just looking through new ML 320 cdi prices, doing a self build car, I have so far reached £44,423, this does not include air suspension,
all leather seats,all heated seats ,logic 7 sound system,and a few other goodies. looks loke the rrs is good value !

Yeah thats what i found as well..
plus the RRS looks fresh and something special, whereas the ML to me just looked quite plain and boring..
Get that order in, you know it makes sense..

kam, have had rrs for 6 months now ! just feeling the market . the rrs is nice though

sorry mate..
stick it in ur sig..
well i went into merc to have a little mooch, simply because they've opened a new dealership in bham, and the ML was sitting there, and now that i am a 4x4 driver, i thought i can actually compare it to something..
ML was cheap looking and nothing special in my book, if i remember right, it was 47k too, with less spec then my HSE has on it..
have to say though, it was a lot better then the old shape, we have a company ML 270 CDI on a 97 plate that my dads partner runs, and the new one was better then that one by miles, in every respect it seems. But dunno, still too plain and not hard enough like the RRS, had a smile on my face when i was walking back to my RRS in the car park..

I believe also that the new one is available as a 2WD pseudo offroader or a 4WD.............. do you know if this is so? 2020 Pangea Green 1st Edition D240 New Defender 110 is here and loving it
2018 Melting Silver Mini Countryman PHEV - soon to be replaced
2015MY Corris Grey SDv6 HSE Dynamic, the best car I have ever owned, totally reliable only a cou0le of rattles in 3 years, now no longer in my care
Also in my garage is a 1996 TDi300 Defender 90 County HT made into a fake CSW

I also went to see the new ML with my wife before buying the RRS. We were quite disappointed with the interior and the specification (except for the 7 speed transmission).

Price they wanted for a ML350 was about 12% less than a RRS 4.4. The price they want for a ML500 was about 3% less than RRS 4.2SC.

So, we chose the RRS 4.2SC.

I am certainly no Merc fan and would never buy an M-class but I have testdriven the new 320CDI twice and can only tell you that that would have been an appropriate engine/auto combo for the RRS. Just go and try and you'll see what I mean....

Obviously Merc and of course BMW know how to build engines, in fact that's the only thing they are still good at, whereas PSA's diesel in the TDV6 is french and obviously rather ordinary. No wonder everybody is enquiring about chip ugrades, etc , which is silly for a car costing £40k plus.

As for the upcoming V8 Diesel, I actually don't expect that to be something extra special either. It's a Ford engine, isn't it and that means it will never beat a german engineered diesel, not in performance, not in refinement and surely not in fuel economy.

Sometimes I just wonder whether we LR drivers should get a bit more for our money............?

Roland

Hi Roland, I think you have to take into account that RRS is about 450 kg heavier than the ML. So, it's no wonder that the TDV6 is a bit underpowered for the RRS.

Then again, these two SUV's are coming from very different approach of design.

I do agree with your last comment though....the car makers can always give us more for our hard earned money....espcially when the government here is charging us about 80% tax on imported cars.

True enough, they do inded come from very different approaches of design and the RRS (unfortunately) is a much heavier vehicle but nevertheless, the Merc has 30 more BHP and 510nm/1600 torque married to a perfect 7gear automatic.

I am only saying that in order for the RRS Diesel to be the perfect SUV, the car should have a better engine.

German carbuilders start with the engine, the heart of a vehicle, and then build the car around it, whereas most modern brands start with the car and then go and look for a (un)suitable engine somewhere else.

No need to like German cars but their engines are simply the best , and that's for a reason. BMWs, Mercs and Porsches are expensive but do you have an idea about how much these companies annually invest developping new engines compared to other manufacturers?

Sorry I am diverting. Matter of fact is there is no perfect world and we cannot buy an RRS Diesel with the M class' engine/automatic.

BTW I am driving Land Rovers for almost 20 years and would never buy an M class!

Roland

Roland wrote:

BTW I am driving Land Rovers for almost 20 years and would never buy an M class!Roland

Mercedes are opening a new centre 1/2 mile from me on the old Brooklands circuit - I might tease them a bit when it opens and test drive a few of their cars around their new test track. Suckers 2005 Zambezi TDV6 - Gone but not forgotten
2009 Alaska TDV8 - Gone and much missed.



WINNER - 2009 �Idler Of The Year� Award
Runner Up - 2009 �Just Doing What It�s Designed To Do� Award


DO NOT CLICK HERE!

See if they will let you offroad test your Sport back to back against their ML.......... I think I know their reply already  2020 Pangea Green 1st Edition D240 New Defender 110 is here and loving it
2018 Melting Silver Mini Countryman PHEV - soon to be replaced
2015MY Corris Grey SDv6 HSE Dynamic, the best car I have ever owned, totally reliable only a cou0le of rattles in 3 years, now no longer in my care
Also in my garage is a 1996 TDi300 Defender 90 County HT made into a fake CSW

Tim in Scotland wrote:

Roland wrote:

BTW I am driving Land Rovers for almost 20 years and would never buy an M class!Roland

Join the club Roland - now I'm into my 10th year and 6th Land Rover Product!