Buying an ML

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StevenN

Active Member
Joined
Sep 12, 2010
Messages
437
Location
Nottingham
Car
E220 CDI 2002 W210 Auto
A mate of mine is looking for a 4x4
He has looked at a 53 plate ML.
Knowing how much fun I have had with my W210 E220 he has asked me if there is anything he should ask, check or be worried about when buying an ML

I would be grateful for any pointers people can give

Cheers

Steve
 
Hello

A 53 plate will be the W163 model, when I was after one I looked at the Inspiration model.

imho much nicer inside than a normal one, stiched leather ML55 type seats, more chrome, dark wood, nice alloys.

Also look for one with the Family pack and lux pack (seven seat option, opening rear windows, dark tinted glass, heated seats)

I had mine a petrol ML350 for just over 3 years and loved it, great cars. Things to check..

- Rust under arches (my rear arches were just bubbling)
- rust under tail gate lift handle as you open boot
- Brake disc apparently quite pricey (I never needed any)


I had NO issues except a broken speed wheel sensor on mine in the 3 years I owned it. I guess you will be looking at the ML270cdi but again this can be had in inspiration spec. Also watch out as a lot of advertisers say its this model when it isn't !

Here was mine.. as I bought it (parked on Holiday in France)

DSCF4383.jpg


dark wood trim
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Stitched sports seats
inside.jpg


Fun on a holiday in Scoltlans
DSCF6399.jpg





As I sold it :(
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If he was my friend I would be pointing him in another direction! The 163 is not great to be honest. They are horrible to drive and not very reliable.
Tell him to check the electrics and central locking also they go through rear springs alot so tell him to check these as they have to come with the shockers so aren't cheap. They also go through balljoints and brakes like no ones business so if he has access to a ramp tell him to check these.
I've driven alot and would look to another marque if I was after a 4x4 in this price range. The 164 ML is a much much better car.
 
^ In 4yrs I had no issues... so hardly go through brakes and balljoints like noones business??

When you say you have driven alot... Have you owned one for a number of years? what was the millage etc was it a pre or post facelift?

As for a 164 being better, yes I would hope so but then they probably start at 15K for 100K mile model, somewhat more than a 53 plate 163....
 
If he was my friend I would be pointing him in another direction! The 163 is not great to be honest. They are horrible to drive and not very reliable.
Tell him to check the electrics and central locking also they go through rear springs alot so tell him to check these as they have to come with the shockers so aren't cheap. They also go through balljoints and brakes like no ones business so if he has access to a ramp tell him to check these.
I've driven alot and would look to another marque if I was after a 4x4 in this price range. The 164 ML is a much much better car.

Poppycock and piffle old boy.

My W163 is fine. 2002 - facelift model. Drives fines, works fine, nothing major has gone wrong and it keeps piliing on the mileage. The ML owners on this site appear to have very few problems (aside problems common to the engine and gearbox that is used on other models).

Quirks are:

Springs:

They are heavy on the rear springs, but the whole unit (spring and shock) is £263 from Merc, but if you are prepared to get an indie to sort it - usually you can buy the spring and shock seperately and rebuild for half the cost - they are not the best towing vehicle.

Disks and Pad:

A set a year for me - 2.2 ton vehicle with autobox will be heavy on them. Again - about the same price as a Mondea set of disks and pads. I do about 25k per annum.

Electrics:

Nothing on mine aside 1 relay died. Not heard of any unusual issues or issues that are isolated to the ML. central locking problems are generic to year group of Merc cars

Balljoints:

never been touched in 98,000 miles

Tyres:

1 tyre has worn in 2 years - Goodyear UHP

Price:

A 270CDI W163 Facelift model will start from about £5k upwards. Good price for a big usable 4 x 4.
Try and find a CRV 2.2 diesel for the same money (the CRV is excellent by the way) or anything of the same size and ability.

Reliability:

Mine has not let me down.

Fuel/Tax:

about avg 32mpg to a tank (80 litres) - Mine is upgraded to 220BHP. £240 per annum tax

The above statement from AMG19 is the usual generic feelings based on the first generation of ML. Look around and you will see a surprising amount of the first gen still on the road - so, something must be right.

Also, they are slated for off road ability - Not ture! The W164 is not great, (Well, ours isn't) but our W163 is what I take shooting and it has never got stuck - even following Range Rovers about on terrain in Exmoor. They have a surprising amount of ability off road. So surprising that a gentleman on a shooting party laughed at my ML and claimed that his new Range Rover was the only vehicle to use for off road/on road. He was very surprised as I passed him goping up a muddy field and then commented that he may buy one as a standby, so that he does not get the Range Rover too dirty and wrecked - this guy also owned a matched pair of Baretta S09's - about £60k worth of guns....so, I had to pass him :)

Feel the ML love people - go on, feel it.

**Next time out I am getting a CRV 2.2 diesel - for fuel economy reasons and I don't need the ML size anymore. My wife would like a soft roader and we already have a W164 as well.
 
Last edited:
I have a facelifted ML. So far so good it has been brilliant. It may not handle that well and the steering is too light but for £5.5K car I cant moan.
 
Another fan of the W163 here too. We've had our faclelift ML270 CDi for 7 years and covered more than 75k miles, and it's been great. So much so we've kept it much, much, much longer than we planned to.
 
Ok.

Well we will take it as read that they are good.

What spec would be most desireable?

Thanks for all who have posted.

Cheers

Steve
 
^ I would go for an Inspiration as mentioned or the last of the models which I cannot remember if they were called something special?

They had black and chrome roof rails.

Depends on you millage either ML270cdi or as I had the ML350 which is actually a 3.7L petrol V6 and sounded ace !! I think 240bhp which even in a big bus went quite well :)

Mine would do 28mph on cruise at 75mph, it did around 18 - 22mpg towing our caravan and I would think round town anywhere from 15mpg upwards.

The 270cdi you will probably see 35mpg on a run (my father inlaw has one) and maybe 20's round town.

The petrols will be lower miles and probably cheaper to buy...so do the sums on fuel cost (or even lpg)
 
^ I would go for an Inspiration as mentioned or the last of the models which I cannot remember if they were called something special?

They had black and chrome roof rails.

Depends on you millage either ML270cdi or as I had the ML350 which is actually a 3.7L petrol V6 and sounded ace !! I think 240bhp which even in a big bus went quite well :)

Mine would do 28mph on cruise at 75mph, it did around 18 - 22mpg towing our caravan and I would think round town anywhere from 15mpg upwards.

The 270cdi you will probably see 35mpg on a run (my father inlaw has one) and maybe 20's round town.

The petrols will be lower miles and probably cheaper to buy...so do the sums on fuel cost (or even lpg)

I think they are called 'Special Edition'.

dokalj
 
If he was my friend I would be pointing him in another direction! The 163 is not great to be honest. They are horrible to drive and not very reliable.
Tell him to check the electrics and central locking also they go through rear springs alot so tell him to check these as they have to come with the shockers so aren't cheap. They also go through balljoints and brakes like no ones business so if he has access to a ramp tell him to check these.
I've driven alot and would look to another marque if I was after a 4x4 in this price range. The 164 ML is a much much better car.

I'm afraid I disagree with you as well.
Had two, only thing I had to do on one was I had a cracked cat due to an errant boulder, so I de-catted it.
If I could have afforded it I would have bought another instead of the Discovery I currently have.
 
Got this on my watch list. The 270's are now coming down in price. Maybe next year. Prices will probably fall a little more then.

eBay - The UK's Online Marketplace

Want your old estate back John? Coming up nearly two years now and it has not missed a beat. Oh leather interior now too.
 
Ok.

Well we will take it as read that they are good.

What spec would be most desireable?

Thanks for all who have posted.

Cheers

Steve

270CDI is the engine to go for IMHO - it is a Sprinter Van engine - long lived, good power and easy to fix. Straight 5's sound nice too! I have an upgrade from 163BHP to 220BHP - well worth it.

Inspriation is the style of choice for the facelifted later plates - 03/04.

However, early facelift: 2002 you can get with "packs" - I have a winter pack and a Luxury pack.

Look for 2 setting heated seats, leather, climate control, cruise control, Auto, auto dipping passenger side mirror (very useful for parking), parktronic and Comand (sat nav and sound system). Some cars came with a Bose audio system too, which I am told is very good.

MPG - 20's in town. Upto 36mpg on a run.

Look for:

Damaged rear springs (indicates a hard life!)
White smoke on rev (turbo issues)
Whooshing (cracked manifold usually)
disks and pad (wear, you don't want to buy and then replace the lot!)
Check when gearbox oil and filter was changed (it is about £150 to do this)
Check the engine pipes and fuel line (engine pipes are prone to splitting causing high fuel consumption, fuel lines are plastic and perish)
If you can take engine covers off - have a look at the injectors, make sure there is no carbon build up (injector needs re-sealing - about £50 each)
Rust!

I guess most of this you would generally check for on a new purchase anyway. The only real issue on the ML is the rear springs breaking under load. The rest of the issues are generic to the 270CDI engine and gearbox.

Worth getting the diff oil changed - Merc will tell you that they are sealed, complete rubbish! Easy to change the diff oil - I do mine every 40k with the gearbox oil and filter.

There is nothing that is wallet breakingly expensive! But a cheap one will be cheap for a reason!

There is a 7 seat version and a 5 seat version - the 7 seat version is slightly longer in the body and the seats are removable.

generally, if the vehicle is being sold because fuel economy is crap:

it is either:

MAF - £60 to replace
EGR - needs a clean
inlet manifold cracked/dirty/stepper motor - upto £600 to replace the lot
injector seal gone - £50 per injector (or about £200 for the lot at most garages)

Service from my loal indie - £120
Gearbox service - £150

Horrible noise when turning corner/sounds like gearbox about to explode - normally power steering fluid level is low - just needs a little top up.

Hopefully that gives a fair view of costs to keep one really well maintained.

IMHO - they are not the best, but for the price and costs, they are very good. I think the reliability is better than the same year group Range Rover and Discovery.

The best is the Honda CRV, Nissan X-Trail and I hear that the Hyundai Santa Fe is good. They are all smaller and a bit more efficient.

I bought a £60k W164 based on my W163 experience......so, there you go!
 
Hi Gtvlusso
Thanks for the info.
He's just got to find one that fits the bill now

Cheers

Steve
 

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