Hi all,
I have just joined in the hope of some help and information.
Looked around the web and found this forum with lots of members and great posts and help.
Hoping to be able to pick other people's brains for help I need my end.
I am late to the M-class table of fun, but will soon catch up with my first ML500 W163 2002 with full history and extremely low miles and looked after with care and pride.
I suffered a serious RTA which has rendered my life very different.
I have no concept of date or time, have carers daily to help with a few issues, but can still drive, although each year the brain test I have to undergo with DVLA to keep my licence is getting harder.
I live in a very remote place on top of the Cambrian Mountains, in mid-wales, so animals, nature, the forests and rivers are my daily hello out my windows, no concrete jungle, or looking into other people's windows or back yards.
It rains a lot here, but not as much as my home place of Scotland where I left as a child.
I am medically retired, so in a way I made it to retirement, but not what I had expected, so I will enjoy myself as much as i can daily and take it as it comes.
Looking forward hopefully to a lot of help and being able to also help others.
I have no working memory, and this freaks people out unfortunately, as say 2 hours later, i may not even know I met you, so i write everything down and use a camera to capture my entire life every day, which lets me see sometimes were i was and what I did.
So yes, I may have serious issues, but to me, I know no difference, just others that notice somethings are wierd if you sterotype me with others.
I spent my life in academia, various trades and professions, which has helped in my later life with the accident i suffered, as at least i can draw on my past right up till the accident. After this it goes a bit wonky.
I can only drive now automatics due to the accident, as lost most of the use of the left side of my body.

 

Hi @SilverML500 and welcome to MBWorld! Thanks for the introduction. Sorry to hear about your accident and resulting condition. I must be very frustrating for you. Glad you found us on the forum. You’ll find plenty of advice here. Please upload a photo of your ML when you get a chance

 

Thanks for the welcome.
Things are different this end, but I manage.
Here is an image of what i have bought so far, with most of the bits now fitted.
Just got to swap out the rear shock/spring assembly.
front shocks done, all 4x discs and pads done and brake fluid flushed and bled all round.

I have a few things to swap out, as the vehicle has been around for 18 years, so bushes, rubbers etc, will need swapping out. It has only done 73K miles

Bilstein B6 dual action mono tube gas 30% uprated off-road shocks.

 

Thanks, I uploaded what i thought was a reply to you, but it seems to have gone to the wrong place?
I do not yet have an image of the vehicle, but will get this done over the next few days.

 

Welcome please post picture of your ride when you can

 

where do i put a picture of my ride?
in my profile maybe?

 

Welcome! Please post a photo of the ML.

Thanks sharing your personal details.

 

2002 ML500 full MB service history and only 73K miles. Only one bit of surface rust, passenger front wing with road spray.

 

nice looking ride

 

It was by accident I ended up with this Mercedes.
I have different vehicles for different things this end.
My van lost its gears, tiptronic, paid over £5K to have it all fixed in March this year and it has failed some 3 months later.
Just waiting to get it back to Renault truck garage, but need to trailer it there, so need a vehicle with a towbar.

A 4x4 was on the cards for a while for me so this will do me fine this end and i can use or borrow trailers if and when needed.
So time to say good-bye to a very old friend, my van. Renault master DCi120 SWB 2.5 diesel turbo 2008 6-speed tiptronic.

I will get some images of the ML up soon, as the interior is mint, like new and so is every panel outside. One rust spot on the underside of one wing that gets hit with rain and muck off the wheels. Will sort it out soon.
I bought the original MB factory mudflaps and rear aprons, so am in the middle of doing these while fitting it with new shocks all around and springs on the rear..

I intend bring it back to A1 showroom condition, as I do to all my vehicles. I love still getting my hands dirty, but not easy nowadays.

 

Someone said a 5.0L V8 is needed on the earlier M-class to pull the weight and an AMG version if you can find one.
I could not stretch or even get close to £18K for the newer, more up to date model, again in the max of 75K miles.
Finding a low miles V8 was not easy, but a dealer was on my list with one, which turned out to be my 5th viewing and driving of them.
The second i heard this one as it was started and driven across a forecourt to let me see it, I was hoping the rest of what it sounded like was as good.

The engine purred beautifully, silky smooth, no miss, no stutter, no noise, apart from the rasp of the exhaust from a 5.0L v8 revving up.
It was valeted to perfection, like a brand new showroom model, which actually makes it easier to spot any marks or flaws.
The interior is absolutely mint, in every way, from door cards, to roof, to all leather seats, centre console, carpets, and yet this vehicle is 18 years old.
It has turned out to be an exceptional buy, considering what is out there for sale that I had come across with tons of problems at the same price.
It took me days driving, and getting driven across England and Wales to see and look at 5 of them I narrowed down to go see.
Silver also seems to be a nice colour that blends into nothing to look at in traffic, un-menacing, until it wakes up and becomes a rocket on wheels.

 

Looks great!

 

I mentioned the excellent condtion of this ML500. It still needs work to bring it back to a new driving experience.
Also my baby hare seems to get involved in anything i do outside. (He is wild and I saved him as his mother was dead with him curled up beside her)
I have hundreds of animals and birds around me for miles, and no humans, just steep hills, fields and mountains, bliss
I am going to replace every single part underneath that needs changing, as the vehicle has done 73K miles. Meaning every moving part underneath has almost certainly done this amount of miles and 18 years of being there also.
Mercedes have done there services in the history I have for the vehicle, but last three years till I bought it, it has been poorly kept, i suspect the last owner could not afford or did not want to spend the money to replace the suspension.
I have spent a few £'s on parts already, but this is only the start.

4 new tyres and balanced, and tracking done, first job i did.
4x new shocks. Fitted the front ones already.
2x rear springs
4x discs and pads/sensors (All fitted and bled)
I intend replacing every moving parts of the 4 corners on the suspension parts.
I posted this already, but got confused and posted it in someone elses post and nothing to do with the M-class, opps

I have gone for uprated off-road mono tube dual action Bilstein B6 shocks, bilstein rear springs, and bilstein rear discs.
Pads are slightly uprated performace pads, so will wear out quicker, but not a problem.
I have also refurbished the front callipers as they were rusty and tatty looking. Pistons and rubbers were mint, so no need to change them.
The images show what i have bought so far.

The mudflaps and a new driver side auto-dimming mirror glass and washer bottle are all dealer parts, so had a painful money extraction experience over these parts.
All vehicles have little gremlins and faults, and the M-class is no exception. Washer bottle, the larger one, is so big and flimsy, it bursts at the sems half way up and leaks washer fluid over the ABS pump and pipes. I never noticed this when i bought it, until I filled up the reservior, and it literally poured out until it got just under half full.
I read through page upon page on this forum from others here, so thanks for letting others like me know what to look out for.

My pet hare. he has come to look at my new vehicle and he seems to approve. Saved him as a baby, about two weeks old, as mother was dead and he was curled up beside her. Used goats milk until he started on solids and now he lives in my garden. One of my carers named him Harold. He is still wild and timid and yes he can bite hard!!

Bilstein B6 shocks, Bilstein springs (standard size), Front and rear discs and performace pads, (They will wear out quicker, but i can live with this)

I had to use 4x spring compressors as these coil springs are long and thin. Top mounts and springs are also Bilstein.

new tyre, disc, pads and refurbished calliper

One front drivers side mudflap fitted so far.

Passenger side front tyre, disc, pads and refurbished calliper.