This is a review about the 1999 ML 430 (which is no longer being manufactured) as compared to the 2005 ML 350. This review is relayed to you by an average female owner/driver who has no dealership affiliations.
Back in 2003, I purchased a certified, pre-owned, silver 1999 ML 430 with grey leather interior. I loved that car! It had 35,000 miles on it when I became its owner. I bought it in advance of a new career as a real estate agent.
The ML 430 was a V-8 with +/-270 horsepower and I could have towed my 21-foot cabin cruiser boat with it if I had wanted to. I loved the power it had when I accelerated from a stop light or up a steep hill.
It was fully-loaded with everything the 1999 model could possibly have. In addition, it was reliable, strong and sexy all at the same time. The body lines were sleek and attractive, and it was my dream car.
The only problem I really had with it was the gas pedal sticking and it had to be taken in a few times for that. Otherwise, I was quite enchanted with it.
In 2005, when it had about 70,000 miles on it, I entertained thoughts of upgrading. I had been sold on Mercedes, and now that I’d had one, I knew I would be purchasing another. My 1999 ML 430 had served its purpose and served me well. But I needed something from this century with air conditioning in the back seat area for my clients’ comfort, along with a few more updates such as pockets on the back of the front seats for holding maps and most importantly, built-in navigation in the dash.
So, off to the dealer to find a “deal.” I traded my precious silver V-8 in on a black V-6. It was very hard to give up the powerful silver beauty, but because they were promoting the new 2006 with its new body style (which I didn’t care for) we got a “deal” on their very last 2005 ML 350 (with the old body style I loved) and drove it off the showroom floor! One of the service technicians told us we made a good choice. “It’s always better,” he told us, “to buy the last model of a body style than the first model of a new body style, because it has the kinks worked out.”
After 7 months, I’d had the 2005 ML back in for service 4 times. The gas pedal stuck just like the 1999 ML did, so I had them replace it. Then the wheels pulled left and right all the time, and it was uncomfortable to drive because I was fighting it all the time. I got the tires rotated to try to make it track straight. Soon after that, one of the tires blew out on the freeway, over an hour away from home. That was a pleasant experience; I found out tires aren’t covered under warranty and I had to purchase a new tire ($200 later) to make it back home on the freeway that day.
After another month or so, I couldn’t stand the tracking all over the road, so I took it back in and asked them to figure it out. When I went to pick it up the next day, they’d misplaced the keys and it took over an hour to find them. This was unusual service for my dealership; considering I had been in there once a month since the purchase of this new car, the service was usually exceptional.
A few weeks later, my husband was driving it on the freeway, and he couldn’t believe how poorly it was tracking. He made an appointment for service again and he had to refill one of the tires a few times that week, before it even made it in for the service. He requested riding along with a technician to point out what it was doing. They aligned it and that seems to have fixed it, for now anyway.
Additional problems include an odd but serious engine lurching, where the engine knocks and sometimes even dies. Another symptom is when I coast around a corner and then accelerate after the turn, the car lugs and lurches. The lurching has been addressed numerous times at the dealership, but has never been resolved.
I am seriously sad that I gave up my 1999 ML. While I am totally satisfied with all of the features in the 2005 ML, I am disappointed at the lack of power it seems to have, compared to the V-8 I once enjoyed. I now know I should have been satisfied with what I had. I am locked into a lease and look forward to getting a different ML when the lease is up.
