[amit]

Originally Posted by rbp

Detailed bill.

Why is engine oil & air filter appearing twice in the bill? Does the car take 6 liter's of engine oil?!

[rbp]

Originally Posted by amit

Why is engine oil & air filter appearing twice in the bill? Does the car take 6 liter's of engine oil?!

No idea bro. I have asked my bro to be very careful going forward.

Need some help once again guys.

One of the rear tyres [Goodyear] has a deep cut and will have to be replaced. Merc guys as usual are quoting hold your breath 65K per tyre, yes you read it right, not a typo 65K per tyre .

Model and size :- 255/50 R19 103W.

We checked outside, similar size tyre's are available for around 20K, only problem the exact Goodyear model that is on the car isn't available.

Yokohoma and Dunlop are available.

Which one should we opt for?

[Akshay1234]

Originally Posted by rbp

Which one should we opt for?

Get the same tyre from Goodyear that the car already has. I'm sure you can order it from tirerack, and it will be much cheaper than what Merc are selling at. You don't want to mess with the 4matic system by having another tyre with different properties, and also if the car has run a lot change 2 tyres, because again one tire will have much more tread and grip than the other.

[amit]

The first service of the ML250 in our family was done last month. The bill came to about Rs. 35,000 but we paid nothing as we have taken the service package.

There were no complaints from our side, the car is running flawlessly. I guess 35K is fair for a routine service for a 60 Lakh Merc. About 12K was labour charges though!

[car_crazy1400]

Guys, a dear friend is wanting to buy a ML 250, now. I have told him that a facelifted version is due in about 6-8 months.

But he wants to book one. There are no offers on the ML from Mercedes.

Worth it?

need help here in deciding guys!!

[Akshay1234]

Originally Posted by car_crazy1400

Guys, a dear friend is wanting to buy a ML 250, now. I have told him that a facelifted version is due in about 6-8 months.

But he wants to book one. There are no offers on the ML from Mercedes.

Worth it?

The ML250 is one car from Mercedes that is still on a waiting period of a couple of months. They have enough buyers, so don't expect any discounts. Discounts if any will start once the FL version has been revealed abroad.

Frankly, yes will probably will miss out on some features, and possible changed looks, but the ML is a solid product now. And it will be a year before the FL one gets to India. So IMO he should go ahead and book it and enjoy the car.

[imp!]

Originally Posted by car_crazy1400

need help here in deciding guys!!

If he's okay with the no discounts scene then its worth it to him! Honestly, its a bit hard to get discounts on MLs, but, there may be some post Diwali.

[Vid6639]

Isn't facelift like quite a few months away. It hasn't even been unveiled internationally let alone launched somewhere else in the world. Usually it's a few months since international launch (not unveil) before it makes it to Indian shores.

Plus, for some reason it seems to have become a hit with zero discounts and long waiting. Better to look at X3 or Q5 if you're ok with slightly smaller vehicle.

[Turbanator]

Guys, a dear friend is wanting to buy a ML 250

There are some fantastic Discounts running on Audi Q 7 , higher configured models . I picked V8 one last week at very tempting price ..

They must have something on Q5 as well or Discounted price of Q7 should be close to ML if your friend can ignore dated looks

[amit]

ML owner's how do you find the brakes of the car? The ones in our 17,600+ kms run vehicle are extremely spongy. I don't have much experience driving the vehicle as I am not the immediate owner & it's primarily chauffeur driven. Past few day's I have managed to log on some kms driving it and have been finding the brakes really scary, I literally have to step on them to shed some speed. There is no brake pad wear indicator flashing on the console but I suspect it's the problem as off & on there is some screeching sound coming while braking.

I have fixed an appointment with Autohangar for tomorrow to check on the same, lets see what they come up with.

[rbp]

@Amit :- I think the brake pads life is over.

[amit]

Autohangar Worli says brake pads are good for another 3,000 to 4,000 kms hence the brake pad wear indicator light is not flashing. So basically, the M Class brake pads last for about 20,000 to 25,000 kms. They are going to clean the brakes and get the car ready. However, they also say the bolts holding the engine shield plate are worn off & need to be replaced!

It's really a torture getting through to Autohangar service. The landlines both at Chandivali & Worli are rarely picked up. This time it took me half a day of calling for someone to answer the phone. Now even the service advisor never takes my calls. He calls when he has some information to share about the car. Already, the thought of sending the Merc for service / repair to their ASC gives me the creeps.

I have to say Mercedes has gotten off to a very bad start with us when it comes to after sales service.

[Nucliomaniac]

ML 350, all the way.

In fact with a far more aggressive pricing than before, a new contender is the new X5. especially the expedition edition?

It would be interesting to compare the ML350 and the X5 expedition edition. the difference would be a maximum of 7-10 Lakhs for some states, and a very significant upgrade.

- Yash

[rbp]

Second service time, the car had done 22k kms. After the poor experience at Sundaram motors, we decided to get it serviced at Akshaya motors, this is the only other Mercedes authorized dealer in Bangalore, the car had the rear door rattling issue for the past two years, the Sundaram guys had no clue on that and had fooled my brother and make him change the brake pads very early. So this time we decided to try Akshay motors on Mysore road. Since the car had hardly done 7 to 8k kms in the past one year, we knew that the air filter was fairly new, the service engineer [Naveen] agreed and said he will just dust it and put it back. Apart from this they did change the diesel and oil filters and 9 litres of engine oil. The Service Engineer also said he will fix the rattling issue, he had to order a part for it, it took around 15 days for the part to arrive. All throughout he informed us about the status of the arrival. Once the part arrived, he replaced the part in a couple of hours and gave the vehicle back. Finally the car is rattle free.
Over all a very pleasant experience. A big thumbs up to Akshay Motors.

Benz owners in Bangalore should give Akshay motors a try.

[car_crazy1400]

Sorry to hijack this thread.

Can some one please ask around and let me know about any offers on the Mercedes GL 350 cdi?

I intend to buy one this month. In Delhi Ncr or in punjab.

Any pointers would be really helpful.