The first M Class, which was in production from the 1998 model year through 2005, was one of the first midsize luxury SUVs from a prestige brand. Based on a truck chassis, the new SUV premiered as a six-cylinder equipped ML320 and an eight-cylinder ML 430. First built in Austria and later in Alabama, the M-Class vehicle was the first in its class to offer electronic stability control, and with a plethora of airbags, it earned high marks for safety. Unfortunately, it did not win high marks for quality, with many fit and finish problems reported. A diesel version was sold in states where emission standards didn't exclude it.
The second-generation of the M Class, which first appeared during the 2006 model year with ML350 and ML500 nameplates, was an entirely different brand of Benz. Built on a passenger-car-like unitized body/chassis unit, it was both lighter and more rigid. Consequently it was far more nimble on twisty bits of road than the earlier vehicle, and its ride was much improved as well. The cabin, previously rather spartan for an M-B, was now tastefully trimmed with wood and aluminum. More importantly, the quality problems that beset the first version were resolved in the redesign of the vehicle and an updating of the manufacturing plant
Today, the range includes four models. The standard gasoline-engine vehicles are the 268-horsepower V-6-equipped ML350 and the 382-horsepower V-8-powered ML550. For those who wish to get as fuel frugal as possible in an M-B SUV, there's the ML320, which comes with a clean and quiet blueTEC diesel. For those who aren't particular about fuel economy but want to get to junior's soccer game as quickly as possible, there's a 503-horsepower ML63 AMG super SUV. That kind of oomph can make a sport utility vehicle live up to the sporty part of its name.
While SUVs overall have taken a bad rap in the press, the midsize Mercedes M Class offers a combination of luxury, style and prestige that is difficult to match with any other midsize SUV.
