ML advice needed

[westcliff]

I have the opportunity to buy a 2000 ML 320 petrol. I have heard that MLs had problems and I hope the people here can give me a few hints about what to look for and what to walk away from. The car has done under 60,000 miles.

Assuming it's good, how much should I pay? The seller mentioned £6,500 but I think I could get a similar 3.2 petrol ML for a lot less.

My previous M-B was a 300TE-24 which gave me a lot of grief, probably because the previous owner "serviced it himself". I was glad to sell it and go back to BMWs, but my current 1997 528 is a bit small for the family and all our stuff, hence the interest in something bigger.

 

[kebo57]

Hi I have a ML 270 2001 180,000 miles its not as fast as a 320 but how fast do you need to go, its better on fuel than a 320.
I bought mine with 150,000 miles about 15 months ago its a great motor I have had to do thing to it but I expected this with the high milage but nothing that I couldn't sort out
Kevin

 

[westcliff]

Hi Kevin, thanks for your reply. I mainly use my car to drive from Essex to Scotland and back, with a bit of local driving maybe once a week. I guess I should be asking what sort of range the 320 has. I don't even know how big the fuel tank is.

Speed isn't a big priority for me. I'm happy to drive at 70-80 mph. I'm more concerned at what might be expected to go wrong with the car and how much it will cost to fix.

 

[JEZ.S320L]

Hi Kevin, thanks for your reply. I mainly use my car to drive from Essex to Scotland and back, with a bit of local driving maybe once a week. I guess I should be asking what sort of range the 320 has. I don't even know how big the fuel tank is.

Speed isn't a big priority for me. I'm happy to drive at 70-80 mph. I'm more concerned at what might be expected to go wrong with the car and how much it will cost to fix.

Hi. I use mine for long journeys (look where I live) and cruising at 120kph, I get around 30mpg. I tend to use c/c most of the time too.

I am still pleased with the car after several months - and like other MB owners, I still smile when I start it up

The main thing is a MB FSH - it will save you a lot of grief should things go wrong.

 

[kebo57]

Hi Kevin, thanks for your reply. I mainly use my car to drive from Essex to Scotland and back, with a bit of local driving maybe once a week. I guess I should be asking what sort of range the 320 has. I don't even know how big the fuel tank is.

Speed isn't a big priority for me. I'm happy to drive at 70-80 mph. I'm more concerned at what might be expected to go wrong with the car and how much it will cost to fix.

Why a 320 petrol and not a 270 diesel a full tank of diesel gets me around 450 miles at 80 MPH
sorry but I dont know much about the petrols ML
Kevin

 

[westcliff]

Why a 320 petrol and not a 270 diesel a full tank of diesel gets me around 450 miles at 80 MPH
sorry but I dont know much about the petrols ML
Kevin

It's just that the car on offer is a 320 petrol. While I'd be perfectly happy with a diesel, I've had a quick look at prices on Ebay and Autotrader and I think a 320 petrol will be cheaper to buy than a 270 diesel. I only do around 6,000 miles a year these days, so I probably won't save enough on MPG to make it worthwhile splashing out the extra for a diesel.

 

[kebo57]

It's just that the car on offer is a 320 petrol. While I'd be perfectly happy with a diesel, I've had a lquick ook at prices on Ebay and Autotrader and I think a 320 petrol will be cheaper to buy than a 270 diesel. I only do around 6,000 miles a year these days, so I probably won't save enough on MPG to make it worthwhile splashing out the extra for a diesel.

Is the motor an auto
Kevin
PS I will follow up this up tomorow

 

[westcliff]

Is the motor an auto
Kevin
PS I will follow up this up tomorow

It is an auto.

 

[kebo57]

It is an auto.

I don't know which is best but I like my auto they seem to cost more than the manual option.
Kevin

 

[JEZ.S320L]

I don't know which is best but I like my auto they seem to cost more than the manual option.
Kevin

Petrol and/or manual versions may very well be cheaper to buy, but that equates with difficult to sell, as very few want either...

 

[panason1c]

The main reason for the 'unpopularity' of the petrol ML's is the fuel consumption issue....you will be lucky to see 20mpg in the real world of driving and probably get an average of 18mpg, remembering that the ML weighs over two tons and is not the most streamlined of vehicles. That's why the diesel ML's command such a premium over the petrol models.

When haggling over the price for a petrol ML you can practically name your own price as they are very difficult to shift!

 

[panason1c]

I don't know which is best but I like my auto they seem to cost more than the manual option.
Kevin

Worth mentioning that the earlier 'manual' ML's regularly suffered from gearbox failure (i think it was 1st gear that would usually fail) due to not being man-enough for the job.

 

[A210AMG]

Hello

My ML350 which is a 3.7 will do 25mpg on a run at 80mph, I know this after 2500 miles across europe.

Given some people only get between 25-30mpg out of the dervs I'm more than happy with mine. It will do around 18mpg towing our van which is little difference to a bmw 330 before it.

It also sounds great, goes ok and petrol is cheaper + car is cheaper

 

[panason1c]

Below is one of the comments from a UK owner regarding fuel consumption on a ML320, click on the link for the full article......

..."Fuel consumption is obviously compromised in a heavy 4x4, however I would have hoped to have better than 16 miles per gallon that I have measured over 1000 miles of urban driving which is invariably in quite free flowing traffic, rather than stop start"....

http://www.carsurvey.org/viewcomments_review_36170.html

 

[A210AMG]

If you are expecting much more out of any large 4*4 why look?

16mpg is poor granted, but again my last car did 20 mpg on the run to work through town and that was a manual and much lighter.

What does a 270cdi do round town?

Best best would probably be an already converted and properly done multipoint injection system on a ML500

 

[JEZ.S320L]

If you are expecting much more out of any large 4*4 why look?

16mpg is poor granted, but again my last car did 20 mpg on the run to work through town and that was a manual and much lighter.

What does a 270cdi do round town?

Best best would probably be an already converted and properly done multipoint injection system on a ML500

My ML used to do about 23/25mpg in and around town.

 

[panason1c]

What does a 270cdi do round town?

I consistently get 27/28 on local/town driving (both when in the UK and here in Spain) and 31/32mpg on a motorway run.....i have very occasionally got 33/34mpg when i've been particularly lightfooted.

We used our Ifor williams two-horse trailor to move stuff to spain, the trailor was fully loaded (and probably overweight!) and we still averaged 22mpg over a 650 mile trip.

 

[A210AMG]

Hello,

It seems the town driving has a larger difference then. As I walk to work mine is not used much round town so

However on a run if your getiing 31, and I could get 28 if more sensible then there is little in it. Also towing our caravan if I was sensible I would get 20mpg.

Over the 5K miles I do a year I just decided I might as well save the money a derv would have cost and enjoy the power and sound of the 350. I've worked the figures on me getting 25mpg and a derv 31 (which I think is keen

25mpg 5000k miles yr 200 gallons 101.9p cost £2038
31mpg 5000k miles yr 161 gallons 106.9p cost £1721


So I would save £317 over a year to have a derv, but it would cost me more to buy.

Hence why I chose the petrol, for me for now it fine

 

[panason1c]

Fair point, in your case it wouldnt make sense to pay more for a diesel ML......i'm a big diesel fan and wouldnt have anything else (-:


Derv here in spain costs 1 euro and 10 cents per litre (about 80p) ....

 

[A210AMG]

I agree if my millage was 10,000 a year or higher I would have to consider a derv.

I'm not against them at all, I had a TD4 freelander chipped and that was nice, my farther in law has a ML270cdi and I took it for a drive it drives nice.

Cheers