the 04/05 ML350 was not the same engine as the 06 (164) ML350. That was what I was referring to. Heres is a quote from the article:

Under the hood of the ML350 resides Mercedes' fresh 3.5-liter, 24-valve V-6. Successor to last year's 3.7-liter, 18-valve V-6, good for 232 horsepower and 254 pound-feet of torque, the new 3.5 ups the ante to 268 horses and 258 pound-feet, all the while using less fuel—it gets 16 city and 20 highway versus 15 and 18 for the previous iteration. Teamed with Mercedes' seamless 7G-Tronic seven-speed automatic, the 3.5 had little trouble spurring our 4802-pound test vehicle to a governed top speed of 132 mph. On the way, the ML350 eclipsed 60 mph in 7.1 seconds and the quarter-mile in 15.4 at 90 mph. We never tested an '05 ML350, but the last ML320 we tested required 10.3 ticks to hit 60 and 17.7 at 78 mph for the quarter [C/D, December 2000]. What's more impressive for the new ML350 is that it posted quicker times than our long-term ML430 in December 1999 (8.1 to 60 and 16.3 at 85 in the quarter) and was only a smidge slower than an ML500 we tested in February 2002 (6.7 and 15.3 at 92)