We're thinking of buying a 2000 'ish M Class MB and wondered what they're like for towing. MPG, reliability, comfort, max tow weight etc.. any advice gratefully received. we're only looking at the 2.7CDi models with 7 seats.Thanks in anticipation!
M Class owners
- Thread starter philip_5109302
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Hi Philip
I've got an 05 ML 270CDI Automatic. (5 seats not 7)
So far (only been caravanning this year) its been a pretty good car to tow. Its got a massive towing capacity and will take most vans in its stride.
On the motorway you can click on the cruise at 60 and let the car get on with. It will take any hill in its stride and not waiver at all. You hardly know the vans on the back.
As with most Mercs the seats are very comfortable , I'm 6ft 2 and have a bad back , its the first car I've had that I dont feel any pain when driving and can get a near perfect driving possition.
Running costs , as with any 4x4 will be high , I generally get about 26-28mpg commuting to work (and thats in stop start traffic). Towing I'm getting about 22-24mpg , towing a van thats 1400kg+ loaded. Added to that we have 2 large dogs that weigh in at 60kg in the boot.
As for reliability , like most cars you will hear good and bad. Early MLs were seen as unreliable and this was somewhat claimed to be that they were built in America. However the later models seems to have a far better reputation , I guess having had the niggles ironed out.
As mentioned I've got an 05 , which is the run off model prior to the new version , so alot of the cars were coming with options as standard , i think they badged it as LUX(i.e leather , electic memory seats etc etc).
In all I'm very pleased with the car and the MB dealer I purchased it from.
Do you actually need the 6/7th seats? as mine doesn't have them I cant give advise , but the dealer steered me away from a verion that had them. Apparently there's next to no room with them fitted and its something I seen commented about in other forums.
I've got an 05 ML 270CDI Automatic. (5 seats not 7)
So far (only been caravanning this year) its been a pretty good car to tow. Its got a massive towing capacity and will take most vans in its stride.
On the motorway you can click on the cruise at 60 and let the car get on with. It will take any hill in its stride and not waiver at all. You hardly know the vans on the back.
As with most Mercs the seats are very comfortable , I'm 6ft 2 and have a bad back , its the first car I've had that I dont feel any pain when driving and can get a near perfect driving possition.
Running costs , as with any 4x4 will be high , I generally get about 26-28mpg commuting to work (and thats in stop start traffic). Towing I'm getting about 22-24mpg , towing a van thats 1400kg+ loaded. Added to that we have 2 large dogs that weigh in at 60kg in the boot.
As for reliability , like most cars you will hear good and bad. Early MLs were seen as unreliable and this was somewhat claimed to be that they were built in America. However the later models seems to have a far better reputation , I guess having had the niggles ironed out.
As mentioned I've got an 05 , which is the run off model prior to the new version , so alot of the cars were coming with options as standard , i think they badged it as LUX(i.e leather , electic memory seats etc etc).
In all I'm very pleased with the car and the MB dealer I purchased it from.
Do you actually need the 6/7th seats? as mine doesn't have them I cant give advise , but the dealer steered me away from a verion that had them. Apparently there's next to no room with them fitted and its something I seen commented about in other forums.
Hi Phillip, I've had a ML 270 cdi auto for nearly 6 years now, towing 1500kg vans in UK and to Spain. it's been generally very good with only a few niggles. Certainly much cheaper to run than the previous Discovery.
Towing mpg is around 22mpg, but part of this is down to heavy vans and no hanging about - particularly going down to Spain with about 300 miles a day in winter.
Suggest you look at the facelift model - from autumn 01 onwards. This has body coloured bumpers and a 90 litre tank instead of 70. If you get one with full MB history you should still get the mobilife recovery and repair warranty. I've had to use this twice in Europe and it's been really excellent both times. Tyre life on the original Continentals was 40,000 miles. You need to swop them front to rear (not side to side0 about every 12000. I would go for "ordinary" not xenon healights as these have leveling control on the dash - useful if you have very high noseweight - the limit is 135 kg.
Niggles have been the side arms of the deflector for the sunroof and a silly small fuel leak from the common rail. the overhang is very short and the turning circle excellent for a vehicle of this size - better than my Suzuki 413 (and the MB has power steering twoo).
The tiptronic auto box is excellent especially for long downhills e.g. the Pyrenese slopes just into Spain, while the cruise control makes autovias a pleasure. The service organisations in France and Spain are at least as good as UK - but they need to see the service record and the vehicle registration document (this is true for all makes, it seems)
Spares are not as expensive as you may think - a new fan belt cost only
Towing mpg is around 22mpg, but part of this is down to heavy vans and no hanging about - particularly going down to Spain with about 300 miles a day in winter.
Suggest you look at the facelift model - from autumn 01 onwards. This has body coloured bumpers and a 90 litre tank instead of 70. If you get one with full MB history you should still get the mobilife recovery and repair warranty. I've had to use this twice in Europe and it's been really excellent both times. Tyre life on the original Continentals was 40,000 miles. You need to swop them front to rear (not side to side0 about every 12000. I would go for "ordinary" not xenon healights as these have leveling control on the dash - useful if you have very high noseweight - the limit is 135 kg.
Niggles have been the side arms of the deflector for the sunroof and a silly small fuel leak from the common rail. the overhang is very short and the turning circle excellent for a vehicle of this size - better than my Suzuki 413 (and the MB has power steering twoo).
The tiptronic auto box is excellent especially for long downhills e.g. the Pyrenese slopes just into Spain, while the cruise control makes autovias a pleasure. The service organisations in France and Spain are at least as good as UK - but they need to see the service record and the vehicle registration document (this is true for all makes, it seems)
Spares are not as expensive as you may think - a new fan belt cost only
Thanks Roger for that infomed reply, I'm a bit dissapointed with towing MPG but there again, I guessed it would be a bit fruity! We'll only need the 7 seats to haul the kids mates around for footie matches etc.. so in the main won't be using them.
Thanks very much
Phil
Thanks very much
Phil
Hi Phillip, I've had a ML 270 cdi auto for nearly 6 years now, towing 1500kg vans in UK and to Spain. it's been generally very good with only a few niggles. Certainly much cheaper to run than the previous Discovery.
Towing mpg is around 22mpg, but part of this is down to heavy vans and no hanging about - particularly going down to Spain with about 300 miles a day in winter.
Suggest you look at the facelift model - from autumn 01 onwards. This has body coloured bumpers and a 90 litre tank instead of 70. If you get one with full MB history you should still get the mobilife recovery and repair warranty. I've had to use this twice in Europe and it's been really excellent both times. Tyre life on the original Continentals was 40,000 miles. You need to swop them front to rear (not side to side0 about every 12000. I would go for "ordinary" not xenon healights as these have leveling control on the dash - useful if you have very high noseweight - the limit is 135 kg.
Niggles have been the side arms of the deflector for the sunroof and a silly small fuel leak from the common rail. the overhang is very short and the turning circle excellent for a vehicle of this size - better than my Suzuki 413 (and the MB has power steering twoo).
The tiptronic auto box is excellent especially for long downhills e.g. the Pyrenese slopes just into Spain, while the cruise control makes autovias a pleasure. The service organisations in France and Spain are at least as good as UK - but they need to see the service record and the vehicle registration document (this is true for all makes, it seems)
Spares are not as expensive as you may think - a new fan belt cost only
Thanks Roger for that infomed reply, I'm a bit dissapointed with towing MPG but there again, I guessed it would be a bit fruity! We'll only need the 7 seats to haul the kids mates around for footie matches etc.. so in the main won't be using them.Hi Philip
I've got an 05 ML 270CDI Automatic. (5 seats not 7)
So far (only been caravanning this year) its been a pretty good car to tow. Its got a massive towing capacity and will take most vans in its stride.
On the motorway you can click on the cruise at 60 and let the car get on with. It will take any hill in its stride and not waiver at all. You hardly know the vans on the back.
As with most Mercs the seats are very comfortable , I'm 6ft 2 and have a bad back , its the first car I've had that I dont feel any pain when driving and can get a near perfect driving possition.
Running costs , as with any 4x4 will be high , I generally get about 26-28mpg commuting to work (and thats in stop start traffic). Towing I'm getting about 22-24mpg , towing a van thats 1400kg+ loaded. Added to that we have 2 large dogs that weigh in at 60kg in the boot.
As for reliability , like most cars you will hear good and bad. Early MLs were seen as unreliable and this was somewhat claimed to be that they were built in America. However the later models seems to have a far better reputation , I guess having had the niggles ironed out.
As mentioned I've got an 05 , which is the run off model prior to the new version , so alot of the cars were coming with options as standard , i think they badged it as LUX(i.e leather , electic memory seats etc etc).
In all I'm very pleased with the car and the MB dealer I purchased it from.
Do you actually need the 6/7th seats? as mine doesn't have them I cant give advise , but the dealer steered me away from a verion that had them. Apparently there's next to no room with them fitted and its something I seen commented about in other forums.
Thanks very much
Phil
Hi Philip
Im on my second ml and they are great,i own them for about 3 yrs then change,Both have been diesel and the only problem i had was a leaking gearbox sensor.I have towed twin axles with both of them and i tow an Elddis crusader at the moment,a heavy van but tows impecably no complaints at all.In the 3 years i have owed the car i have spent
Im on my second ml and they are great,i own them for about 3 yrs then change,Both have been diesel and the only problem i had was a leaking gearbox sensor.I have towed twin axles with both of them and i tow an Elddis crusader at the moment,a heavy van but tows impecably no complaints at all.In the 3 years i have owed the car i have spent
Hi Philip
Never towed with one, but I took our son's out to Prague for him last year and for driving comfort I never driven anything better. It even beats our Land Cruiser for comfort and I love the Toyota.
Frank
Never towed with one, but I took our son's out to Prague for him last year and for driving comfort I never driven anything better. It even beats our Land Cruiser for comfort and I love the Toyota.
Frank
Hi Philip,
We have a 2004 ML270CDI 5 seater auto, we have had it since June last year when it was 23 months old, last year we towed a single axle 1400kg van for about 1000 miles and in total this year so far we have done around 2500 miles with a 1700kg twin axle, over all with the twin axle it does about 20mpg but it is chipped to 200bhp which makes it much livlier away from junctions. Fully loaded with the van on it weighs about 4.5tons, so weight for weight 20mpg is similar to a solo Mondeo of about 1500kgs doing 60mpg. As a tow car it is superb, really stable and holds a true 60mph on c/c with no problems. The ML also drives very car like which is nice as most 4x4s drive like boats. We went for a 2 year old ML as another option was a new Kia Sorento, but I think a 5 year old ML will be worth more than a 3 year old Sorento when it comes to change again. As already mentioned, go for a face lifted model [2001 on] if you can and dont touch a manual if you can find one as they are detuned and hard to sell.
spj.
We have a 2004 ML270CDI 5 seater auto, we have had it since June last year when it was 23 months old, last year we towed a single axle 1400kg van for about 1000 miles and in total this year so far we have done around 2500 miles with a 1700kg twin axle, over all with the twin axle it does about 20mpg but it is chipped to 200bhp which makes it much livlier away from junctions. Fully loaded with the van on it weighs about 4.5tons, so weight for weight 20mpg is similar to a solo Mondeo of about 1500kgs doing 60mpg. As a tow car it is superb, really stable and holds a true 60mph on c/c with no problems. The ML also drives very car like which is nice as most 4x4s drive like boats. We went for a 2 year old ML as another option was a new Kia Sorento, but I think a 5 year old ML will be worth more than a 3 year old Sorento when it comes to change again. As already mentioned, go for a face lifted model [2001 on] if you can and dont touch a manual if you can find one as they are detuned and hard to sell.
spj.
Thanks SPJ, I'm told that the Sorrento does 30 mpg whilst towing which is a big difference from the ML, I would prefer an ML but am finding it hard to convince myself that it's a wiser move, know what I mean.Hi Philip,
We have a 2004 ML270CDI 5 seater auto, we have had it since June last year when it was 23 months old, last year we towed a single axle 1400kg van for about 1000 miles and in total this year so far we have done around 2500 miles with a 1700kg twin axle, over all with the twin axle it does about 20mpg but it is chipped to 200bhp which makes it much livlier away from junctions. Fully loaded with the van on it weighs about 4.5tons, so weight for weight 20mpg is similar to a solo Mondeo of about 1500kgs doing 60mpg. As a tow car it is superb, really stable and holds a true 60mph on c/c with no problems. The ML also drives very car like which is nice as most 4x4s drive like boats. We went for a 2 year old ML as another option was a new Kia Sorento, but I think a 5 year old ML will be worth more than a 3 year old Sorento when it comes to change again. As already mentioned, go for a face lifted model [2001 on] if you can and dont touch a manual if you can find one as they are detuned and hard to sell.
spj.
Thanks
Phil
Hi Philip
Im on my second ml and they are great,i own them for about 3 yrs then change,Both have been diesel and the only problem i had was a leaking gearbox sensor.I have towed twin axles with both of them and i tow an Elddis crusader at the moment,a heavy van but tows impecably no complaints at all.In the 3 years i have owed the car i have spent
Thanks Frank, did you also get around the mid 20's in fuel consumption?Hi Philip
Never towed with one, but I took our son's out to Prague for him last year and for driving comfort I never driven anything better. It even beats our Land Cruiser for comfort and I love the Toyota.
Frank
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