IMAGE: The old M-Class had perhaps the highest image currency of any upmarket 4x4, at least until the BMW X5 and the current Range Rover came along. The three pointed star adorned on the bonnet gave that persieved quality when in reality the built and drive quality wasn't that great for Mercedes standards. The Yanks always have a way of mucking up a perfectly good product. I mean what do they know about cornering and handling, when they come to a corner they wind down the window and order a bag of doughnuts. Anyway, the new M-Class is pitched into a ready-made market and reservoir of acceptance. The personality is stronger this time, with bulging, crisp-edged wheelarches, a wider stance, four-eyed headlights and in the ML500, a silver backing to the two-bar front grille to give an aggressively toothy look. Front and rear protective undertrays add to the rugged look and to complement the Off-Road Pro pack you can have yet tougher looking bumpers and valances. The new M-Class certainly has presence, but just avoids that excess of brashness. Its interior is a good mix of standard Benz with off-road references, like a nice set of padded grab-bars running from the centre armrest to the centre stack.
DRIVING: Here's where Mercedes-Benz promises major gains, thanks mainly to the stiffer, unitary body which, incidentally, reduces the ML's weight by about 50kg compared to the old model. There's no doubt that it clings well to the road, but if you're expecting the responsiveness of an X5 or even a new Discovery you'll be disappointed. The steering is soft and rubbery, and you're always aware of controlling a large and tall mass even if it never threatens to fall over. The V8-engined ML500 has enough torque to liven up the cornering experience, with the tail bolted down as you power out of a corner despite the nominal 50-50 front-rear torque split, but that's as exciting as it gets. The brakes on all versions are soft and springy underfoot, although they stop the M-Class effectively enough.
Where it pulls back points is in the ride, which is fair for an off-roader in normal with regular coil sprung suspension, (lumpy surfaces do get a bit choppy though,) but with the £1200 option of air suspension corrects that sufficiently. That's definitely an option worth having.
With the electric seat option you can create a fair driving position, but if you're short in the leg you'll find the pedals too vertical to be able to attack them comfortably. This problem is worse with manual seats, because you can't find an optimum combination of seat height and cushion angle and the front edge of the cushion digs in the back of your knees. Some of the M-Class's slighter, female buyers may not find this a comfortable car. There's a good view out, though, and the instruments and switchgear are clear and logical to use - even the dozens of buttons that make up the optional COMAND sat-nav and telematics system, which is still easier to use than a BMW iDrive.
Off-road, this M-Class copes better than the previous one thanks to that Downhill Speed Regulation, which goes one better than Land Rover's Hill Descent Control by letting you adjust your maximum, ABS-controlled downhill speed via the cruise control. Pressing a button alters the ABS settings for off-road use, and there's a Start-Off Assist to stop you rolling back. With Off-Road Pro, you can raise the ground clearance to 291mm and splash through two feet (600mm) of water. Low range gears are selected on a dial, as are the centre and rear differential locks although the traction systems, which use ABS sensors to brake a spinning wheel, are usually enough. An Off-Road Pro M-Class can cope with as much as the best proper 4x4s, but the normally smooth ride becomes jerky when the suspension is raised.
PERFORMANCE: Hefty 4x4s need hefty amounts of torque to get them going, and with that in mind the ML350, with 258lb ft on tap, is the most disadvantaged of the M-Classes. By normal standards such pulling power should be plenty, but this engine turns out to be the one that hunts the most up and down the seven-speed autobox that's standard fare across the range. It's not a particularly sweet engine when worked hard, either, although its ultimate pace is impressive if you make the effort: 0-62mph in 8.4sec, a top speed of 140mph. For M-Class Performance stats Click Here
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