A life in the day of......ML320CDi Sport

[dunker]

Only as low as the factory settings. To add some Teins or similar would probably negate the airmatic.

Anyway....

Day 2

So looking at some fuel figures today. My commute entails aprox 2 miles of urban stop start, followed by 14 miles of motorway and finally 5 miles of country lanes. I would call that a pretty good mix of road speeds and characteristics. The fuel economy? 27.2 mpg, which to be honest isn't all that bad, especially bearing in mind I was pushing 18.4 mpg with the Zed!

One thing I would love to adjust though is the light levels at which the auto lights come on. It was fairly dull this morning as anyone in the East will vouch for, yet the lights didn't come on. Had to revert to manually turning them on...all that energy hey!!

Still in the honey moon phase thoug and intend to get some stylish phots today, with the fog as a backdrop.

 

[l5foye]

I am interested in the mpg you report. I had the loan of a ML 280 (8k miles).With gentle driving, the best I achieved was 24mpg. Over 8k miles, it showed an average of 22. As I am getting around 30 from an old shape ML 270 (manual), the mpg from the 280 put the notion of changing to the newer model out of my head.

 

[dunker]

You know, in the run up to choosing my car I did alot of research on things like fuel economy and I was astounded at the difference in returns. Alot of this I believe is down to software glitches within the ECU.(More prevalent in pre 06 models)
I have had reports of single digit mpg and some as good as 40. I would put the latter down to long motorway drives with cruise control in, and it has to be said that cruise control will ALWAYS return better figure.

 

[dunker]

Some updated photos from work today....

 

[st4]

and it has to be said that cruise control will ALWAYS return better figure.

Not it doesn't. Quite the opposite, try on a long mway trip not using it but rather adjust the speed of the car yourself using acceleration sense and an awareness of a gradient may allow you plan your use of the throttle to drive more economically....

Use the speed limiter function if need be. Kick down disables and without cruise on you will have far greater CONTROL of the car

 

[Charles Morgan]

Great photos! Love the middle one, and the one with the more noticeable Apache in the background.

 

[renault12ts]

Not it doesn't. Quite the opposite, try on a long mway trip not using it but rather adjust the speed of the car yourself using acceleration sense and an awareness of a gradient may allow you plan your use of the throttle to drive more economically....

Use the speed limiter function if need be. Kick down disables and without cruise on you will have far greater CONTROL of the car

I agree CC uses more fuel. But your leg will not hurt after 500 miles.

I have no manual with my car, but I do have a limiter. How does it work?

 

[st4]

I agree CC uses more fuel. But your leg will not hurt after 500 miles.

I have no manual with my car, but I do have a limiter. How does it work?

Push the CC stalk in on your car, a wee light should appear on it. Give it a "flick" like you do on your CC and it should engage (like a turn signal to the right). Flick it again and the limit goes up by 5mph. Pull towards you and it goes up by 1mph. Push away from you and it goes off. Kickdown disables it.

After 500miles you legs shouldnt hurt. You're not sat properly in the car if you need CC to comfortable sat in it.

A quick guide to make sure you are.

Legs should be bent at the knee by no more than 120 degress, 110 is about right. Upper thigh should be support to an inch off the knee at the most.

Arms should not be outstretched but bent at the elbows 90 min 120 degrees max and your back should be fully supported up to the shoulder. So when hands at 9-3 you should be able to turn the wheel 180degrees without moving in the seat or leaning forwards. With shoulders against the seat with a stretched out arm the wrist should be able to reach the top of the wheel.

I used to sit badly in a car and suffer pains, adopted this position and feel have more control over the car and no discomfort.

 

[renault12ts]

Push the CC stalk in on your car, a wee light should appear on it. Give it a "flick" like you do on your CC and it should engage (like a turn signal to the right). Flick it again and the limit goes up by 5mph. Pull towards you and it goes up by 1mph. Push away from you and it goes off. Kickdown disables it.

After 500miles you legs shouldnt hurt. You're not sat properly in the car if you need CC to comfortable sat in it.

A quick guide to make sure you are.

Legs should be bent at the knee by no more than 120 degress, 110 is about right. Upper thigh should be support to an inch off the knee at the most.

Arms should not be outstretched but bent at the elbows 90 min 120 degrees max and your back should be fully supported up to the shoulder. So when hands at 9-3 you should be able to turn the wheel 180degrees without moving in the seat or leaning forwards. With shoulders against the seat with a stretched out arm the wrist should be able to reach the top of the wheel.

I used to sit badly in a car and suffer pains, adopted this position and feel have more control over the car and no discomfort.

No I'm twice your age !

 

[Sp!ke]

Some updated photos from work today....

Looks like woodbridge?

 

[st4]

No I'm twice your age !

I'm 25 on Monday. The big Five O not so far away, if you are throwing a lavish bash I'll head over and gatecrash

 

[renault12ts]

I'm 25 on Monday. The big Five O not so far away, if you are throwing a lavish bash I'll head over and gatecrash

I'm wrong...I'm more than twice your age.

 

[dunker]

Looks like woodbridge?

Wattisham......home of the UK Apache Force....


As regards CC, it was far better for economy in the Nissan as it was 10 x more responsive to speed changes than a size nine would ever be. Have yet to compare the MB system over a prolonged period.

 

[greggster]

Hi Dunker, any more daily ML reports? Its always interesting to see how other models fair in the real world, cheers

 

[dunker]

So, almost a week in and still enjoying the car.
Yesterday saw me with the oppurtunity to test out the airmatic to ford a flooded road. Unfortunately the car infront stalled and blocked the road so had to detour. And there I was all elevated and raring to go.
To the fuel figures...well still hitting mid twenties on the fuel consumption and haven't had to "tank" yet. A noticable difference from my Nissan days!!
Just getting to grips with the command system and one gripe would be the poor sighting of the Aux input. In the glove box where the Service book sits. It seems a rather poor ergonomic and I am assured that in the current facelift model it has been resighted. My next aim is to get to grips with texting from the Command which I am led to believe you can.

Have to say that I haven't really noticed any difference in the ride when swithching from comfort to sports mode, but maybe more noticable at speed and over a bigger variety of surfaces.

I need an excuse for a long trek, possible to the continent to test out the boot space with regards fitting crates of beer and wine in preparation for the World Cup. Any suggestions?

Talking of boot space. I did purchase a net from Ebay for a ridiculously low price of £7.99, so don't be fooled by buying one from a dealer for 3 times that!
Overall.....still happy and hoping to win the auction for a private plate I am bidding on.

 

[dunker]

Week 2

The week starts with the bad news that I have been outbid on a private plate on the DVLA auction. It was AMG based and was going on a previous vehicle I looked at (an AMG of course) but then when I got the ML I thought I would still get it and sell her privately to fund some gadgets....

So onto the ML. Well I have the Command system on mine and I thought I would elaborate on this for any people interested in possible going for that option or maybe not...depending on budget.

Firstly mine is the early version and therefore doesn't come with the built in Hard drive, which IMHO is a great idea...No need to carry any CDs in the car, just upload them to the HD. Had this option in the States and you could even upload photos which could then be used as a screen saver/background. Nice personal touch.

So the Satnav part of command. Well it does have postcode entry option although the menues don't really take you there in a logical manner. Really good and uptodate software too. I am in the military and when I get to the camp gates the system takes great delight in teling me to turn around immediately, restricted access!!!

Tracking of the icon is quick as well, so no more missed exits on roundabouts when the icon is lagging. One bug bear though is that it doesn't give a countdown of estimated time on route, or at least I haven't found that option. That may be in part due to the fact the userguide is about 7000 pages long!

Playback of CDs is good with the track and album names displayed.
For me though the best part of command is the mobile phone integration. It reads from your phone and displays your contacts on both the Command display and on the dashboard. Truly handsfree. No voice activated dialling on mine, but that said, I used to get as frustrated as Ozzy Osbourne when the damn thing on my Zed didn't understand me. Had to speak in an American accent to get it to work somedays!

Apparently it has a text messaging option which I have yet to work out, but will look into that. Also hoping to upgrade to the entertainment pack so I can work video to the back seats.

Any input from owners with the newer APS system would be welcomed, or even those who went for the harmon upgrade.​

 

[MUGGY]

Interesting that you big up the use of a Hard Drive in a car.

Maybe ok for the first owner but what are the chances of said HD still working a few years down the line. Hard Drives have a limited life span which is not likely to be prolonged by use in a car which is a hostile enviroment.

Is any sort of back up system used or is it just a single HD ?

 

[dunker]

I guess until we see cars that have gone 3 years plus with HDD fitted as standard then the jury is still out. Not sure how robust these systems are but I am sure there are some ICE experts out there who could advise.

We have still really yet to see the onslaught of cars fitted with DAB as well which to me seems rather odd. many motors in the States come fitted with satelite radio as standard which is great for catching up on the likes of Chris Moyles whilst commuting on the I 10, but does mean you are exposed to uncensored content.

 

[fuzzer]

BMW are already moving away from hard drives and using Solid State Disks.

 

[hawk20]

Not it doesn't. Quite the opposite, try on a long mway trip not using it but rather adjust the speed of the car yourself using acceleration sense and an awareness of a gradient may allow you plan your use of the throttle to drive more economically....

Oh yes it does! If you drive at a constant speed, which is what it is for, and don't annoy every other road user by constantly changing your cruising speed as you go up and down inclines. Few things are more maddening.