Great points everyone. I appreciate the insight and the feedback.

gforaker -- Will do on the T&C. That would be choice as well. Not a fan of exterior styling as much as the Honda but like the interior much more. BTW, I love that Honda commercial with the dad who's getting back into his Honda and it turns into a Panther and the Nav says "Redemption Road"... gee, who is that geared to?

W203Ramos-- Its nice to know that three seats will fit across (depending on brand/type) but you are right, I wouldn't feel too safe with that config. We have certainly considered the roof top carrier, if we keep the R. And I agree, it doesn't look too bad.

OldMBGuy -- I dont know how we would get by without the stroller! With the wife pregnant she uses it as a leaning post half the time while we are out during the winters it becomes our coat rack and holds my wife's gigantic purse and other stuff. At my son's indoor soccer games and tee-ball it becomes our our own private locker. We tried this slings with my 1-yr old when she was born and it just didn't work for us. I do like the baby carries across the chest but they limit your abilities to do things.

Talked with the wife and when I told her I was on the forum she said, "oh no, what are you buying now" ...haha. I then told her about this thread and how many folks were encouraging the minivan option as a bang for the buck solution. She nearly cried. So, we agreed to put the discussion on hold until the Memorial Day New Car Dealer Sale/Show held here in town. This is where all 30+ car dealers in town bring this inventories to one outdoor shopping center parking lot and offer great deals -- they also do it on Labor Day to help clear outgoing MYs. So, we agreed to go, walk around and check out ALL of the cars to get a feel for what we are each looking for. Then, we will wait until the Labor Day Sale/Show to get something else, should we decide to go that route.

You know what would be nice.... if MB would up the size on the GL by like 20% overall. Wouldn't make too much difference in the drivability but it would make a world of difference on passenger volume and cargo volume. Instead of 85cu-ft of cargo you would get over 100, thats inline with the GM vehicles, the Infiniti QX, Sequoia, etc.

 

If you've already have an R class you cannot accept a minivan, they are just plain unsafe in driving dynamics/safety-you cannot avoid anything at any rate of speed. They are a comprimise. The marketing dept got everyone sold on them...
For those with lots of kids, install one child seat in the third row and one in the second row, this leaves access room on one side to the third row. We run ours that way most of the time and have room for an adult in the third row with our youngest and a guest in the second row and everybody can get in and out. I cannot live with child seats in both second row seats. We also fold the vacant third row seat at times for luggage/groceries when needed. A booster seat is easy to install on the fly too in the second row.

 

We have a soon to be 9 yr old who climbs into the back before buckling in our soon to be 4 yr old. The 4 month old then goes into one of these things:

http://www.chiccousa.com/gear/car-se...-rattania.aspx

No problems, although we don't do the double stroller deal. We occasionally fold down one of the 3rd row seats to throw in the stroller that accepts that baby seat, and we still have space for a grocery run. If we bought another R Class, it would probably be the diesel to offset the ****-poor MPG I get with my happy foot.

 

What type of MPG do you see in your 63? Do you have an interest in selling it?

 

My fuel economy may not be indicative of someone else - I have to sit through the DC beltway rush hour. The trip computer thinks my avg speed is 11-13mph during the week with fuel economy anywhere from 9-13mpg. On the weekends, I can bring the average speed up to around 40ish and the fuel economy gets better. I do keep track of my miles and do the math after a fill-up - best I have seen was around 17mpg.

And no...no interest in selling. Nothing else comes close.

 

Interesting thread. We have an R350 and 2 kids right now. We are having a 3rd kid in Aug. We have 2 boys, ages 2 almost 3 and 1 1/2. both boys sit in the very back 3rd row seats. They love sitting back there. True we can't fold the seats down but so far it's not an issue. We use an umbrella stroller if we need one. Shopping carts work most of the time. We also have a double stroller. When we do take it we fold the middle sits flat and stick it there. Once the 3rd kid arrives, we will put her behind the passenger. Then there will be one seat open behind the driver. We will need to get a cargo carrier for vacations and road trips. I think the R works with 3 kids in car seats but I also think that is the limit base on the seating. When we have 4 kids we will get a new car. Possibly in another 3 years we will need to consider the GL.

 

The GL seems to have less space in the 3rd row than the R - we debated picking up the GL350, but decided to snag the R63 once the rear seat space was factored in. Then again, my mind may have been clouded by the purty badges.

 

Thank you. To be honest, looks to be the exact same as my ML430 yet you've got so much more power.


In regards to the GL vs. R, the third row really seems similar in both of them. However, the next generation GL that comes out at the end of this year may end up having more room than the old one. With no plans for a next generation R (at least not for the US market) your choices are limited if you're looking at MB. At least they have plans for a GL63 this time!

 

We bought the Saks Fifth Avenue (launch) edition of R500 when it was offered initially in 2005. We have since put 95,000+ miles on the car. It did have its share of maintenance and repairs done with and without warranty, but not any different from other mercedes we have owned. Most notably the replacement of the lower ball joints which took more than a month for the parts to be ordered (from Germany, I was told). The failure of the airmatic pump due to a leaky airmatic strut. Otherwise, there were mostly routine maintenance issues. However one has to be extremely cautious with the MB dealers who service the cars. When we had the airmatic pump and strut replaced, the dealership failed to reinstall the front axel properly which lead to the front axel breaking down while being driven and led to the car being in the shop for another week. Fortunately, it happened in the parking lot and not on the highway, that would have been a disaster!! Other than the dealer competence in repair, one also have to question the dealer's diagnosis for many of the repairs. The dealer told us that power steering is failing and we have to replace the entire pump assembly and all the connecting parts. I brought it to an indy repair shop, all it needed was a rubber gasket replacement.
In terms of comfort (interior room and ride quality), performance, ergonomics, and style, there just is not another car that have possesses the same combination of qualities. In particular, the 3rd row space in other 3 row SUVs (Q7, GL etc) are not the same. The ride of these cars are a lot more "truck-like" (we do have the fully adjustable airmatic, which I believe significantly improves the ride).
We just have a new addition to the family and now we need the 7th seat (which was not available in '06). We looked at many different car options, but there are simply no other car that has the same combination of attributes. I would buy the same car again, but leather or alcantara is not even an option (which I think is outrageous for MB). So, we are looking into adding the 7th seat to our R500. If anyone wants to sell their middle seat (in Black) or know where to buy one, please let me know. Thanks.

 

I bought my 06 R500 a year ago. Had 51,000 kms on the clock when I bought it, and it just clicked to 70,000. Have had no problems whatsoever (until now, one corner is sagging), but it appears a lot of problems have to do with the Airmatic suspension and power lift gate, and mine doesn't have either of those features. It's very hard on gas, but an absolute pleasure to drive. I would definitely buy another one, probably the diesel. I test drove a Lexus X350 and Infiniti FX35 prior to driving the R. There was no comparison, the R beat them hands down in my opinion, especially when it came to build quality, ride and handling (especially the ride).

 

Problem is that the middle row on the GL is fixed, so 3rd row legroom cannot be improved if one needs to. Also, you can only access the 3rd row via the passenger side. You also have to push in the headrest in order for it to fold completely. The R, on the other hand, has seats on both sides that move and/or fold forward to get into the 3rd row, can move forward/backward to adjust legroom on both 2nd/3rd rows. In addition, the 2nd row middle seat can fold to the ground, and kids and/or adults can get to the 3rd row through there as well.

Let's see what the new GL improves on. I'm sure they will at least make the 2nd row adjustable in terms of legroom.

 

Take a look at this: https://mbworld.org/forums/r-class-w...-retrofit.html

That's right, I forgot about the method that one gets into the third row seats in comparison to the GL. The R is so much easier to get into.

 

Thanks. I did look at that link. Just have not been able to find a center seat yet. Any advise where to find one?

 

The dealer?

 

Great car, great problems. Just because not much support on line for that particular model. And sure enough like any other car this one after 120k miles start have many different problems. Like; blue tooth stereo problems, navigation disk problem, rear suspension, ruck pinion, windows switches, EVAP (shut off valve), misfire codes, breaks, belts, pulleys, and many other problems and nobody want to help, but send you to a dealer to financial pit hole and if you ask me, YES, it is a money pit, even so that it is a nice car but only when its problem free! This why we should support each other and help, because not everybody who have Mercedes turn out to be reach and famous.
Support DIY and we need more posts and knowledgeable mechanics, who knows what they talking about! Help me fined repair service manual for my car R350 2008 part# P-2700-251-07 thanks for all your help!

 

I think it is the best long haul driver I have ever owned. Has been bullet proof for the past 3 years. now have 120k miles on it and it purrs like a kitten still.

 

First thing.... what the heck is "reach and famous"????

Modern Mercedes service manuals are all digital now.. and very expensive.

Here is the link to where you can subscribe to them...
https://epc.startekinfo.com/epc/home.jsp

Also Alldata DIY is another source and what I used..

Finally... All most every component is shared with the M Class. Since the M sold over 10 times the volume of the R there are a great many resources in forums in the M Class section... Use those and adapt it to the R.... That is what I did and had no issues....

 

The after 2010 R-class are actually very good from what I heard from both the dealer and my friends. Just the older model is less reliable. I still missed the utility of the car. Also, mine is a R500 and I don't want a downgrade on power. R63 are great but they are also getting up in age, especially the interor.

 

I paid $30 for the repair service manual disc from someone who sold his R in this W251 forum.

 

I changed my 2008CDI with 200K Km for a 2011 fully loaded R350 Gas with 40K km. Love the car. The 2011 is all round better with the upgrades. I have 2 tone leather, pano roof. heated and cooled seats, and the HK sound system. I cannot think of a better all round car. I hope I can get a low mileage 2013 in a couple of years to replace it.

 

I would NEVER buy a pre-2008 R class under ANY CIRCUMSTANCES. we bought ours from a dealer with low miles, and it has had 3 major issues, each over 2000$ each to repair, and it is having another now. All of the issues so far have been things that are known problems in the design, It seems that these were somewhat corrected in 2008 and on, which is why you see the reports of more solid vehicles coming from these owners.


I didn't even count the airmatic failure in the tally above, here is the list


TRANSMISSION - turbine speed sensor - 2K
INTAKE MANIFOLD - bad butterfly linkage - 2K
BALANCE SHAFT - internal engine - 4K
SUSPENSION - rear airbags and compressor - 1.6K
FUEL PUMP / FILTER - replace both - 1.2K


This is on a car that was maintained. Great car when it was running right, but a real lemon before 2008.


CM

 

I have a 09 R350, it's been 4 yrs of hassle free ownership and yes I would purchase one again. If I do I will get the 2012 model bluetec

 

I will get another one hopefully they will start making for the U.S. again. I love her

 

I've had my '06 R350 for 6 years now and it's been a great car. Through the years, I've replaced the rear suspension air bags, brakes pad & rotors, main & aux batteries and most recently, the accessory idler pulley. It has 109k miles and I'm wondering if I should trade it in for a newer ride. My main concern if the R is going to be a money pit going forth with age. Logic tells me I should trade it but am reluctant as it's been such pleasure to drive.

 

I got a '07 R-350 4 matic and been driving it for 10 years now at 200,000 miles. I will drive it to the ground. I haven't seen a car yet with so much leg room that can sit 6 people with an open center isle. I had to repair it over the years but the repair cost to me is worth the enjoyment we had with this car.