First impression with my test drive

2341 Views 12 Replies 6 Participants Last post by sheepdog, Mar 27, 2005

AutoSaurus

Discussion Starter · Mar 24, 2005

I had the pleasure of driving a ML500 today. It had just completed it's PDI and hadn't even been cleaned yet.

My test vehicle was a pewter/black with entertainment, sunroof and appearance packages.

The black alcatara (?) seats are very sporty looking to me and are very comfortable. As mentioned earlier by Rodney the rear seats are very different. They are fixed and recline very far back. To some this will be a problem; For me it was nice as I like to feel somewhat reclined (but not a low rider) when riding/driver. I felt rear seat leg room was vastly improved over the W163. Front seats can be easily adjusted to just about any position imaginable.

Quality of materials was superior in every way compared to the W163 and top notch compared to other MB vehicles. The HK stereo was great as usual.

The overall driving was markedly improved over the W163. There is a great balance between firmness and luxury when going over bumpy roads. I was very pleased with the drive.

The new transmission will take some getting used to at first. Shifts are quick and almost unnoticeable. I liked the shift pads behind the steering wheel too.

After we left the dealership for the test drive, we proceeded to my wifes office which is about 8 miles away. Being the first time the salesman or I had driven the new W164 we weren't aware of how quite it was nor were we paying attention to speed because we were playing with the all the gadgets. We got pulled over for speeding. We were going 54 in a 35 zone. Thankfully the cop let us go with a warning!

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Drew

· #8 · Mar 25, 2005

I'm curious...

AutoSaurus - 3/24/2005 2:24 PM
If moved up to a comfortable position then the headrest block the view when backing and look out of place and not pleasing to the eye.

How is this arrangement different, or rather, more obstructive than what we have currently in the W163. Don't the rear headrests not block anyway? I haven't found this to be an issue after removing the centre rear head restraint.

Having the 3M fresnel lens (alas no longer in production) plus the Parktronic makes a world of difference!

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Drew

· #12 · Mar 26, 2005

Rear seat...

sheepdog - 3/26/2005 8:02 AM
You can no longer put very long objects such as an 8" folding table in the car as the way the rear bottom cushion folds, the back of the front passenger seat can not be reclined way back.

I believe that is why the rear seat cushions can be temporarily removed, so that you can indeed get such an object in the vehicle.

Why not pre safe and the other new safety items for the US? Will probably wait to see the R class or wait for option additions in the 2007 model.

PRE-SAFE and (I think) NeckPro are to be launched later in the model year. They are simply configuring all of the initial MLs according to the "Launch Package" configuration, presumably for ease of ordering, and to allow the factory some sort of standardisation in the initial launch phase.

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