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ab9758

Active Member
Joined
Mar 25, 2012
Messages
85
Location
Central London
Car
CL500 (W216) ex-ML500 ML63 AMG and ML55
I felt less of a sense of loss after my three divorces than I did watching my ML63 being driven off last week. Up for sale for eons, then four calls in two days and chap arrives at 4pm Friday, pays full asking price and off it went. Hankies at the ready.

So.... on Tuesday bought a black ML500, same age 2007 and only 74k for half the sale price of the ML63.

However, I'm now desperate to try and make it look as wonderfully angry and aggressive as the AMG. The ML500 doesn't haven't airtronic suspension so looks a bit like a tractor on 19" wheels. Need to show some restraint but it feels like asking the latest wife if maybe she's ever tried being blonde or perhaps blue contact lenses...(Yes I am ashamed of myself!)

Hopefully former AMG friends on this forum will be gentle with me on the ML500 equivalent.
 
I understand your pain....felt the same when my Jensen Interceptor drove away for the last time after owning it for 33 years.

But back to the present, how does the performance of the 500 compare?
 
I have to bite my tongue and behave myself. It's eminently more sensible than the ML63 (the sale of which paid daughter's school fees) so have to grin and bear it. It is a much calmer experience and most of the fun is subdued. I miss the aggressive looks of the ML63 but will look out for boy-racer kits to make it resemble even a little.
Surprisingly (or not so much) I'm getting 13-16mpg. Before you laugh, I was getting 6-8mpg in the AMG. Much the same as the Jensen's Chrysler engine's fuel consumption which is still blamed for its demise (which it wasn't!) Alan
 
Yes, those single-digit MPG figures are very familiar...

I've promissed myself that my next car will have a sub-5 second 0-60 time, so I'm saving hard now.

Only thing I would put you off is large diameter wheels....the ride IMHO is way too harsh in standard form for the third-world roads we have to put up with these days. I couldn't bring myself to make it any worse.

I changed from 19" wheels to 18" and never regretted it. Once they're spaced-out sufficiently, and shod with 285/50 tyres, they look pretty impressive but still give passable ride quality. Just avoid the South-east section of the M25 where they just scream!
 
Am not sure whether or not I like the performance of my recently acquired ML320cdi having read this thread, on the other hand am now going to stop grumbling about only getting 35 mpg on a long run
 
Smary320, you could always put a Brabus box on.... Only takes a couple of hours to fit.

When I tried a neighbours one on my ML320, it was nearly a second quicker to 60.

Strangely, it didn't feel it.
 
Smary320, you could always put a Brabus box on.... Only takes a couple of hours to fit.

When I tried a neighbours one on my ML320, it was nearly a second quicker to 60.

Strangely, it didn't feel it.

Early Brabus tuning boxes were very aggressive and so they were softened a little in later versions. Or at least that's what the GM told me of a former Brabus dealership.
 
Think I should wait a few months then maybe start looking for a 420 which was my original choice, but it was suggested ( by my wife! ) that I really did not need the extra grunt. Am not sure I ever said I needed it, want yes!
 

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