Good to see you've almost got the GL, looking forward to some awesome photography!

Yes, I cancelled my delivery scheduled for next week due to a technical problem with the GL320CDI engine.

Known as the Intercooler Hose event, the car will make a strange noise and lose power without warning. Several of these have occured, some to the same owner after the car was "repaired" with a newly designed hose and clamp. I received a phone call yesterday at noon from one of these unfortunate owners who had two repairs for the problem. On a trip from Orlando Florida to his home in Gulfport Mississippi the hose again disengaged from the turbo. The car did not go into limp mode so Telaide told him is was okay to drive it as long as it did not start overheating. 400 miles late when he got home the car was to be picked up by the dealer for another repair. He has since filed for a buy-back from MB.

My order for a 26th April build was delayed until May 9th due to a parts hold and it suspected that the third revision of the hose and clamp were the cause. This event by a friend first hand was the clincher for me. I refues to buy a MB for $70K+ and "hope" it doens't quit in the middle of the interstate. So I called my dealer and cancelled the deal. They were understanding and returned my deposit.

So it is the S550 for the near term future and I have no plans for another car of any make or model. I feel MB goofed on this one and handled it badly. The recall should have come in January/February when the problem occurred. Apparently the problem is only with the GL since the intercooler hose on the ML and R diesels are different in location and length of hose. Some more bad PR for MB which they do not need. But exhaustive road testing prior to US introduction in January '07 should have revealed this fault since it has occurred on vehicles with less than a 1000 miles.

Sorry no pics of Jack's GL...

Seems a shame you had to cancel it this close to getting the car, but don't worry, the S550 is good enough!

I'm surprised there are problems with the engine seeing as it's tried and tested across Europe! Do you think you'll try and buy another GL once these faults have been fixed, or wait for the V8 diesel to come out?

It's not really the engine itself but the intercooler hose connection to the turbo. Too bad but I am glad I have the S to suffer with...:-)))

No GL until maybe the Bluetec model for all 50 states is approved sometime in mid 2008 or so. If they would build a E wagon with Bluetec for the US market I would be on it very quickly though.

Sorry to hear that, Mr. Jack.

Well, at least you have something to "suffer" with...

Yeah and the problem only seems to be with the GL even though the ML320 and R320 have the same engine. Somebody supplied MB with some cheap arse parts. This is MB's specifically MBUSI's fault plain and simple.

M

It's disappointing to see your car undelivered, and then its order cancelled... I remembered how eager you were to switch to the truck, Jack. Mercedes really has lost a potential sale here.

Well at least you're keeping your S550, which I'm happy about.

Oh man!

At least the S550 is still giving you pleasure!

sorry about the GL
wohoo S class

Stay tuned guys for an announcement on Friday...in serious discussions on the new GL550...take a look. Also see the post on Pricing...