ML350 - Take Two!

[Alex225]

As some of you saw, our much loved ML350cdi which we bought last December is no more, due to a div in a lorry rear ending it.

We recently received the inevitable news it was a total loss and had the offer through. With car prices being strong we were offered £200 less than we paid for it 9 months ago, nice considering I was expecting the battle to get the price pushed up. So we went on the hunt for another and back to the same trader we bought the first from.

This chap only sells MLs which seems like a niche market but seems to be doing alright.....

We actually went to look at a 2010 ML350 64k on it (last one had 90k) but it wasn't in the condition we'd hoped. It had clearly had quite a tough life and instead our eye was drawn to another that was for sale.

Although it cost us a little more it was hard to resist. This is a 2011 ML350cdi Grand Edition with 72k. Comes with some nice features over the last one including full heated leather including leather dash and door cards, different steering wheel, some additional exterior touches and 21" AMG wheels.

The overall condition is generally excellent inside and out. The wheels have been freshly powder coated so really set the car off. Although I'm itching to get my hands on it.

The interior is also really tidy although again I'm looking forward to making it even better.

So next week we give the GLC300 back. It was nippy, handled very well for what it is and had some nice tech but wasn't a car I bonded with. The ML as you can see from this picture is just taller and more spacious, way comfier and just preferred. May be an unfair comparison as the GLE is the bigger modern equivalent.

I'm looking forward to spending some more time in the ML and doing some family outings.

 

[Alex225]

Since I'm working from home, I decided to use my lunch break wisely! :lol:

I gave the interior a bit of a clean, it wasn't in bad shape at all but prefer to start with a clean canvas haha.

My youngest daughter is like my shadow so had to help. We attacked the rubber mats we'd had in the last ML. The OEM mats are in great condition so they're in the boot. Some Chemical Guys Nonsense agitated and wiped, job done.

They're less than a year old so come up pretty good.

I gave the footwells a vacuum before hand. Nothing too untoward on the carpets luckily. As we will regularly have my eldest daughter in the middle, I picked this up on eBay for about £8 to protect the tunnel as the mats don't cover it but it's usually where her feet go, not pretty but handy.

I gave the interior a wipe down with Chemical Guy's Inner Clean and the seats a wipe with Dr Leather spray.

I'm rather liking the Grand Edition steering wheel. Feels massive compared to the one in the GLC but better suited to a 4x4.

The trim is a dark wood finish in this model too where as the old one was black textured glossy plastic.

It's got all the connectors the previous model had and luckily when I picked up the family after the accident, I literally emptied everything out including the cables for stereo. So hooked up the old iPhone 4 which just lives in the glovebox with 32gb of music on it.

That all works nicely!

Boot tidy arrived this afternoon. The old car had one but it got mangled so £30 off eBay. Nice fit just needs to settle as they arrived rolled up.

So that's the interior done for now. Only a quick once over but I'm impressed with how tidy it all looks. The car doesn't appear to have had a particularly stressful life based on the cleanliness and condition. Seems these types of cars often get used as utility vehicles and don't wear their age as well.

 

[flowrider]

The Grand Edition is a very nice spec, one thing you didn't mention were the xenon headlights.

 

[Deleted member 113659]

Since I'm working from home, I decided to use my lunch break wisely! :lol:

I gave the interior a bit of a clean, it wasn't in bad shape at all but prefer to start with a clean canvas haha.

My youngest daughter is like my shadow so had to help. We attacked the rubber mats we'd had in the last ML. The OEM mats are in great condition so they're in the boot. Some Chemical Guys Nonsense agitated and wiped, job done.

They're less than a year old so come up pretty good.

I gave the footwells a vacuum before hand. Nothing too untoward on the carpets luckily. As we will regularly have my eldest daughter in the middle, I picked this up on eBay for about £8 to protect the tunnel as the mats don't cover it but it's usually where her feet go, not pretty but handy.

I gave the interior a wipe down with Chemical Guy's Inner Clean and the seats a wipe with Dr Leather spray.

I'm rather liking the Grand Edition steering wheel. Feels massive compared to the one in the GLC but better suited to a 4x4.

The trim is a dark wood finish in this model too where as the old one was black textured glossy plastic.

It's got all the connectors the previous model had and luckily when I picked up the family after the accident, I literally emptied everything out including the cables for stereo. So hooked up the old iPhone 4 which just lives in the glovebox with 32gb of music on it.

That all works nicely!

Boot tidy arrived this afternoon. The old car had one but it got mangled so £30 off eBay. Nice fit just needs to settle as they arrived rolled up.

So that's the interior done for now. Only a quick once over but I'm impressed with how tidy it all looks. The car doesn't appear to have had a particularly stressful life based on the cleanliness and condition. Seems these types of cars often get used as utility vehicles and don't wear their age as well.

That’s one hell of a busy lunch break Alex.

mind you, you had some outside help. I do hope she was paid a decent rate too.

Car looks fab. And those 21’s look in great proportion.

 

[Alex225]

That’s one hell of a busy lunch break Alex.

mind you, you had some outside help. I do hope she was paid a decent rate too.

Car looks fab. And those 21’s look in great proportion.

I know, it was a constructive one! haha

I did get some good help. She gets enough Kinder Eggs and 'Mingo' (Mango) Juice out of me hahaha

I must admit, I was never one for big rims on 4x4s. Just kind of exaggerated their lack of off road use but I will concede these work very nicely on this car. The silver contrasts nicely with the black paintwork too.

 

[Chrishazle]

If you have the UHI connector in the armrest, I have the clip-on adapter for an iPhone 4 that fits onto it, the phone clips into it and charges as well as linking to the car aerial - yours including the instruction manual for the P&P, PM me! Used it in our S204 until we swopped iPhone 4 to Smasung Galaxy A10! Part number A212 820 171.

 

[SpikyMikey]

Liking very much the dark wood - much nicer (and more practical I'd imagine) than the fingerprint/dust/scratch magnet that is plastic piano black

 

[Alex225]

I hope the dark wood is a good call longevity wise. Certainly on the doors it looks more subtle than the silver strips!

Lucky me had a day off work today so I gave the S a clean which was easy and then attacked the outside of the ML!

Nice simple clean first of all with some Meguiars Wash+. I only use this stuff if I'm stripping back and polishing the paintwork but it's good stuff.

I then went over the paintwork with that old classic, Super Resin Polish. It's actually quite an old bottle but still does the trick. I then protected it with some Turtlewax Seal N Shine. It's the new formula, no idea if it lasts longer but it smells different and really nice! :lol:

I've been using it as a last stage product on the S and it's so cheap and easy to top up that it doesn't matter if it lasts 1 month or 6 I just top up regularly.

The paintwork on the ML is lovely, I'm hugely impressed with it. The odd stone chip and a couple of small dings but otherwise not a scuff or blemish in sight.

Even got a good reflection of me in my questionable sunglasses! :lol:

The wheel nuts are rusty and look a bit rubbish compared to the wheels...

Some silicone covers I had spare sorted them out, well all but the locking nut!

The wheels were freshly powder coated before we bought so I get to keep the backs nice and clean!

 

[Alex225]

Not much to report on the ML. It's been serving us well as a family wagon with one niggle being the fans stopping working. Dropped car back to the garage, they had it fixed within a couple of days and that's it. Otherwise it's proving to be as good as the last. Did a 240 mile round trip the other day and it's 90% as comfortable as my S Class I'd say. With the full leather an ambient lighting, it's a nice place to be.

The outside needs a clean but didn't get a chance this weekend so attacked the engine bay quickly. It's not in bad shape but could always look better.

I admit I had some help or should I say help was forced on me when my middle one insisted on helping haha.

Chemical Guys Nonsense APC, agitated and wiped down. Then Autoglym Rubber & Vinyl to finish. Not perfect but looks pretty good for a daily family wagon.

 

[bolidemichael]

Not much to report on the ML. It's been serving us well as a family wagon with one niggle being the fans stopping working. Dropped car back to the garage, they had it fixed within a couple of days and that's it. Otherwise it's proving to be as good as the last. Did a 240 mile round trip the other day and it's 90% as comfortable as my S Class I'd say. With the full leather an ambient lighting, it's a nice place to be.

The outside needs a clean but didn't get a chance this weekend so attacked the engine bay quickly. It's not in bad shape but could always look better.

I admit I had some help or should I say help was forced on me when my middle one insisted on helping haha.

Chemical Guys Nonsense APC, agitated and wiped down. Then Autoglym Rubber & Vinyl to finish. Not perfect but looks pretty good for a daily family wagon.

So you spray and agitate the bay and bodywork with the apc first?

 

[Alex225]

So you spray and agitate the bay and bodywork with the apc first?

Just the engine bay and surrounding trim. Basically spray with area I'm working on with all purpose cleaner, agitate with the detailing brush, give it a 30 seconds to dwell (but not dry) and wipe off with a microfibre. To be fair this engine bay wasn't terribly dirty, modern cars are easy as they are mainly plastic covers. I'll give areas a second round if it doesn't clean up initially.

I use Chemical Guys Nonsense which I've found really good. It's actually pretty mild, as I used it on my Shogun's interior so pretty much works anywhere.

I know some people snow foam their engine and jet wash it but I'm not keen, knowing my luck I'd blast something electrical. To be fair once you've got it clean, you can just give it a quick wipe over every couple of washes and it'll stay nice. I like Autoglym Vinyl & Rubber Care for that as it's cheap and it'll wipe dust away but leave the plastic with a decent finish.

 

[chic0821]

Car looks great. What were you up to whilst that young lady was doing a terrific job (is this the modern equivalent of putting the kids down the mine) Hope she has a good management team negotiating her fee

 

[bolidemichael]

Thanks Alex. I'll have to use existing products -- in my case that's likely to be a heavily diluted Bilt Hamber Surfex HD followed by dressing with the excellent 303 Aerospace Protectant.

 

[Alex225]

Car looks great. What were you up to whilst that young lady was doing a terrific job (is this the modern equivalent of putting the kids down the mine) Hope she has a good management team negotiating her fee

Definitely supervising. Otherwise she'd readily start brushing the rest of the car and probably the world given the choice! haha

Thanks Alex. I'll have to use existing products -- in my case that's likely to be a heavily diluted Bilt Hamber Surfex HD followed by dressing with the excellent 303 Aerospace Protectant.

I suspect the Surfect will do an even better job to be fair. I'd go so far as to say, even a strong-ish mix of car shampoo brushed into the plastics would do the job. The 303 will look good as I believe that leaves a fairly matt finish. I used to use the AG stuff on all plastic trims but find it a bit too shiny for interior parts, cheap for engine bays but needs a second wipe to tone it down.

 

[Nat]

Bought from Clovelly Cars? Looks fab in the pictures.

Under the bonnet looks great and it reminds me that mine need doing at some stage. How are you getting on with living with the 350 out of interest?