BestUsedCarReview - The Mercedes Benz M-Class is nominally a
rival to the premium Land Rovers and Jeep Grand Cherokee but has a very
different feel to it, with very little in the way of adventurous off-road
styling and a sleek but rather bland body and uncluttered interior that makes
it seem more like an MPV than an SUV.While on that point it’s worth noting that
some were kitted out as seven-seaters, but don’t buy one until you’ve checked
that the seven potential occupants can all sit comfortably inside - we don’t
think that will happen because the interior just isn’t that roomy.
The promotional material at
the launch emphasised its capability as an off-roader, but in spite of its
excellent permanent four-wheel drive system, low range gearing and in some versions
height-adjustable suspension, the M-Class is not a car that takes kindly to mud-terrain
tyres and winch bumpers so don’t consider one, even at a budget price, unless it’s
purely for use as a road-only family estate. As a road car we liked the
Mercedes from the start, praising the ride comfort from the all-independent
suspension and the light but balanced steering, pointing out in an early road test
that it seemed very reasonably priced compared with, for instance, the similarly
road-biased BMW X5. All versions of the
Mercedes Benz M-Class have a good basic specification, including climate control, electric seat adjustment and remote
central locking, while the SE has enhanced interior materials including burr
walnut inserts. The Sport model has 19-inch alloys, extra chrome trim outside and
Alcantara leather and aluminium trim inside. Even so, first buyers will have
added a whole range of luxury extras in some cases adding well over £10,000 to
the original purchase price of their car, features that now simply add to the
value of buying one secondhand at a knockdown price. Look out for leather trim,
the Design two-tone upholstery with wood trim originally a £4420 option, also
the electric sunroof – find one with the glass sunroof, the louvred one had a tendency
to jam and is expensive to put right. Bose sound systems, perhaps with
bootmounted CD autochanger, satnav and cellphone preparation were popular
upgrades, some will have bi-xenon headlamps, resist one with the external spare
wheel carrier, it restricts the rear view when you’re driving.
With £3000 to spend you’ll find
yourself choosing from a wide range of early-generation cars dating from
anywhere between 1999 and 2005 depending on mileage and equipment, most of them
with the 2.7-litre turbodiesel engine, though for better refinement and performance
do consider one of the smoothrevving 3.2-litre or 3.7-litre petrol V6 variants.
An interesting indication of how depreciation can hit luxury cars is how little
dealers are willing to offer as a trade-in value on what ought to be seen as a
desirable premium SUV, even more than 10
years on. As a result you’ll find large numbers of higher-mileage older ML320
and ML270s being offered for sale by private sellers. Buying privately can be advantageous
if you take the usual precautions such as making sure the registration certifi
cate matches the name and address of the seller and making sure it all runs
well on a test drive.
The interior of the ML is
unquestionably opulent, particularly in the higher-specification SE versions,
yet compared with the Range Rover it seems rather blandly styled. No matter, since
the driving position is quite natural and controls are all well placed, higher
specification models featuring a whole raft of fingertip controls on the steering
wheel, on some models this includes paddle-shift buttons for the automatic
transmission.
You can’t expect an old car at this price to be in perfect condition,
but there was always some concern about the assembly quality of this Americanbuilt
vehicle, so look for excessive sagging of the seats and attempts to hide or
bodge dodgy trim and upholstery fabric.
The 2.7 CRD turbodiesel is the engine
of choice if economy is important, though as even
with an oil-burner make sure it doesn’t blow excess smoke on acceleration which
could point to worn injectors or a failing turbocharger – it could equally point
to an aftermarket performance upgrade, smooth, quick acceleration will tell you
but reject any car that feels sluggish, hesitant or jerky. The transmission on
the turbodiesels also has to handle that low-rev torque so make sure the
six-speed manual shifts smoothly and the clutch takes up progressively; similarly if
the five-speed automatic is fitted check that it doesn’t slur changes too much
and responds properly to the Tiptronic-type override.