Super TestCar reviews - Mercedes-Benz - M-class - 5-dr wagon rangeMercedes-Benz modelsOverviewSecond-genereation M-class from Mercedes-Benz is a luxury SUV revelation7 Sep 2005 IT may be credited with kicking off the whole prestige SUV movement, but there was little question that, at the end of its seven-year life, the Mercedes-Benz M-class had been out-pointed, out-performed and outclassed by just about all competitors. The all-new version rectifies all of this. The M-class is now entirely competitive with its peers on the open road, while it offers the potential of being a more capable occasional off-roader than it was before. The substitution of a ladder-frame chassis with unitary construction saves weight while allowing a larger, tauter body that takes full advantage of the all-new petrol V6 engine as well as the forthcoming V6 turbodiesel. It looks tough and substantial, yet has been carefully designed to give sedan-like aerodynamic drag figures. Bigger, more powerful, more economical. It’s hard to argue with that. Model release date: 1 September 2005 to 1 September 2008 All car reviewsAlfa Romeo Abarth Alpine Alpina Audi Aston Martin BMW Bentley Chevrolet Chery Citroen Chrysler Dodge Cupra Ferrari DS Ford Fiat FPV Foton GWM Great Wall Holden Haval HSV Honda Hyundai Hummer Isuzu Infiniti Jeep Jaguar Lamborghini Kia LDV Land Rover Lotus Lexus Maserati Mahindra McLaren Mazda Mercedes-Benz Mercedes-AMG Mini MG Nissan Mitsubishi Peugeot Opel Proton Porsche Renault Ram Rover Rolls-Royce Skoda Saab SsangYong Smart Suzuki Subaru Toyota Tesla Volvo Volkswagen Previous modelArriving on sale in Australia in September 1998, the original M-class was launched with a single 160kW/310Nm 3.2-litre V6-powered ML320 variant. The 200kW/390Nm 4.3-litre V8 ML430 was released in March 1999, while the 120kW/370Nm 2.7-litre turbo-diesel ML270 CDI went on sale in February 2000 and the flagship ML55 AMG (complete with 255kW/510Nm 5.4-litre V8) arrived in January 2001. A facelifted M-class was launched here in November 2001 for the 2002 model year, which continued to comprise the ML320, ML270 and ML55 variants, while the 215kW/440Nm 5.0-litre V8 ML500 replaced the ML430. The 175kW/346Nm 3.7-litre V6-powered ML350 replaced the ML320 in May 2003. |
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