daimler has a huge Bus and Truck factory here in Brazil, they are one of my best clients.

From what Ive heard, ML 350BT will be replaced with ML250BT in most markets, America and Europe included.
ML550 will be replaced with the ML400 in LATAM market, I am sure they will do the same in America, Just take a look at what they did to the E class 550.

Manufacturers need to comply with Federal standards on C02 emissions which are tougher too meet every year so displacement downsizing and turbocharging is their goal.
Porsche just dumped their fantastic NA4.8 V8 engine in the Panamera S in favor of a smaller V6 turbo, same will happen to the Cayenne S.
The future is here.

Coreysimms

Is it going to be the V6 or the new twin turbo 4liter V8?

Benz Werd

Ah ok, yes I knew about the Bus & Track factory, I'm involved in the transport industry too and Benz buses are a huge part of the fleet.

Yes I've heard about the 250 BT replacing the 350 BT as well. There's been no word of that here in Aus, we currently have both, but the 350 is certainly the more popular of the two, and in fact the most popular seller of all MLs. The comments I've been reading on here about this happening in the US aren't very positive. I know alot of people buy the diesels for towing some pretty serious loads. I have a towbar on my car and I can pull 3,265kg, same as the 350 BT, but the 250 BT's capacity is only 3,000kgs, which does seem minimal I guess.

Not sure what you're referring to when you said "look at what they did to the E-Class 550" .. I assume that means they've now dropped that from the range in the US, same as they did here recently with the new facelift. It's still on the US website though as being available. We were really annoyed at this because we wanted to order a new E500 about 8 months ago but were advised to wait a couple of months for the new facelift so we did. Had to chase up the dealer again (just hopeless, won't be buying from them again!) to place an order and was then told the bad news. Very unprofessional on MB's behalf. I wrote to their head office about it, and see if we could place a special order as we know they're still building E500s (or E550s) in RHD for Singapore & Japan, but they simply said "No, how about a CLS500 instead?" which costs another $50K and is only a 4 seater. They just don't care.

Anyway, I know what you're saying, and yes, I guess the future is here and we just have to live with it.

Happy motoring folks ...

Benz Werd

From everything I've seen and heard it will be the twin-turbo V6 that's already available in the E400 here, and ML400 too I believe, although MBAuP's website is still showing the ML350 not 400. I did read on here recently though that a fellow Australian member ordered a ML400 though. Whoever looks after MBAuP's website needs a bullet, because they're often slow to update information, and there's spelling errors and it's just an awful website to navigate in general. The MBUSA one is awesome compared to ours!

Anyway that twin-turbo 4.0 V8 is an AMG engine I believe, and we'll first see it new W205 C-Class AMG. Wonder if they'll still badge it C63 though, C40 just seem to cut it huhh?

How about ML40 ... hmm, no ...

scottm57

Yes i just checked the order paperwork again...delivery on my ML400 estimated at 31 May, 2014...melbourne

Benz Werd

Nice one mate! Bet you can't wait to get it ....

I drove an E400 last week and it's certainly got plenty of poke, crappy exhaust note though, but I'm sure your ML will have more of a growl!

MBAuP's website STILL isn't updated. Still showing petrol MLs available are ML350 BlueEFFICIENCY, ML500 and ML63.

Cheers

Ben_K

When I order my ML550 last week, there were only 30 something ML550s left to go through the assembly line. From what my sales manager told me, ML400 does replace the ML550. The Ml350bt is being stepped down to an ML250bt. I have been driving a 2010 ML350bt for the last 3.5 years. I was hoping to wait until autumn to step up to the 550. When I found out about MB ending the ML550, I decided to move up the purchase. Considering that my dealer had 1 ML550 slot on the assembly line left, I decided to take it. My delivery date is in April.

I hope this gives you all some insight on the timing change-over for the MLs.

2012MLBlue

Good decision - you will love it! I also moved up from the diesel and love the V8.

fabbrisd1

I like this one "When I order my ML550 last week, there were only 30 something ML550s left to go through the assembly line"... funny what some "dealers" say..

Benz Werd

Well there you go. Again, 'another' MB employee who is telling us 'another' story. I don't know what to believe anymore! I do hope he/she's wrong though.

Can you shine any light on this please fabbrisd1?

Thanks.

Ben_K

When I was sitting in the sales manager's office, he had pulled up production sheets for MLs on his computer. It was a searchable database from Mercedes. It showed which MLs were already online to be made and no more changes could be made, these were highlighted in red. Then there were those that had yellow highlighting, where only minor changes could be made. Then there were the unhighlighted models that could still be speced out to a full custom order. If it were not for seeing this computer data, I would definitely say you were right. There are a lot of those sales types out there. Thing of it is, I have a long standing relationship with the family that owns the dealership. I had been in on several occasions before the sale date, discussing this upgrade. I seriously doubt they would steer me wrong in this case.

I still remember the day when Jimmy Carter did this same thing back in the 1970's, pushing for more fuel efficient cars. Mercedes is just following the trend set by My Obama. They could very well lose enough business during this engine shrinking phase, that they could very well phase them back in in a few short years.We shall see.

iankayem

Their website still lists the ML350 Blue Efficiency (225kw), but the attached spec sheet (02-2014) lists the 3.0L Bi-Turbo ML400 with 245kw and an incredible 480nm.
It still includes the ML500 as well as the ML350 Bluetec.

xMB007x

Interesting. The ML400 looks the same on this sheet.

Maybe the refresh is a 2016 model?

Ben_K

I suspect that MB will change their website once the Vance, Alabama plant goes through their retool sometime this summer.