Newer ML Quality
 

There has been much discussion of the problems of '98-'02 M-Class but I haven't heard much about the '03-'05's. Are the '03-'05 improved to the point they don't have problems? Especially in the areas of transmissions, struts, rattles, switches and other common early M-Class problems.

We drive an '00 ML320 that has had most of the annoyances debugged except for 3 - the power steering will groan or grind when backing to the right then steering left (backing our of a parking stall), the transmission will thunk when downshifting - especially from 2nd to 1st, and the left rear strut creaks.

I am not excited about the 2006 M-Class but would be interested in a new 2005 to replace our current 2000 if the 2005 MY is essentially trouble free.

Any information?

Jim W.

I replaced my 02 320 with an 05 500 and the first thing I noticed was that the 500 felt a lot tighter - and i don't think it's the 500's dynamics compared with the 320, because I'd driven several early 500s before I purchased mine. The 05 did feel much better put together. And that's really not that surprising, given the fact that MY06 was right around the corner when I got the 05 500, and Mb must have tested some assembly techniques on the late W163s before plunging into the W164.

As for the problems, I haven't experienced anything major yet (on the 320, had just minor issues except for replacing steering rack and leaky tranny which was diagnosed correctly and fixed). I have the 500 Sport and the round fogs leak a bit - will have it resealed. There's a rattle from the sun roof area and a discolored window trim was replaced just after delivery. I hear MB has a recall on the harmonic balancer, so I'd watch out for that. One very good thing with the 05 (and i don't know when they started this) is that they changed the fuel filler neck angle - it's normal now!!!! In general, I think the 05s have a lot more changes that are not visible, compared with the 02s. They even redesigned the heavy duty floor mat to account for the lack of covering on the dead pedal area. The driver's side seatbelt is repositioned such that as your butt rolls over the seat side bolster, the belt protects that left side of the bolster that sees the most wear - maybe it's just my seat positioning, but at 40K, the bolster on my 320 was beat due to the button on my pants back pocket!!! So, I think that the 05 is a somewhat better truck than the 02.

Forgot to add this: the PANIC writing on the red pad on the keyfob faded quickly on my MY02 320. It's holding fine on the new teuck - small but noticeable, then again, maybe I'm just well wishing.

Thanks Darkmann, sounds encouraging.

Darkmann, did you get the phone option? I'm just curious which phone they are using in 2005.

I agree with Jim about the W164. I was taking a look at one and while the nose is kindof sexy, the side view and rear looks too much like the Lexus RX330 for my taste. Not too sure about the durability of unibody construction vs. the body over frame construction either. Well, maybe with $3/gal gas we can get a great deal on a MY2005 ML500 :)

No, I didn't need that option. However, back to Jim W., I may have been too optimistic about the 05 MLs. Just last night, it was pouring heavily when I took my loving wife to the mall. Of course, with one door ding already, I parked way out at the far end of the mall parking lot (I dropped her off at the mall entrance before I went for adventourous parking). When I trecked all the way back in the rain to start the truck, as soon as I turned the key to the START position ALL BREAK RELATED WARNING LIGHTS CAME UP -ABS, BAS, pad wear indicator, XYZ...., all came up in that ugly yellow or amber or whatever color you may want to call it. What in the world???? I'd been through this before in both the MY02 ML I got rid of and on my '01 E-Class!!!! I thought MB had gotten this resolved by now given all the complaints people registered about this same problem!!!!!!!!! Other than being wet and cold, to make matters worse, the truck would not shift from P as long as the brake issues were unresolved and my 12 year old daughter couldn't understand why my brand new truck was having problems - just when I wish I was riding with a MB exec!!!!!!!. Lucky me, based on past experience, I knew to just turn vehicle off and restart to resolve the problem I thought had been resolved in MY03. After that, everything was OK. I'm really disappointed, and I mean that because I know the capability of the ML and that's why I traded up to the 500. But, I really hope these problms don't keep on occuring otherwise I will go back to Nissan/Infiniti (that's where I was problem free b4 exploring MB!!!!!) once my warranty expires.

Aarrgh! I may just have to either run this one 'til it quits or go to another brand. My old '78 300SD just keeps looking better.