REVIEW: Mercedes-Benz ML500, R519 400
Late last year Mercedes-Benz did the facelift thing with its soft-roader M-Class range, and this extended to rather more than a set of colour-coded bumpers and new seat covers.
More than 1 100 differences were introduced to the series, including two new V8 engines, increased capacity fuel tanks, a new “shift into optimum gear” function in the auto transactions, window bags on side windows, and the option of Comand ? a cockpit management and data system all operated from a central console panel.
Available on the ML270, ML320 and ML500, the R17500 Comand system comes with an integrated stereo radio, a CD changer and a satellite navigation system ? which we, being in Durban, could not experiment with in our test car because it was programmed for Gauteng. The top-of-the-range V8 engined Mercedes also now comes with 17″ light alloy wheels and wide-based, all-season 275/55 R17 rubber.
In the ML500 we were given for evaluation it was easy to feel high and mighty ? well, perched up there behind the wheel you are high and mighty. High, because you’re seated way above the rest of the traffic, and mighty because you’re equipped with 215kW of power resting under your right foot. That’s somewhere around 290 horsepower, and when you consider that that other great German cross-country machine, the 18 ton Panzer KzKpfw IVA, boasted about 15% less, you can appreciate why the Mercedes feels so nippy.
The now-discontinued Mercedes ML430 used a smaller 4,266 cc 200kW V8 with 390Nm of torque to haul its bulk up to 100kph in a shade under nine seconds, and give it a top speed of just more than 200kph. Its replacement five litre V8, with an extra 15kW and 50Nm, says the factory, gets the 100kph chore done in a full second less, and reaches 222kph before running out of steam. Its claim is very realistic ? when you start getting heavy-footed with the gas pedal the massive wagon takes off like a car guard who sees a job offer approaching.
On the road we found the ML500 to give a softer ride than we usually enjoy ? sort of like driving a high-speed marshmallow along the highway. Once we got used to the feel it was all jolly-hockeysticks, and the big Merc soaked up lumps and bumps in the road as if they didn’t exist.
The ML Mercs abound with technology geared to make them off-road capable ? ETS (electronic traction support) acts like the Land Rover/ BMW Hill Descent Control system, and wheelspin in slippery conditions is non-existent.
Of course, we didn’t do any serious off-roading with the ML500 ? would you with a borrowed car that costs more than your house? Taking it anywhere seriously tasking would be like offering to look after your best friend’s beauty-queen wife while he’s out of town, and then entering her in a kick-boxing tournament. She could get the job done, but you would not be popular come Monday. Anyway, despite its pretensions the Mercedes isn’t really intended to be a Camel Challenge competitor.
We found the ML500 to be a big, comfortable wagon that does as much as you should expect from it in the rough, which is substantially more than most owners would ever demand. On the road it is brisk, but this, we felt, was marred by the soft suspension and body roll that becomes apparent at speed. For those who want to drive really hard on tarmac the beefier ML55 AMG would probably be just the business. For those who want to play for lesser stakes there are the meeker ML270 CDI and ML320 models to consider.