MOTORING Return to form
After years of trouble following its takeover of Chrysler, Mercedes-Benz is back on song with the latest version of its M-Class off-roader
WORDS NEIL LYNDON
a woman back into his life after she had betrayed him in the past. He gives her a second chance because she promises him that she has reformed. And, amazingly, she turns out to be as good as her word – thoroughly delightful, reliable and sincere. ‘Can it possibly be true?’ the former victim
T
wonders. In the case of this Mercedes, it seems it really might be. There was a time, not so long ago, when
anyone who’d bought a Mercedes M-Class deserved to be pitied like a man who has committed his life to the local fl oozie. That luxury 4x4 – intended as a rival to Land
Rover’s Discovery – was arguably the most fallible product to emerge in the period when Mercedes, as a whole, had become as trust- worthy as a £9 note. The M-Class fi rst came out in 1997-98. That
was also exactly the period when Germany’s fl agship car-maker was freighting an unbeara- ble dead weight and listing more violently than at any time in its entire hundred-year history. When Mercedes acquired the crippled Detroit car-maker Chrysler, it disastrously took its eye off the ball of making sound cars under its own name. Up to that point, Mercedes had deserved its worldwide reputation for cars as solid as former Chancellor Helmut Kohl’s sturdy frame. For ten years thereafter, until Mercedes fi nally ditched Chrysler, many models bearing the immortal three-pointed star were made with depressing slapdashness and the company’s reputation plummeted among loyal customers. No Mercedes
in that period was
‘Mercedes had deserved its worldwide reputation for cars as solid as former Chancellor Helmut Kohl’s sturdy frame’
wo days with a new £78,125 Mercedes ML 350 BlueTec Special Edition left me feeling a bit like the man who allows
more of an ordeal to own than the M-Class. Early versions were manufactured at a purpose- built plant in Alabama. They were so fl awed that M-B quickly switched production to Graz in Austria to keep a closer eye on quality. Gradually, through the 2000s, the M-Class improved to the point where it could safely be moved back to Alabama; and the present fi ne range of models all come from there. An all-new M-Class was launched in 2012.
Two special editions have now appeared, loaded to the gunwales with goodies to provide enhanced value. One is the ML 250 BlueTec and the other is the ML 350 that I borrowed. Every inch of my car radiated high-quality
Below: The Mercedes ML 350 BlueTec comes with an array of gadgets for off-road driving, even though less than 25 per cent of owners will take it off the tarmac.
manufacture. The solid ‘thunk’ that was always the unmistakable sound of a Mercedes door closing has been fully restored to the M-Class. Every atom of this car emits that sense of being the natural heir not just to the road but to a signifi cant chunk of the world itself, which is intrinsic to owning and driving a Mercedes. Glittering in Diamond White (£850 extra) and mounted on 20-inch alloy wheels (£630 extra), my car may have looked perilously close to a drug-dealer’s delight but, given its array of standard equipment, there would be little need to pimp this ride. Aluminium-fi nish running boards with rubber studs together with chrome underguards in the bumpers are the stuff of the urban rapper’s dreams. Permanent intelligent all-wheel drive with an off-road switch, auto- matic climate control, acceleration skid control and trailer stability assist and hill start assist are all part of the package in this special edition. Less than 25 per cent of M-Class owners have any use for their car off-road; but previ- ous tests have proved the new M-Class to be close to Range Rover’s Discovery in that area. On the road, the 285 bhp, V6 in my ML 350 delivered startling perform- ance, with 0-60 in 7.4 seconds and a top speed of 139mph. Handling, ride and road-holding are close to the very best among luxury 4x4s (which means BMW’s latest X5). All
in all, then, a delightful
return to form. Welcome home, dearest. So glad you’re back where you belong.
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