2002 Mercedes-Benz ML55 AMG Mercedes-Benz M-Class is a 5-door SUV with light off-road capability, first offered in 1997, and built in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. It marked a shift at Mercedes-Benz in becoming a global player: while it had plants outside Germany before, they built facsimiles of German models. The M-class was built with the United States in mind at an American factory.
Initial quality was poor. A road test on the British programme Top Gear revealed that the presenter, Jeremy Clarkson, could put his fingers into the gap below the rear lights and above the rear bumper. This improved over the years, especially after a mild facelift for 2002. However, owners are often unhappy with the car's quality - for example, the car was placed last out of 142 cars in the Top Gear Motoring Survey 2004.
Major model variants have included the ML320, ML350, ML430, ML500 and ML55. The ML55, or ML55 AMG, featured a supercharged V8 engine made by AMG, modified body-work, and other performance features. Prices initially were around US$35,000 for the base model in the late 1990s. The ML350 replaced the ML320 as the base model a few years after its introduction by Mercedes-Benz.
2005
A redesigned M-class (code name W164) will be introduced to the public in April, 2005 after showing at the North American International Motor Show in January. It is almost entirely new, with a more sporting, aerodynamic lookthe drag co-efficient is down to 0,34. Mercedes-Benz has also made the new M-class larger, measuring 150 mm longer than the first model.
The platform is shared with the new R-Class and G-Class, and is a unibody type rather than the body-on-frame used by the M and G today.
New features in the 2005 M-class include a seven-speed automatic gearbox.
4-valve engines will replace the current 3-valve SOHC V6 and V8:
- ML350 - 3.5 L 4-valve V6, 272 hp
- ML500 - 5.0 L 3-valve V8, 292 hp
- ML460 - 4.6 L 4-valve V8, 325 hp
- ML550 - 5.5 L 4-valve V8, 410 hp
- ML63 AMG - 6.3 L 4-valve V8, 465 hp
See also
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