Which Mercedes SUV/Unicorn?

The wife has been talking about a new (used) car. She has been looking hard at Subarus but mostly as a cheaper alternative to her true desire which is a Benz.

I'll copy and paste what she said:

my very first choice of vehicles ever in the world would be... Mercedes' smallest SUV, manual, awd, turbodiesel. With the stereo that you put in my Scion. :) That'd be a little like a tank, wouldn't it? I probably wouldn't kill myself in it.

So, I'm looking at M-class and GLK-class right? Of those, the only one I know of with a manual is the W163, but was it available with the diesel?

Are they a decent rig? Are they a pile of junk? She's used to Toyotas for the last several cars she's had with the exception of one W210 E300TD she had. She loved the car, but didn't like the foibles (nor did she like the fact that we often times had to wait to afford the parts to fix the foibles)

Interesting. Looking at a Forester XT (used) myself but plan to cross shop the GLK 350 4Motion. Owner surveys and reviews are very positive. I don't think however it is available in the US with either a manual or TD, but I could be wrong and I'm too lazy to cross reference the model with the factory code designation. I didn't think the M class has been available in that configuration either, though, but I would not know for sure.

Also, for what its worth, the 2013 GLK refresh includes one hell of a dash upgrade.

shes joking right? I know the GLK never had a stick.

I'm not sure the first gen G class ever came over here with a stick.

G300d from the mid 80s

The M/ML-class is GARBAGE. Avoid like the plague. And the above is true, there was never a manual diesel in the US, even the gas manuals are super rare.

http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/grm/learn-me-2006-mb-m500/58672/page1/

http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/grm/teach-me-about-bmw-x5s/61532/page1/ (tangentially mentioned)

G-class is a much better vehicle, but much more $$$ as well.

Had a bunch of family friends growing up that had ~2001 ml430s or whatever the smaller v8 was then. They seemed to be pretty reliable.

My wife's 06 R has not been terrible and it is on a stretched ML chassis. Aside fro the AirMatic bags it has had a few electrical issues but nothing major.

In reply to curtis73:

Seems to me you and your wife were made for each other...

I know the vehicle she is referring to:

I couldn't agree with her more.

Has she ever driven one? German cars feel a lot different than Japanese cars. The biggest thing I have found is the seats. I like the firmer German seats but I know many don't. My wife has hated all my MB's because of the seats.

I have heard ( from a MB tech) that the GLK is the biggest POS to ever wear a tristar badge.

dean1484 wrote: Has she ever driven one? German cars feel a lot different than Japanese cars. The biggest thing I have found is the seats. I like the firmer German seats but I know many don't. My wife has hated all my MB's because of the seats.

We had a W210 TD for her. She LOVED it, but didn't like that we had to not eat for a week if the duovalve had to be replaced, or sell a kidney to buy a power steering pump.

Her only real complaint about the car was that it was an automatic. In my opinion, the 99 W210 was the last really good MB.

Ian F wrote: In reply to curtis73: Seems to me you and your wife were made for each other...

Yup. She wants unicorns and I like to [try] to give them to her.

oldtin wrote: G300d from the mid 80s

I love these. We'll have to look at them from a value-for-dollar standpoint, and I also have a feeling that they will lack much of the quiet refinement she thinks of when she thinks Mercedes. She wants a MB because of how much she liked her W210. I'm not sure a G-class will satisfy her craving in that arena.

... but we'll check it out.

I am into unicorns (I have a manual trans BMW X5) but I have never seen any of the modern MB suvs with a manual trans outside of europe. I a callegue a work that has a GLK and he seems to like it though. Does anyone have knowledge that they made these here.

Chris

I'll just leave this here...

http://jalopnik.com/5203662/2011-jeep-grand-cherokee-mercedes-chassis-meets-hemi-power

"The 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee has been fully revealed and the new SUV, riding on the Mercedes ML chassis, takes Jeep in an entirely different and upscale direction."

Edit: Yeah, I know. No diesel and no stick.

HappyAndy wrote: I have heard ( from a MB tech) that the GLK is the biggest POS to ever wear a tristar badge.

Thats unfortunate, but also contradicts everything I have read about it, especially considering it is really a C class on stilts, even the AWD system is the same. If the GLK is the worst, wouldn't it be tied for last with C class?

I have never seen nor heard of a manual transmission in any M class in the states.

Dad had an ML-430 for a while. He bought it for 3 reasons: It could tow a boat, my brother fit in the back seat, and it had the extended sunroof that was AWESOME. Said sunroof was supposed to be extremely unreliable, but we never had any issues with it. It was a good enough vehicle, great truck, and it never gave us any issues that I'm aware of. He sold it when my brother got to driving age and replaced it with a Crown Vic and a 3/4 ton 89 pickemup.

I think that he would have liked it a lot more had he not had a W124 300E right before it. While the ML was a great car and very nice, it simply was not on the same level of the earlier Benz's which truly were the best cars in the world.

Now that I'm looking at pictures, I want one.

If i knew anyone in a position to buy one, i would heartily recommend the current GLK. It's one of the coolest mass-produced SUVs ever built, imo. Stick+diesel is a nonstarter, though, in this country.

If you buy a 'cheap' ML, don't bother to tag or insure it. That's not needed to tow it.

1988RedT2 wrote: I'll just leave this here... http://jalopnik.com/5203662/2011-jeep-grand-cherokee-mercedes-chassis-meets-hemi-power "The 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee has been fully revealed and the new SUV, riding on the Mercedes ML chassis, takes Jeep in an entirely different and upscale direction." Edit: Yeah, I know. No diesel and no stick.

Diesel yes, stick no. At least for the this year

I have a 65 Scout and a 93 Chevy half ton that I'm cutting and pasting into one vehicle. Maybe I'll just put an OM617 in it and let her drive that

I wish my wife were game for such lunacy. My greatest benz-related ambitions for her are to swap the benz 3.0 diesel they offered in other markets into the Magnum she drives. heh

Could she go BMW X35D manual? I'm not positive the X5 diesel came with a manual, but the X5 3.0 gas sure did. I've read some good things about driving dynamics, though off road apparently leaves something to be desired. Also check into VW Toureg diesels- though no manual.