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Mum Tank 2 - Another ML350

14K views 54 replies 11 participants last post by  Alex_225 
#1 ·
As some of you saw, our much loved ML350cdi which we bought last December is no more, due to a div in a lorry rear ending it.

We recently received the inevitable news it was a total loss and had the offer through. With car prices being strong we were offered £200 less than we paid for it 9 months ago, nice considering I was expecting the battle to get the price pushed up. So we went on the hunt for another and back to the same trader we bought the first from.

This chap only sells MLs which seems like a niche market but seems to be doing alright.....



We actually went to look at a 2010 ML350 64k on it (last one had 90k) but it wasn't in the condition we'd hoped. It had clearly had quite a tough life and instead our eye was drawn to another that was for sale.

Although it cost us a little more it was hard to resist. This is a 2011 ML350cdi Grand Edition with 72k. Comes with some nice features over the last one including full heated leather including leather dash and door cards, different steering wheel, some additional exterior touches and 21" AMG wheels.







The overall condition is generally excellent inside and out. The wheels have been freshly powder coated so really set the car off. Although I'm itching to get my hands on it.

The interior is also really tidy although again I'm looking forward to making it even better.









So next week we give the GLC300 back. It was nippy, handled very well for what it is and had some nice tech but wasn't a car I bonded with. The ML as you can see from this picture is just taller and more spacious.



I'm looking forward to spending some more time in the ML and doing some family outings.
 
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#3 ·
Thanks Andy. No real plans for it for now. Got a boot tidy ordered before all the kids stuff goes back in.

I’ll give it a thorough clean and go from there. If I’m feeling flush in the new year a remap would be on the cards.

Interesting as that GLC300 was a perky car, not outright fast but fast enough for the kind of car of was. But despite being about 45bhp down the ML has that feel of a car with a big engine and it’s just nice haha. 280bhp and 470lbs-ft would be just right after a map.
 
#6 ·
Kids are all good thank you mate, the other half still has quite a few aches and pains, shoulders mainly.

No idea if the driver will be charged with anything. When we told the Police he'd left without leaving details they told us they wouldn't pursue that. Seems like a pointless law that one!
Firstly, hope your mrs gets better quickly.

Secondly, what an utter disgrace. That is terrible!!!! I thought leaving the scene of an accident/crime was a major thing!
 
#7 ·
Sorry to hear your Mrs has a few pains still. If I were you I would put in for whiplash. Might pay for the extra cost of the new car.

How on earth can it be OK to bugger off after that sort of accident. Yet the police have time to sit about in vans catching speeders who are not actually having accidents. Got their priorities wrong in my opinion.
 
#8 ·
Thank you both! We do have a claim going in although actually via a case we set up ourselves as my other half didn't have legal cover.

It really was a poor show from the driver, he actually didn't come over and ask if anyone was ok. He may have felt awkward but with a 3 year old and five month old in the car, stranded by the side of the motorway you'd imagine it might tick something in his tiny brain. Thankfully some lovely people stopped to act as witnesses.

Interestingly I found the company he worked for on Facebook, dropped them a message about it. They denied having any kind of mobile staff etc. Wondered if I had it wrong, no insurance confirmed the name of the company. Went back to them and they went strangely silent.

Sadly the Police's priorities seem often to be to make money rather than server the better interests of the public or at least it seems that way.
 
#9 ·
I'm sorry to read about this happening to you, I have followed your lovely Mercs for a long time, just as a lurker, I like to admire beauty from afar.

The ultimate thing is that your family are generally safe, let the insurance companies argue it out now, I worked as a truck driver (retired now) and we were always told to never admit liability in any way, if we had an accident we were to be careful on what we say, I guess this guy was told the same thing, it doesn't make it right because the first thing you would do if you hit someone is to make sure the people were okay.

Was this a UK company or European registered truck? Looking at all the posts I reckon he was either watching a film on his laptop or texting or even asleep, pure speculation of course because otherwise he would have seen what's about him.

Good thing you had a small tank and not a hatchback.



Good luck with it all, the bruises will fade and your little one will be okay in time.
 
#10 ·
Hey mate, thank you! :)

Was a UK company according the details we received, some kind of car auction site. I did suspect the same thing, that he was just playing it ridiculously cool. Like you say though, at least asking if everyone is ok should be a minimum.

Apparently he was driving far too quickly. The rain came down really heavy, hence the traffic slowed. One of the witnesses commented to her husband that this guy was driving far too fast as he overtook them, next thing they know he's sent my other half off into the hard shoulder. Certainly not driving to the conditions.

I'm sure everyone will be ok though Vossman. At least the courtesy car has gone now and we can move on and enjoy this new ML.

I gave the seats a wipe down with Dr Leather last night before fitting the seat protectors and car seats. Must say the interior is is great shape. I know it's Artico which isn't quite as plush as the real thing but it's super tough and with 2-3 kids in the back more often than not, tough is good! haha
 
#11 ·
I am not sure how Artico is actually made, but I assume it is a thick layer of some sort of plastic. I'd say this will be better than leather, as you would then not be wearing off the "paint" layer of the leather over time.

I have also seen some faux leathers that are a very thin layer of plastic over a cloth like material, and these tend to crack very quickly. This makes them much softer, more luxurious feeling, and more flexible, but sadly much weaker too; it's something we have on the lower half of our DFS sofas.. which have worn dreadfully. Hopefully Artico is not made like this.
 
#13 ·
I assume something similar. My old E Class had Artico and despite having 140k on the clock it still looked good. The only part showing wear was the driver seat outer bolster but it never cracked or split.

My S Class has leather and it's far more high maintenance, material stretches so appears to wear more. If I had to be fussy real leather looks nicer as you can tell it's genuine but for practicality my experience is Artico is tougher.

This is the problem with the police, priorities are all wrong. Slightly OT but we never received any action / support from the police when my then 12 year had another kid pull a pair of scissors on him and attempted to stab him - even a formal complaint was "lost due to covid-19"

My direct experience with the police is far from positive and the blatant lies they told to my son has left a very bitter taste in my mouth
I can understand that from your experience mate. You see Police sitting there waiting to make money from speeding fines where the 5-10mph an 'offender' likely affects no one. But genuine situations that have a negative impact seem to be less important.
 
#14 ·
Since I'm working from home, I decided to use my lunch break wisely! :lol:

I gave the interior a bit of a clean, it wasn't in bad shape at all but prefer to start with a clean canvas haha.

My youngest daughter is like my shadow so had to help. We attacked the rubber mats we'd had in the last ML. The OEM mats are in great condition so they're in the boot. Some Chemical Guys Nonsense agitated and wiped, job done.



They're less than a year old so come up pretty good.





I gave the footwells a vacuum before hand. Nothing too untoward on the carpets luckily. As we will regularly have my eldest daughter in the middle, I picked this up on eBay for about £8 to protect the tunnel as the mats don't cover it but it's usually where her feet go, not pretty but handy.



I gave the interior a wipe down with Chemical Guy's Inner Clean and the seats a wipe with Dr Leather spray.



I'm rather liking the Grand Edition steering wheel. Feels massive compared to the one in the GLC but better suited to a 4x4.



The trim is a dark wood finish in this model too where as the old one was black textured glossy plastic.



It's got all the connectors the previous model had and luckily when I picked up the family after the accident, I literally emptied everything out including the cables for stereo. So hooked up the old iPhone 4 which just lives in the glovebox with 32gb of music on it.



That all works nicely!



Boot tidy arrived this afternoon. The old car had one but it got mangled so £30 off eBay. Nice fit just needs to settle as they arrived rolled up.



So that's the interior done for now. Only a quick once over but I'm impressed with how tidy it all looks. The car doesn't appear to have had a particularly stressful life based on the cleanliness and condition. Seems these types of cars often get used as utility vehicles and don't wear their age as well.
 
#19 ·
Yep, leather dash and door cards on the Grand Edition. It definitely lifts the interior. I loved the last one but the interior wasn't as luxurious as the CLS it replaced.

Looking good - with the tunnel cover you've bought, I'm wondering if you trim the top corners a little, where they meat the centre tunnel, apply a little heat to the bend and will it "mould" itself better to the tunnel ?
I will admit, I just threw it in there really. I think I may have put it the other way round in the old car haha

What a lovely looking interior, a great family car. I love the dark wood finish!

I too love the bigger steering wheels, I have no idea why luxury cars are moving to piddely ones (like the silly small one in my 7 series). A smaller wheel feels more sporty, but it forces you to hold on for dear life. With a larger wheel you have more scope to rest your elbow on the armrest or door card top.
The dark wood I do rather like, I guess it's the luxury look but without looking old fashioned as brown wood can do.

Very much agree on the steering wheel. The GLC we had on loan had a small, flat bottomed sporty steering wheel. That would be great on a hot hatch (along with the really fast steering rack) but I'm not sure I want it in a family car. The ML definitely has 4x4 steering that isn't too quick but it suits the relaxed drive. :thumb:
 
#17 ·
What a lovely looking interior, a great family car. I love the dark wood finish!

I too love the bigger steering wheels, I have no idea why luxury cars are moving to piddely ones (like the silly small one in my 7 series). A smaller wheel feels more sporty, but it forces you to hold on for dear life. With a larger wheel you have more scope to rest your elbow on the armrest or door card top.
 
#20 ·
Lucky me had a day off work today so I gave the S a clean which was easy and then attacked the outside of the ML!

Nice simple clean first of all with some Meguiars Wash+. I only use this stuff if I'm stripping back and polishing the paintwork but it's good stuff.



I then went over the paintwork with that old classic, Super Resin Polish. It's actually quite an old bottle but still does the trick. I then protected it with some Turtlewax Seal N Shine. It's the new formula, no idea if it lasts longer but it smells different and really nice! :lol:



I've been using it as a last stage product on the S and it's so cheap and easy to top up that it doesn't matter if it lasts 1 month or 6 I just top up regularly.

The paintwork on the ML is lovely, I'm hugely impressed with it. The odd stone chip and a couple of small dings but otherwise not a scuff or blemish in sight.









Even got a good reflection of me in my questionable sunglasses! :lol:



The wheel nuts are rusty and look a bit rubbish compared to the wheels...



Some silicone covers I had spare sorted them out, well all but the locking nut!



The wheels were freshly powder coated before we bought so I get to keep the backs nice and clean!

 
#21 ·
The ML looks a real stunner!

I love your cleaning technique, as you do a thorough job and the car looks fantastic, but you do it in ways that are more practical to someone using a car as their daily drive.

Products like Super Resin Polish, and Turtle wax spray sealant are sometimes downplayed because they contain fillers and will not last as long as pastes. But in reality they enable someone who is using their car and does not have all week to machine polish it, to keep it looking great.

Great reading, and I am really thrilled for you having such a great new family car!
 
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#22 ·
Thanks mate.

Yes that's exactly my angle on it. I know Super Resin leaves a great finish, I could spend time machine polishing it and correcting it but it's going to be used daily. I tend to favour (for this car at least) inexpensive products that do a good job. I can top up the Seal N Shine every time. I've used high end waxes and different sealants but these spray on and wipe products perform as well, certainly for repelling and sheeting rain/dirt it's excellent.

Don't get me wrong, you can't beat a full decontamination, correction and some hardcore coating applied but for this car at least, it'll protect the paint, looks good and keeps things practical. If I left it to the other half it'd either remain filthy forever or go to the local Tesco car wash! :(
 
#24 ·
Super looking car, much better now even, apologies for not replying to you regarding my earlier post but I had eye surgery on Wednesday night.

Great work on it even for a quick clean.
Thanks mate, it was quick-ish! At least to get it to a level I'm happy with at least.

Hope you're recovering swiftly from the surgery mate. :thumb::thumb:
 
#27 ·
Not much to report on the ML, it had a bit of a niggle whereby the fans decided to stop working. Quick trip back to the seller and that got sorted within a couple of days.

It's proving to be just as good as the last ML we had. Took it for a drive to drop my daughter home the other day, 240 lovely comfortable miles. I'd say it's 90% as comfortable as my S Class, perhaps a firmer ride but still impresses me!

Anyway, although the outside needs a clean I attacked the engine bay before doing my own cars over the weekend. Not the worst state it could be in but could look a bit better.



I admit, I didn't do all the work myself. My middle one decided she had to help and although her attention to detail isn't quite there yet (only just 4) she can be bought with a gingerbread man from the local bakers!



All we used was Chemical Guys Nonsense APC, agitated and wiped down. Then a quick spray of Autoglym Vinyl & Rubber to give the plastics a nicer finish.





I'd like to get that beige V on the engine cover a bit cleaner but I'm not sure if it was that slightly dull colour as standard.

As a daily mum car I don't think that's too bad though haha
 
#30 ·
Exactly, she gets to lounge around in luxury. When I was 4 I had to suffer my mums mustard coloured Austin Mini. Back in the 80s, the shorts were short and the vinyl seats were b*stard hot!

This one gets aircon and to watch movies in the car. She can do some cleaning haha
When I was 4 the Mini had only been launched 3 months previous :lol: Now I feel really old :)
 
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