Thinking of a GL to get the family about.

[350cls]

As we have a new addition to the family he is 9 weeks old today .

I'm thinking a GL with 7 seats would give us that bit more room for when we take the boys football at the weekends mostly. And other family outings also.


We would be chopping in our E90 saloon 320i for a GL.

I have seen a few some have rather high mileage to which would suit our budget. Should I be put off with 100+k mileage.

Could you guys in the know give me a few tips on what to look for and what's the overall better engine variant in your opinions.

I'm in no rush but I think it's the best option for us long term.

Thanks, Tom

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

GLs are a great car. I would suggest there’s relatively few model specific issues for either first or second generation.

Look out for air suspension issues, as at 100k miles then that may be getting close to the point of air bag and compressor failures.

How many seats do you need?

 

[Deleted member 11979]

We have a 2012 350cdi.

It replaced a Discovery 4, which was on balance a better design of car for the U.K., but built of cheese, another story.

We also have a 2011 535d touring.

Comments

The GL is huge and difficult to park / manoeuvre, you might think this doesn’t really matter but it can become a pain in the ****.

It drinks fuel like it’s going out of fashion, really!

The interior isn’t as good as a BMW to be honest, it’s rather basic and the Comand is light years behind the iDrive (to be fair the basic GL design is older than our BMW, so that is to be expected)

Because it’s huge there is nothing that won’t go in it, because it’s heavy it rides like a dream and is superbly comfortable

Ours has done 81k miles and to be fair it still looks / drives as if it’s almost new.

The air suspension is much cheaper to fix than it used to be.

Be wary of water ingress to passenger compartments, ruins the many ecu and big bills await.

On balance it would appear I don’t like our GL, but then the direct comparison I have is from two of the very best cars in the business. I have it because I need it, I don’t actually like to drive around in an SUV and will always pick the BMW if I’m not towing my trailer or taking several kids around, but I have a grudging respect for it. It’s a thoroughly engineered comfortable workhorse that does everything that you throw at it. It looks good and you can’t have any of it’s extraordinary qualities without the consequent downsides, just make sure you need it or you may get tired of it (£135 to fill it up for example)

Good luck with your search

 

[MikeInWimbledon]

That's an enormous step. My Russian neighbour had one and hated it. Husband was OK with its size but wife hated it on London streets and for parking. Said it was impossible to take into multi-storeys. (But they're probably not your problem).

They switched, inevitably, back to a new E Class. Less of a statement, but as much capacity as they actually needed day to day.

As above, fuel consumption's a shocker.

It's an Alabama car, so there were some quality issues - it was always targeted at the US & International market rather than Europe.

I knew a lot of people who bought large SUV's for the school run after the arrival of CostCentre 2 and a lot of them switched back to more normal sized vehicles after three years of driving The Big One about - especially if it was primarily for Ma to use.

 

[KillerHERTZ]

Great cars, you just need to remember that they are not designed for UK roads. they are huge and wide. you will be hanging over parking spaces by at least a metre.

 

[350cls]

GLs are a great car. I would suggest there’s relatively few model specific issues for either first or second generation.

Look out for air suspension issues, as at 100k miles then that may be getting close to the point of air bag and compressor failures.

How many seats do you need?

Only really need 5 seats to be totally honest but with the little fellas isofix it woupd be handy to have extra room for me or the others while traveling. The E63 is fine as is the e320 s211 but my father does use the car majority of the time. It's basically for the other half for the school run and fir us to use from family outings. We both like the look and size of them. But as you have pointed out they are very big thirsty tanks.

 

[350cls]

Do appreciate your views thanks fellas.

I'm replying in between pouring a slab of concrete lol.

We do both quite like a big car that wouldn't be a massive problem. It's the mpg that would really take the hit on the most.

Regarding engine variants. Is it the 320 and 420 diesel's that really would be in our budget of say 7.5k .also on the better mpg front. From top of my head can't recall if a 350 petrol is available?

 

[219]

As we have a new addition to the family he is 9 weeks old today .

I'm thinking a GL with 7 seats would give us that bit more room for when we take the boys football at the weekends mostly. And other family outings also.


We would be chopping in our E90 saloon 320i for a GL.

I have seen a few some have rather high mileage to which would suit our budget. Should I be put off with 100+k mileage.

Could you guys in the know give me a few tips on what to look for and what's the overall better engine variant in your opinions.

I'm in no rush but I think it's the best option for us long term.

Thanks, Tom

Can’t comment as never had one , but also consider ML or E Class estate which might do the job with lower running costs .

I still fancy a G Wagen but good ones are too expensive for me .

 

[350cls]

Herself did mention she would like the higher driving position that the SUV would give over a standard saloon car. We do also go on trips during the summer so I think the GL has a lot of positives for us long term

 

[BTB 500]

Not 100% sure about the latest model but when I last looked the GL was narrower and lower than a Viano or V Class people carrier, and plenty of folks drive those in the UK. The GL was about 4" longer (not a big difference), but shorter than the LWB version of the Viano/V Class.

 

[Will]

First of all, congratulations on the new arrival

I’ve got fairly good experience of the E-class estate, I’ve had every model since the 124 bar the latest 213 and made the switch to a GL for our family car last summer.

The GL is big, but not as much as people seem to be making out. Eg overhanging parking bays by a least a metre? (!) Check the dimensions versus an E-class estate and come back to us on that one, I can assure you they’re not that much longer!

If you don’t need six or seven seats I would definitely stick with an E-class though, they’re just such good all round cars and have huge load space. You can always use a roof box for holidays etc. I only moved to a GL as I needed six seats and wanted the flexibility of having one rear seat up and the other down for additional luggage space etc.

I considered an older GL (164) at first, as a practical car that I wouldn’t worry about leaving in car parks/getting used etc but eventually increased the budget and went for a newer petrol 166. I wasn’t particularly keen on diesels anyway, and the early ones with higher mileage all seem to have had huge amounts spent on them which fairly or not led me to the conclusion that they could be potential money pits.

I spent a good chunk more upfront and bought approved used from MB, but you do get two years warranty on AMGs. To date, I’ve not had to spend a penny on ours aside from petrol, although I am aware it will have some depreciation to go.

I love ours, plenty of space for everyone, it’s comfortable but I do miss the agility of the E-class by comparison. Never really had a problem with parking it, and my wife is happy to drive it. See quite a few around my way used as family cars.

I’d advise you to go and drive one. If you like how they drive either buy one with warranty or have it inspected before purchasing. My 166 admittedly has very low mileage but I’ve had no trouble with it at all

 

[BTB 500]

Herself did mention she would like the higher driving position that the SUV would give over a standard saloon car.

Rationally if you don't actually need 4WD and loads of ground clearance a Viano / V Class would give the same high driving position but with more interior space/flexibility and better fuel economy. Of course most people want an SUV for the image/style, which is absolutely fine ... you need to buy something you like!

 

[219]

Another thought , if you are into family trips etc , and fancy a caravan holiday , I’d expect a GL to be a very capable tow car .

 

[Will]

Funny enough, regards parking bays I remembered I had some pics of ours in an underground car park. There’s a few pics on here which might give you an idea:

GL63

Ignore the fact that I could have pulled further forwards, but it does fit okay into the bay - just! Doesn’t feel much different to my E-class, maybe a bit wider?

On the plus side, you can make use of the family parking bays at a lot of places, it’s not really been a problem for us

 

[Deleted member 11979]

Not 100% sure about the latest model but when I last looked the GL was narrower and lower than a Viano or V Class people carrier, and plenty of folks drive those in the UK. The GL was about 4" longer (not a big difference), but shorter than the LWB version of the Viano/V Class.

To be fair not many people drive a van to take their children to school or the weekly shop, at least not around here anyway.

Another point, get one with a reversing camera, you can’t see out of the back and the door mirrors are not the best.

 

[Will]

The 360 cameras on the 166 version are awesome for something this size.

On the plus side as well, you do get decent visibility from the driving position and easy to get into and out of as well

 

[350cls]

Thanks again fellas some great tips.

Thanks Will he is a little treasure is bubba Freddie lol.

And cheers CCAALLVVIINN some great advise. Much appreciated.

Thanks all its really appreciated. I've got to do some debating when I get home this evening lol. I do realjt like the GL I got to say I can 90% see us in one to be honest. I'm quite a tall guy and we always take the kitchen sink with us where ever we go so the extra seats and boot space would be a big plus.

Got to get out there and test a few is the next step now.

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

GLs are big, but not that big. If you’re the sort of person who will worry about the car parked next door being too close then you’ll do that in a C or E class as much as a GL.

The ML and R are the same platform, but with 5 or 5/6/7 seats respectively, and so could offer you some different choices regarding availability. They also offer the option of the M156!

 

[merc85]

Yep i still like that Will

 

[SW18]

Just looked up the dimensions out of curiosity: 5” longer than an E (surely not too big a deal) but a full 3” wider at 6’4” on the body and 7’0” including mirrors. I can see why multi-storey car parks could be a problem.