From the August 1997 issue of Car and Driver.
I was musing about how much the M-class sport-utility I was driving felt like any other Mercedes-Benz—an S-class, an E-class, or even an SL—when I noticed something lurking in my peripheral vision. I looked over and was eye to eye with a couple in a Blazer checking out my unfamiliar vehicle as we cruised east out of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, on Interstate 20/59.
The only difference between the feel of this Mercedes and its siblings is the tall-in-the-saddle seating position. Otherwise, the texture and atmosphere that Mercedes builds into its car are here in abundance: the thick, grippy steering wheel; the wide, firm seats; the familiar instrument layout; the gated shift lever; the burled-walnut wood trim. Even the power-window controls hew to Mercedes tradition by being counterintuitively located on the center console rather than on the doors where we’re more used to finding them.
The M-class, which is just a model designation and has no specific meaning, is also, paradoxically, different from any other Mercedes, except perhaps for the Gelandewagen, a low-volume, SUV-type vehicle originally designed for the military and never sold by Mercedes-Benz dealers in the U.S.
The M-class is a body-on-frame design, which is routine for sport-utility vehicles because many of them started out as pickup trucks. However, Mercedes doesn’t make a pickup and its top engineers didn’t think a passenger-car platform would be robust enough for the M-class. Therefore, Mercedes designed a truck-like frame just for the M-class—a classic box-section chassis that looks strong enough to prop up a corner of the Eiffel Tower—and plunked a body on it that’s unlike any that’s ever carried the Mercedes star.
Indeed, the M-class doesn’t resemble anything else. Every other SUV looks squared-off, masculine, and truculent; the Mercedes has something of an androgynous, space-shuttle look to it, with a sloping hood, beveled edges, and a sporty SL-ish grille. It’s an eye-catching truck, if you can call it that.
Proof of this were the gawks and stares on the interstate from Tuscaloosa to Mercedes’ new plant in the heart of Alabama. The M zipped past the 70-mph limit easily—it’s high on power and low on noise, and its performance sneaks up on you. Consequently, Mercedes says its aerodynamics are roughly 25 percent better than conventional SUVs’; that was confirmed by the relatively low hiss of wind noise generated at the vehicle’s large cross section and A-pillars.
Although its new 215-hp, 3.2-liter V-6 isn’t as silent or satiny as the venerable Mercedes straight-six (which the V-6 will ultimately replace in future vehicles), it has a brawny sound and a steep power curve that pulls the 4200-pound sport-ute through the gears with no noticeable flat spots or hesitation. The five-speed automatic transmission—the same as in the S-class—shifts with barely discernible thunks and kicks down with a whoosh for low-stress passing.
As a highway cruiser, the M is about as close to a sedan as an SUV can get. Its ride is typical Mercedes, a bit on the firm side with tight damping that quickly smothers bumps and road creases. Although I didn’t get a chance to spin up the odometer on winding roads, I did push the M’s handling limits on a cone-lined course in one of Mercedes’ parking lots, and we exercised its four-wheel drivetrain on a fairly rugged off-road trail.
Driven easily around the course with its series of constant- and diminishing-radius turns, tight esses, and 50-mph lane-change kink, and over a standard autocross course, the M felt as solid as an ingot and nimble for its size, without excessive body roll and with no untoward nose dive under braking or tail dip on acceleration.
Driven hard, the M feels a bit looser and its body motions are exaggerated somewhat by the pendulum effect of the high seating position. The handling limits are telegraphed by the squeal of protesting tires and the gradual and unsurprising onset of understeer. I plowed through some cones a number of times, intentionally exceeding the limits, and each time the M’s behavior was entirely predictable. Backing off the throttle brought it back on line but not very quickly—there’s a lot of mass at work here. Unlike other SUVs, this one doesn’t leave the tail adrift through quick transitions and sharp turns.
The M inspires more confidence than Walter Cronkite, and I could think of no other sport-ute in this class that could equal its handling. This is not surprising since the Mercedes is the only large SUV, except for the Hummer, with a fully independent rear suspension. The effect of this compact system, with its forged-aluminum control arms and progressive-rate springs, is to plant the rear wheels like fenceposts.
However, some of the M’s potential has been diminished by overly slow steering. There are about three-and-a-half turns lock to lock, and it takes a lot of arm flailing to whip the M around. Although this is a bit of an annoyance in everyday driving, it may actually be of some advantage in serious off-roading since it allows more precise wheel placement in the rough. The ML320 aced an off-road obstacle course of watermelon-sized rocks. Its full-time four-wheel-drive system demands nothing in the way of driver attention except when using the low range, which requires a full stop, a shift to neutral, and the push of a button to engage. With the transmission in first gear and the transfer case in the low position, there’s sufficient gear reduction to permit crawling safely down a grade as steep as a tenement stairway without touching the throttle.
The M’s four-wheel-drive system uses the four-wheel ABS for traction control. Braking is applied to any wheel losing traction, and torque is redirected to wheels with grip. The system even works when only one wheel can find adequate grip. The chassis provides a considerable 8.4 inches of ground clearance and fairly steep approach and departure angles.
Mercedes says it cost $1 billion to bring the M-class to market—$700 million for the factory, $300 million to develop the vehicle. That’s thrifty by industry standards, and Mercedes promises to pass the savings on. A possible price of $35,000 was mentioned by prominent execs, with a fully loaded model hovering in the low $40s when it goes on sale this fall. For a Mercedes, those are discount prices. Therefore, the company expects 40,000 or so people to snap up this bargain in the first year.
Specifications
1998 Mercedes-Benz ML320
Vehicle Type: front-engine, 4-wheel-drive, 5-passenger, 5-door wagon
PRICE (EST)
Base/As-Tested: $35,000/$40,000
Options: M1 package (leather seats, steering wheel, and shift knob; power and heated front seats; wood interior trim; trip computer; outside-air-temperature indicator; auto-dim rearview mirror; tinted rear glass); power tilting and sliding glass sunroof
ENGINE
SOHC 12-valve V-6, aluminum block and heads, port fuel injection
Displacement: 195 in3, 3198 cm3
Power: 215 hp @ 5500 rpm
Torque: 232 lb-ft @ 3000 rpm
TRANSMISSION
5-speed automatic
DIMENSIONS
Wheelbase: 111.0 in
Length: 180.6 in
Width: 72.2 in
Height: 69.9 in
Passenger Volume, F/R: 54/50 ft3
Cargo Volume: 39 ft3
Curb Weight (C/D est): 4200 lb
MANUFACTURER’S PERFORMANCE RATINGS
Top Speed (governor limited): 112 mph
EPA FUEL ECONOMY (C/D EST)
City/Highway: 17/21 mpg
