Thread: Mercedes ML270

I've got a LN106 with 500k+ for simple & slow.
No electrickery is definately a plus.

Most euro cars come with a glovebox full of receipts, that's enough to ring alarm bells.

That was certainly an interesting article , wonder how it ended.

They were a 80 k car in 2004. Made in Mexico I think and not one of Merck’s best. I’d avoid the temptation and look at a diesel Pajero or Prado

Some of the imports came with optional Off Road packs.
Guarding , axle difflocks & rear mounted fullsize spare wheels.
I haven't seen any for sale for quite awhile.
Would be the pick for serious work.
Maybe the electrics got wet once to often.

Chuckle

I will pass wouldn't know what to spend my profit on.

Originally Posted by zimmer

I think Kim dot Com had one so they must be good?

and he would have given it hard work in the mud and water no doubt

My wife had one of the first ML430s ( 4.3 petrol V8) and it didn't give any real trouble but needless to say, it was a kid hauler and didn't get to see any proper action. It had pretty damn impressive on ice traction just with the electronic control- we followed a grit truck up the Turoa road first thing on a super icy morning with no chains. The truck eventually slid sideways into a ditch with the ice but the ML was quite happy. You couldn't walk on the road with the ice, got sat on my butt when I got out to have a look..

Euros appear to be ok under 100k when def still under warranty. Mechanic mate tells me they're designed for 7-8 years, not 20 as we expect.

Repair prices can be shocking. Two examples: my neighbour likes sports cars and bought a 5-7 year old BMW with the V10 in it - 500+hp model. It was a low mileage car and he paid $80k or so from memory. He showed me one receipt from previous owner for a complete new gearbox - price was $34,000 plus change. Told me yeah the gearboxes have a weakness!!! I could buy 3 good sportscars for that gearbox repair alone. And diesel shop mate told me of a Porsche Cayenne diesel they had in the workshop - needed a injector and pump overall which required new parts ex Germany. The bill $24,000.

I'll stick to jappers thanks - there are good and models but won't need new mortgage for a repair bill.

Originally Posted by 6x47

and he would have given it hard work in the mud and water no doubt

Only the suspension methinks

Originally Posted by mudgripz

.. neighbour ..bought a 5-7 year old BMW with the V10 in it - 500+hp model...showed me one receipt from previous owner for a complete new gearbox - price was $34,000 plus change. Told me yeah the gearboxes have a weakness!!! ...

That's the one I had. Those sequential manuals were a pain in the arse and you really had to to drive it with manual selection (either the paddles or the little stick) as the Auto mode was laggy as hell. The clutch also didn't like slipping. We had a holiday house in Taupo at that stage and you had to back the boat up a steep driveway. I soon found out you had to carefully line it up and "drop" the clutch else there would be this terrible persistent burning smell.. I never had to have the clutch redone but it was a common issue.

While I'm at it, might as well tell you a little story about potential repair bills of which I had a lucky escape. I had sold it just out of warranty over the phone to a Russian in Akl for cash(!!) and was heading up to Akl the following day to deliver it. Driving sedately round town, the system gave a warning ding and the Engine symbol came up on the dash. Just another faulty sensor I thought. Took it into the dealership and they couldn't put a finger on exactly what it was other than the No.1 cylinder had shut down. BMW NZ had to get the tools in to pull it down as no-one had needed to do it before. Two weeks later, they arrived and the local dealership ripped the heads off which is a major with those engines. 40 valves with VANOS, bloody impressive to look at . Anyway, ultimate diagnosis was the spring on intake valve No.1 has collapsed. The valve had remained up ( must have slightly tweaked the stem) and hadn't pinged the piston. They consulted Germany and their advice was "Replace the whole engine" which was bullshit given the evidence. A crate engine was gonna be a mere $70K but before they tried to insist on that, I made it clear to the dealership and BMW NZ that it could end up a major PR disaster if they didn't come to the party. It took a top mechanic the thick end of a week to rip down both heads and replace -all- springs. The valve stems on those are only about 5mm diam (8250 redline) so he used a fair bit of motorcycle gear doing it. In the end, it cost me nothing other than about 6 weeks off the road so I had to drive the ute.

As has been said, if you can't afford to buy a new one, you probably can't afford to own an out-of-warranty one.

6x47 - you are bloody lucky .

A good thing you got stuck into the BMW dealer. Alot of people wouldn't and would have been stuck with a $70,000 motor bill - a house deposit until recently The flash euros are a huge risk...

Family friend had the Audi S8 (V8 saloon). Good grunty motor but VERY costly to service. Was at his place and told him had just had my Nissan 350Z sportie (VQ35 motor, 287hp) for about $150 all up. His routine Audi service over $800.....

$800 is pretty average. Have had S5, A7, S7 Audis. The basic service cost on my current E63S AMG was about that but then there was a mere $2600 of "longer term maintenance" (diff filters, etc, etc) on top of that. If ya wanna play, ya gotta pay.

It’s not a truck


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