I totally agree with you on that. These cars have been upgraded to a new class of interior a bit more to what we are used to. The reliabilty issues have also improved from the first Ml320s. Even though the cars interior is a lot more mercedes like, the cost cutting designs aren't, for instance placing the rear window switch out of normal reach on the rear of the front center console, just to save the cost off running wires to the rear doors, or the fact that even the top premium models like the 430 or 55 are not even availible with the duel zone Climate control found standard on lower MBs. Not a totally differant beast but a much more refined one!