Opinion on ML270cdi

[RobMorris]

Chaps

I had a E300TD a little while ago and had bad luck with it.
Ive since been driving an Audi A3 2.0 tdi but I lust for another Mercedes!

Im interested in the ML270cdi.
Is it nice to live with? I mainly drive at 70mph commuting..

Im looking at the 5-6k mark early 2000's / sub 100k miles.

Anything I should be looking at?

also what would the true MPG be? Are there any improvements that can be made excluding LPG?

Cheers for any advice.

 

[Vlad]

Good cars in my opinion but there are certain things you need to look out for.

1) Chuffing noise under the bonnet and smell of diesel smoke will be leaking injector seals...fixable and not that expensive.

2) Engine power should be strong....if it feels down on power its likely to be the inlet manifold that's failing.....£400+ fitting

3) Gearbox should be super smooth....if it slurs into gear or bangs into gear you have a problem

4) Rust....check wheel arch lips and under the number plate lights on the rear tailgate.

5) Usual checks that you would do on any other car.


Fuel economy is typically late 20's

Great cars for pulling trailers/caravans as its one of the only 4x4's thats legally capable of pulling 3.5tons on a braked trailer.

 

[jay1983]

As above really. Thermostat is another weak point (£35 and an easy DIY job) and boost pipe which goes into egr pipe is a common problem which either splits or doesn't sit properly after a while (£40 from main dealer and very easy DIY).

Another problem which can occur is starting problems, which is usually down to perished o-rings in the fuel lines. A new set of fuel lines with rings is approx £70 from dealers and is another easy DIY.

All in all the engine and gearbox are generally bullet proof, it's just other niggly parts around them which fail. It's a DIY mechanics dream lol

 

[RobMorris]

Cheers guys for the pointers.
I know with my old E300 the metal was crap and rusted out all over - i think an era of using low grade crap polish metal? Does the ML suffer this same fate or did they change it to quality metal for these cars?