Local car dealer has had this 09 on his lot for long time. 88k, looks mint. My Audi allroad, as much as I love it, is in constant need of care. And at 178K on oem turbos, well....

The oil cooler seals have been redone by the dealer. I dig this is a every other year PITA job.

My indie mechanic ( Audi,BMW,MBZ ) warns me to NOT touch the MLs.

Unfortunately, I am seeking a small diesel ( 3L) suv/pickup. Many models are due, ( Jeep/Ram/Explorer/Colorado) but not yet in resale markets. ( I'm too poor to pay stiff depreciation on new cars.) I've loved my old MBZ grease cars, but acknowledge the build quality of a 2009 ML is not like my 1995-97 E300Ds.

Bucking my "expert's" advice is troubling, my used allroad has swamped me in repairs the last few years. As one of the indie techs said, " you want to relive that!?"

Up here in winter salt country, the indie said he's done rear brake lines on these MLs, which is a PITA (read $$$) job.

I LOVE the way it drives. And I dont mind my own maintenance. ( although I'll likely punt the next time oil cooler seals need redone)

Tell me the reasons I should not buy this car, which I'd plan on keeping until 300K at least. Hell, at near 55 years of age, I may die with it.

Yeah, I hate runflats. It has them on it. Took a long time for the flat spot to run out on the test drive. Never went WOT , but being used to n/a 606's , Blutec got some snot. 1st gear must be high, as take off is sluggish. ( Used to my 01 allroad with some crazy 3.5:1 1st gear) . But again, on a cold northern day, and a short test drive loop, I didnt "exersize" the beast.

Please tell me why I shouldn't.

From an allroad to an ML? The allroad has every expensive to repair part that Audi could think of (except UFO brakes) wearing out now, ... should be looking at a used Range Rover to keep up with that type of maintenance hunger!

I too have been on that path, the little-history Italian turbodiesel in the Grand Cherokee, ... don't want to be on the learning curve of that at high mileage, the car itself has a bad reputation for quality, ... Colorado probably better, but a pickup, Nissan's new truck you can't even buy yet, ... but that Cummins V-8 is a great engine, again only pickup. I narrowed it down fairly quickly to VW/Audi/Porsche or Mercedes in the diesel SUV market. All seem to have their warts, but all have good reputations and support the likelihood that they will still have some value and demand at 200k miles, if diesels are still legal to sell. So I gave up on a diesel mid-size SUV. The price that used ML and GL diesels get is hard to swallow, but I looked at "ordering" a new one and found them almost impossible to get, which of course supports the scarcity and price of the late-model used ones.

Service and maintenance costs I didn't really get into, you're ahead of me there. If Nissan would put their Cummins in a mid-size SUV and stop competing with Cadillac and Buick for the ugliest chrome and fake vent vehicles I'd be buying my first Japanese (badged) vehicle. Otherwise, I'm finding that the numbers support buying spark-ignited vehicles, more selection, lower price, and cheaper to operate. Consider buying a new gasoline ML and amortizing it over 7 more years (the '09 is 7years old), having warranty for most of that, getting exactly what you want, and having a more valuable (newer) vehicle in 10years and I believe that you'll find as I did that for long-term ownership buying new can make sense.

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Gone to the dark side

- Jeff

Front suspension, timing belt, torque converter. Heck, I love the way it runs and handles snowy Buffalo. But its like a high maintenance girlfriend.

No ignition engine is going to give me high 20's mpg on the highway. True that Jeep Grand Cherokee is a "mediocre" build quality.

And I disagree on ML secondary pricing. Well, pre 08 MLs are cheap for a reason - they suck. But even the 09 and up dont seem to trade well on the secondary. Esp the diesel with the oil cooler maint issue. Sub 20K for nice ones all day long.

I have an '09 ML BlueTec with 54k.
Things to hate are:
The oil seal job. Yours has been done and if done with the updated seals you will probably have many years of trouble free driving. I have all the parts to do this job (it isn't that hard) because I thought I had a seal leak but don't. So I am ready for it when it comes.

Swirl flap motor/linkages. These are under the intake and part of the oil cooler job. Basically it is an oil cooler job minus replacing the seals.

Turbo inlet seal from the MAF dual inlet contraption. PCV oil accumulates here and can leak out right onto the Swirl Flap motor causing failure. I installed a Mann Provent to stop the oil accumulation.

Possible front differential bearing problems. Keep the front differential on a short oil change interval of about 20k. I think the airflow is insufficient in this area due to skid plates and the gear oil is boiling out. When I changed mine, on purchase, the front diff was low.

Do trans fluid every 40k and Transfer case every 20k (takes .5 quarts) with the differentials.

There are tons of little things that are annoying. The front bulbs/marker lamps are impossible to change out with large hands. Possible tail light water leakage causing issues with rear Sam and tail light. Having to remove the passenger seat to replace the main and aux battery (they are under the seat).

My ML has normal tires and I have no intention of using run flats on it.

With all that I really like this vehicle. I really have had minimal issues and I purchased a Xentry laptop so I can interface with the whole vehicle like the dealer does (I service 4 MB's for myself and friends). I have had many spurious faults/events that didn't come back once I cleared them (nothing critical just comfort items). The airmatic is excellent. Driving is comfortable and it has a solid feel on the road.

I refilled the Adblue myself. Buy it at Walmart cheap and use a clean funnel. Do it outside so if you overflow you can wash it down with potable water and it runs onto the ground. The Adblue tank is completely outside the vehicle, you only access the fill port from inside the old spare tire area.

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'05 E320 CDI
'20 GLE 450

Not a belt but a chain. Agree on the pricing though. I paid a little more for mine due to the options being hard to find in the used market.

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'05 E320 CDI
'20 GLE 450

You should! However, be prepared to part with a lot if money keeping it in repair, if you're planning on DDing it.

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'06 E320 CDI
'17 Corvette Stingray Vert

a diesel powered 4 matic sedan is more my taste, but 4 matic is key up here.

The 2015 E250 Bluetec sedan is available in the 4-matic.

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'06 E320 CDI
'17 Corvette Stingray Vert

Too new. I haven't had a car payment for a long time. My boats dont fit on the sedan well either.

Anyway, test drove the ML. Loved it. Put it up on the lift for undercarriage inspection, and OIL LEAK. No go.

ONE REASON........ 2005 - 2006 CDI

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Currently Driving
2006 E320 CDI
1999 E300 Turbo Diesl
2002 ML500
1995 E320 Station Wagon


MBs I've owned
1997 E320 Assassinated by Pine Tree
1987 300E Wife Killed Engine
1981 300D Stretch Limo Total Loss
1970 250 Coupe 212,000 mi.
1974 450sel 184,000 mi.
1974 240D 377,000 mi.
1977 300D 204, 000 mi.
1979 280se God Only Knows!
1983 240D 130,000 mi.
1972 220D 280,000 mi.
1983 300SD 244,000 mi.