Mercedes ML350 – Crossing Over to The Other Side In Style
Brand association is an integral part of one’s everyday life. People usually get a mental image whenever a brand name is mentioned. The Mercedes-Benz brand name immediately conjures the image of a three-pointed star on a high-class, luxury limousine used by rich businessmen. Mention 4 by 4 vehicles, and you think of the Ford Ranger, Mitsubishi Storm, or if you are in East Malaysia, it is the Toyota Land Cruiser. Talk of luxury SUV’s, and images of Range Rover, and lately, BMW X5 come to mind. If you remember the 1993 movie Jurassic Park, then you just might remember that Mercedes-Benz also had one such vehicle, but then again, you may not.
Well, for those who are die-hard Mercedes-Benz fans, and want a 4WD SUV, the new ML350 is in town, having been recently launched by DaimlerChrysler Malaysia, and they are beginning to import them in considerable numbers. The ML350 is based on the US made ML320. The ML 320 was first launched in 1998, and the replacement model is a very sophisticated machine with an up-rated engine and heaps of goodies that make it really outstanding.
A couple of weeks ago, a group of motoring media, Autoworld included, took the new Mercedes ML350 on an overland adventure that covered more than 700 kilometres of highways and trunk roads. As part of this adventure, we also had the very rare opportunity to take not one, but seven the Mercedes-Benz ML 350’s into an off-road track to explore the Hutan Lipur Jerangkang, a little known spot in a forest reserve in Pahang.
It is highly unlikely that anyone buying one of these half-million Malaysian ringgit beauties would ever consider taking them off-road, except maybe to a durian plantation or a fishing pond just a few hundred yards off the main road, but our hosts, DaimlerChrysler Malaysia kind of ‘insisted’ that we must put these beauties to the full test. It’s a tough job, but someone had to do it.
The trip started with an early breakfast and a drive briefing at the DaimlerChrysler office in Menara Telekom before we set off, each member of the press getting a set of sophisticated tulips that not only showed us where to go, but had colour pictures of each key intersection for easy navigation. It took us about two hours to land at a little Malay restaurant on the trunk road between Sri Jaya and Gambang. Then it was off into the boondocks. The narrow tarmac road through a Malay kampung petered out about one kilometre from the main road, and from then on, it was dirt roads, rubber trees, followed by deep forest.
On dirt, the ML 350 makes off-roading so elementary. The air suspension irons out most of the bumps and the potholes; one must really ride in a conventional 4WD over the same road to feel the difference, lest one thinks that all 4WD’s are the same, and they are definitely not. For the higher spec models, there is the option to raise the suspension an additional 110 mm to clear obstacles or for wading streams. Traction control takes care of wheel slippage, and makes everything look easy. For the record, we went into off-road country using road tyres, crossed two streams and trekked through thick mud without any hitches, although Sean, one of the journalists from the Chinese media did get into some difficulties in a deep mudhole, but even then, he managed to get out all on his own.
After a picnic lunch, Malay kampung style, we rejoined civilisation again and proceeded to our destination in Cherating, where we spent the next two days doing supplementary testing taking pictures, and generally soaking in the sun. Like I said, it’s a tough job, and someone had to do it.
Outwardly, the Mercedes-Benz ML 350 looks a lot like its predecessor, ostensibly to preserve the DNA that made it so popular with the Americans, but inside, major refinements make it a far superior machine than its predecessor. The body frame has moved away from the traditional body-on-frame to a monococque. Minor changes in dimension make it a little longer and wider, and a more aggressive grill design gives it a more ‘macho’ outlook. Big wheels and low profile road-going tyres make the ML 350 sleeker and sportier. Inside, it is very ‘Mercedes’, if there is such a term. Full leather upholstery, room for five large-sized adults, with full electronic controls for both the front seats, heaps of legroom, dual air-conditioning, individual temperature controls for left and right, a ‘no-need-to-change-to-a better-set’ stereo system, electric sun-roof, the by now expected drink-holders, you name it, it’s there, except for a kitchen sink.
Mechanically, the Mercedes-Benz ML350 shares the same V6, 3.5 litre, 24-Valve engine as the S-Class, and with it comes a 7-speed G-TRONIC automatic gearbox that drives the full-time 4WD drive train. Put another way, the ML 350 is like having an S-Class in SUV form, but with additional features, which we will talk about later on in this article. Back to the drive-train, with the 7-speed G-TRONIC , gears are engaged or disengaged by simply pushing a small stalk that looks very much like a signal stalk, located on the right hand side of the steering wheel. To put the vehicle in ‘P’ position, one just has to push inwards on this same gear stalk. Once engaged, you can choose to drive it like any other automatic or shift up and down the seven forward gears using a pair of push-buttons located behind the steering wheel at fingertip reach. This effectively makes the 350ML very much a fun vehicle if you want to have fun on the road, or if you are the serious type, just stay in ‘standard’ auto mode.
At 200 km/hr on the highways, the ML 350 is rock steady, and inside the vehicle, the quietness of the interior and the stability makes it feel like 120 km/hr, thanks to the four-wheel independent air-suspension, full-time four-wheel-drive, and a dynamic traction control system that makes sure traction is positive at all times. Top speed is 225 km/hr, and the ML easily achieves this speed without fuss.
Seated high above most other vehicles on the road, the driver view is excellent, and this bolsters driver confidence for high speed cruising. Using the push buttons makes gear shifting a cinch, and it feels very much like a Playstation-2. Ride comfort is a choice between standard, comfort or sports, all evoke-able by the push of a button located in a convenient cluster amongst other drive train controls. Going off-road, or through a flash flood? Easy, just press the height adjustment button located on this same cluster of buttons, and the ML 350 will raise itself, and you will ride higher by up to 110 mm (from the standard height of 181mm to maximum 291mm). A shortcut way is to press the ‘Off-Road Button’, and the ML 350 changes its engine torque characteristics, gear shift points, suspension height, damper settings, and traction control systems to pre-set off-road parameters to give you maximum off-road performance.
The ML 350 is a truly great vehicle and I for one enjoyed the time I spent with it. It has all the luxury of an S-Class Mercedes, but mechanically and electronically, it has much more features than the S-Class. How then, does DaimlerChrysler manage to price it at RM548k? According to a spokesman, the fact that it comes from the US equates to some foreign exchange advantages, and by now, I also have come to the conclusion that the price of a vehicle versus how much it costs to make has zero relationship, so if you want one, you should go grab it before they change their minds.
