Faults:

I had the Merc about two weeks when two injectors went in her. Had to get two of them reconditioned, and seals in the rest costing €800 altogether!

Two weeks later... gearbox went on me driving home. Fault was, water had got into gearbox as a result of faulty heat exchanger. Cost €3000 to put right. This is a common problem with this type of gearbox, more common in the E-Classes of this era which shared the same gearbox and cooling arrangement.

General Comments:

The ML is very nice to drive on a GOOD road, if you drive on back roads a lot.. look elsewhere, very stiff suspension. I have been able to remedy this slightly with a different tyre size.

Rattles come and go! I have a vibration in the exhaust on start up that I cannot find the source of. Also the spare wheel carrier rattles over bumps.

It has nice extras, and is fantastic on a long journey, a real cruiser.

Very good driving position, and despite being a large jeep, it is very manoeuvrable. I drove a span new Kia Sorento the other day, and there was no comparison between the comfort in the Merc, engine is nice.

I have lost confidence in the machine due to the expensive failures I have had.

I would not recommend this 4x4 to anyone.. buy a Land Cruiser.

Faults:

Nothing has gone wrong and from previous experience of Mercedes it is unlikely anything will, as long as it is serviced correctly.

General Comments:

Fantastic compared to the previous W163 version. The W164 is refined and holds the road well.

Great driving position gives a real commanding view of the road.

The car has a few nice extras which are definitely worth hunting out when purchasing:

Hands free telephone

COMAND system (extremely effective, I have had experience of BMW and Mercedes sat nav and the Mercedes beats the BMW hands down. Easy to navigate, has postcode entry and less chance of getting frustrated with a fiddly i-Drive knob!!)

Privacy glass

18" alloys

Parktronic (Definitely a must for such a big car)

The SE was chosen over the Sport mainly because of the seats. Full leather is by far more easy to maintain (with children) than the half leather/suede of the Sport. Although the alloys and lights on the Sport do make it look more aggressive.

It is excellent on the long journeys, and I can't fault getting 35-37mpg out of it. Plus running it with a Bio-Diesel blend helps with the guilt of owning a 4x4.

By far the best out there for the money... looked at Range Rover Sport, but the 27mpg put me off.

Getting the 320 over the 280 was definitely the best decision, it is no AMG, but it is no slouch when you need to push it. The standard auto box actively encourages you to drive smoothly, and when you do it's silky smooth.

Faults:

My ML320 started to show rust marks on the bonnet after 2 years. By early 2005 these had spread to each wing front, and back, and to the roof.

The rust marks have spread like measles.

The top of the back lift door has now rusted badly.

There are also substantial rust signs on the front wing panels under the bonnet, around the heads of the bolts holding them to the body shell.

General Comments:

In spite of the £40,000 + car being regularly serviced the Mercedes dealership has refused to accept any responsibility and blames "stone chips", interestingly I have no rusted stone chips on my wife's Toyota!

The cheap arrogance of this car maker is unbelievable. Mercedes should either improve their quality and service or accept the the falling sales that will inevitable follow selling junk cars like this.