Faults:

The heater has an intermittent fault, but only on cold mornings so the dealer cannot do anything about it unless it persists.

Must be a water leak as the windows mist up all the time.

General Comments:

Internal panel fit is poor and there is a persistent squeaking when turning the steering wheel either way, the ride is absolutely dreadful and it feels like the vehicle is on solid tyres, every pothole reverberates into the cabin.

Economy: I find it difficult to better 25mpg, which is around the same as my 4Litre petrol "Ford Exploder"

The drivers seat base looks like it has been removed from a high mileage vehicle and fitted into this 16,000 mile car and the vehicle smells of exhaust fumes internally.

Faults:

Fuel level sending unit.

Drivers lumbar seat heater.

The idle pulley bearing.

Mass air flow sensor failed.

Squeaky suspension had to be re-greased.

General Comments:

Great car, handles well and comfortable to drive.

Adequate power from engine with great gas consumption, for its size and weight (18/22 mpg).

Not as luxurious as other Mercedes, but it is a truck nonetheless, and one of the first true luxury trucks to come out.

The car is great it has simple enough technology for the average "do-it-yourself", with sufficient safety and convenience gadgets (i.e. four or more airbags, seatbelt retractors, stability control, traction control, off-road ABS, low range).

Faults:

Vehicle was shunted in Kensington.

General Comments:

This is my first Mercedes M-Class and I was unsure what to expect following a 1999 Range Rover 4.0 Vogue which I felt was, one of the best cars I have ever owned.

Parking in town in a 4x4 may seem like a hard job, but it isn't in a ML500 thanks to the excellent rear parking sensors and the perfect handling. The interior is comfortable, but not quite to the usual build quality of a Mercedes-Benz due to this model being manufactured in the United States!

Faults:

No problems at this time.

General Comments:

The ride is comfortable, making a long drive seem like a short one.

In car entertainment is all you will need, with six compact discs to choose from for a start.

The engine does have a habit of 'screaming' when asked to accelerate quickly from a standing start.

Faults:

This was a new car.

Paint overspray on under the bonnet water washer bottle.

Stone shield on front near side wing not fitted (or refitted) correctly.

Front bumper out of line.

This car had obviously been damaged/repaired but Mercedes had no record of a repair being carried out. Apparently this sort of thing is normal!!

Fuel gauge not registering correctly

Squeak from the near side rear wheel (brake pads rubbing on the disc).

Greasy sticky stuff appears on drivers side window each time the window is lowered and raised. Can only remove from the glass with a solvent based cleaner.

General Comments:

Fuel usage computer thing is calibrated for US gallons.

A typical new Merc. At same time as buying the ML430 I also bought a Vito Van. So far the Vito has had both side doors and passenger doors resprayed.

Over the years I have had 5 Mercs, all new. Each one has had similar problems.

The dealers salesman was useless and a complete liar. The after sales and service staff are superb.

On the plus side..... road holding for a 4WD is very good and positive, brakes are OK and performance is very good. Off road is better than the Toyota Landcruiser but not as good as the Jeep Cherokee Limited.

Faults:

Nothing so far.

General Comments:

After the Lexus, the noise is quite considerable.

Seats not comfortable.

With the spare wheel assembly the rear view mirror is almost useless.