FINALLY, Mercedes-Benz is at the pointy end of the luxury SUV segment with the third-generation M-Class, offering significant upgrades and improvements pretty much across the board.
Mercedes has also upped the value-for-money quotient in a big way, to match the palpably more impressive quality that now permeates Daimler’s US-built wagon.
A few minor foibles still exist, however, while we wonder whether the cheaper diesel might be the more desirable offering compared to the ML350 Blue Efficiency under the spotlight here.
![](/assets/contents/d2bb8480289ffbedd6cec9535c1d810d7dcc67e5.jpg)
M-Class
Released: Sep 2005
Ended: April 2012
Family Tree: M-classHANDSOME, with more space, better dynamics, improved refinement and far nicer road manners, the second-generation American-made M-Class was a much more convincing rival to the runaway success BMW X5.
Until fuel prices started to skyrocket, the 200kW/350Nm 3.5-litre DOHC 24V V6 petrol proved to be popular, driving all four wheels (known as 4MATIC in Merc-speak) via a sweet and responsive 7G-Tronic seven-speed automatic gearbox.
Some quality glitches, however, soured the ownership experience for a few buyers, while the Mercedes still trailed its Bavarian SUV rival in terms of steering, handling and agility.
Facebook Twitter Instagram