Would like some opinions? Wife's been driving this for over 5 yrs, mostly short trips. At 100,000 the water pump & alt. went out had that replaced. We have a loud lifter when cold, (trying to keep oil changed at 7500 miles). Its had proper maintenance, cooling system, brakes, tranny all serviced (fluids changed) at about 60,000.
But we couldn't get the fuel filter changed, we took it in twice to the dealer & they were unable to "release" the tubing from the filter! They said the factory installed it wrong so they will probably ruin the lines. They would have to be replaced for a cost of around $1500. WTH's up with this?
Also it apparently needs ball joints already & all vacuum lines replaced, tires & brakes.
After reading here about the 3.5 counterbalance shaft & gear issues (which I guess doesn't affect our 2003, right?) Who knows with MB anymore.
We don't know whether to keep it for another 50,000 or trade it on something, not another MB for sure!
This isn't our 1st MB I had a 300CE for along time, other than head gaskets it was a great car. I currently have a 83 300CD I've owned for years, we all know there reputations.
Just unsure about these ML's thanks for your help!

I would take it to a independent shop for a second opinion on the fuel filter.The kit to upgrade an older ML to the new style filter is only 189.00 including new filter is available at importecwarehouse.com.I am not sure but believe these are the same fuel lines used on the 03 ML350.

I have 170,000, and I feel its time to change it.

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1999 w140, quit voting to old, and to old to fight, a god damned veteran, deutschland deutschland uber alles uber alles in der welt

We've had ours since 38k miles; it is now at 92k.

With each oil change (Mobil1 at every 10k miles), I have a sample sent for analysis to Blackstone labs. Yes, I am a bit more anal retentive than most, but it's worth it to be that way with cars.

Short answer - the reports always come back excellent - there are a LOT of miles left in this engine, the analysts say. I've used Blackstone on other cars to judge how badly the engine might be failing internally, and in this case it appears there is nothing to worry about. I recommend at least running a sample like this when you first buy any used car to get an idea of how well cared the engine may or may not have been.

That said, there is a serious gremlin with this car - I am trying to figure out an electrical discharge right now. The battery drains to nothing if the car is left for more than a few days undriven, requiring me to keep it on a trickle charger if it is not going to be used for more than a couple of days and carry a charge booster in the cargo area in case it dies on me. So far a solution has been elusive and it is frustrating.

The only major repair I've had was a cracked intake manifold - happens now and then on the V6 model, but not common. I understand the counterbalance shaft is only for the newer generation vehicles. Always good to buy a vehicle late in its design cycle.

Other than that:
aux water pump (cheap fix, did that myself);
brakes (did pads once myself; went pro the second time since it needed rotors too); wiper motor (did it myself but would not recommend that job for most people);
Cabin, air, oil filters all regularly done; oil changing is a breeze on this car.

Previous owner had the driveshaft replaced for some reason, not sure why.

The Bose factory stereos in these trucks flat out suck. Fortunately, we were able to configure ours to play the iPhone through the speakers with an adaptor device. Replacing the system itself will probably run well over $1k because of the labor involved as well as few salvageable parts.

Looking at doing a major service as the car approaches 100k: have not replaced the fuel filter, have not flushed the cooling system; should probably do the plugs & wires; thinking of other things to get done in one session. Overall we like this car a lot - just wish we could figure out the electrical bug. Hope this helps.

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Gil

2004 ML350
1984 300CD; Ivory (sold)