[cawimmer430]

A guy over on - ONLY REGISTERED AND ACTIVATED USERS CAN SEE ALL LINKS - CLICK HERE TO REGISTER just bought a GL and replaced his ML55 AMG with it. Here are his opinions about the car. As soon as he posts pictures, I'll post them here.

Link to the original thread: - ONLY REGISTERED AND ACTIVATED USERS CAN SEE ALL LINKS - CLICK HERE TO REGISTER



Newbie here. We just traded in our ML55 last week and picked up a GL. For starters we (wifey) test drove the GL, Q7, RR Supercharged Sport, Caddy & Denali XL. Our needs demanded safety, performance, comfortable seating for at least 6 (including 2 child seats) room for luggage and towing capacity for our track car (3600 lbs w/ trailer). Long story short, the only stand outs were the Q7 and GL. I really liked the styling of the Q7, well done. BTW, there is no "Sport" in the RR, looks great but it is an absolute pig.

Here are my initial thoughts on the GL:

1. The GL is a night and day improvement (in every way) over the ML.
2. The ride is not choppy (truck like). Very smooth, but not floaty. Especially on the highway. Obviously it is not as stiff as the 55 but it handles well.
3. The turning radius is just as good as the ML.
4. Parking the GL has taken some getting use to. The Parktronic is helpful. I would recommend the review camera option. (We did not get the camera sad )
5. The interior is absolutely beautiful & comfy. Seats are perfect. Go for the sunroof option. Fits the Kid Seats and four adults no problem.
6. Performance. This surprised me. The GL will out brake and is just as quick if not quicker than the ML55. Granted it does not have the torque that the 55 had but the motor pulls hard in the upper rpms and the 7 speed tranny makes sure it is in its power band. Big thumbs up on the 7 speed. Compared to the others tested, it will run circles around them any day of the week.
7. Gas mileage (so far) has been +2-3 miles better than the 55.


MB did a great job on this (dare I say) "truck". Highly recommend. Especially for the price

Go drive one.

EDIT: HERE'S HIS GL AND HIS E55 AMG.

[Yannis]

Originally Posted by cawimmer430

1. The GL is a night and day improvement (in every way) over the ML.

This statement is a bit over the top. The ML is lighter than the GL and the two cars share 99% of their parts.

[cawimmer430]

Originally Posted by Yannis

This statement is a bit over the top. The ML is lighter than the GL and the two cars share 99% of their parts.

True. But perhaps he was talking about driving dynamics or something else in this statement.

EDIT: How stupid of me! The answer is right infront of us. He sold his W163 ML55 AMG and replaced it with the GL. The W163 is the old M-Class, which wasn't the best car in the MB shed.

[NarutoRamen]

Nice review from the owner. Thanks Wimmer.

Yannis, I don't know how the things have improved for the GL over the ML but I guess this guy really really likes the improvements. Anyways, I don't know which ML he is talking about...He could be talking about the Last generation of ML

[Yannis]

Originally Posted by NarutoRamen

Yannis, I don't know how the things have improved for the GL over the ML but I guess this guy really really likes the improvements. Anyways, I don't know which ML he is talking about...He could be talking about the Last generation of ML

That may be true.

[Jason.Bare]

Originally Posted by Yannis

This statement is a bit over the top. The ML is lighter than the GL and the two cars share 99% of their parts.

I think he was talking about the W163 and not the W164....

[Giannis]

just what i wanted and waited to here. Good thing it comes from a MB owner!

[PHYBENZ]

Originally Posted by Yannis

This statement is a bit over the top. The ML is lighter than the GL and the two cars share 99% of their parts.

I beleive he was saying that the GL is night and day better than his old ML 55 which was the previous generation which makes complete sense. He wasn't talking about the current ML.

[Mr. M]

Which GL is it? GL450 or GL550? (Sorry I'm not too sure what variants are available in the US)

[cawimmer430]

Originally Posted by Mirage77

Which GL is it? GL450 or GL550? (Sorry I'm not too sure what variants are available in the US)

He didn't say. I'll have to ask him and pressure him to post pictures.

There aren't many Mercedes-Benz fans on Carspin. In fact, someone just started an "anti-Mercedes-Benz Club" over there.

Maybe I need to tell this guy about a nice secret place called German Car Zone where he can interact with other German car fans.