Driven: 2010 Mercedes-Benz ML350 Bluetec

By Michael Frank

Michael Frank

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Michael Frank got his driver's license on the morning of his 16th birthday and a year later, bought his first car, a 1974 Ford Capri with a "sleeper"... More

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The once-expensive oily fuel is now less costly than gasoline on average

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That’s one thing about Mercedes that’s tough to convey via an ad: the German brand, like Audi, and like BMW, really does bake a distinct personality into its cars. Maintaining that must keep executives in Stuttgart up at night, but while they suffer for their art, buyers of their cars are very often loyal and thankful.

Sure, owning and operating a BMW, Mercedes, or Audi isn’t as cheap as rolling in a Civic (by and large) but that’s a bit like saying Corvette owners should chuck their thrall with American V-8s and drive Teslas instead. They aren’t the same species, nor is a Civic like a Mercedes.

Or, to be fairer, at least in terms of genre, nor is the $50,000 2010 ML350 Bluetec like the $30,000 Honda Pilot. You might get some similar benefits, like all-wheel-drive and good road clearance, but these are merely the same kinds of vehicles; the ownership experiences will be decidedly different.

Now stop. Think.

I didn’t put a value judgment on either experience; the Pilot owner might well be thrilled, as lots of Honda owners are, with his car. Ditto, the Benz driver. Or, likewise, disappointed.

But my friend’s point wasn't that the Mercedes experience was in fact superior, but that it is unique, and that alone is rare in an age when once titanic brands like Sony audio systems or Rolex watches seem increasingly more alike the widgets proffered by competitors than decidedly different.

On-Roader

The death of the SUV has long been predicted, but if there’s a contraction occurring it’s only evidenced by a shift to car-based chassis, not a shift away from high-riding vehicles.

The ML350 Blutec is one example of why this shift is so hard to make. It's a unibody, rather than body-on-frame vehicle, and it’s a really smooth riding rig that’s not at all truckish, yet gives that coveted “command” view of the road. Sure, a lower riding wagon would out-corner the tall Benz and in some cases like the Subaru Legacy Outback; Volvo V70 and even Mercedes’ own E-Class Wagon you can get the same level of utility. But without such a long, articulating suspension you’d also feel those potholes or bridge expansion joints much more.

Unfortunately for the ML and every other crossover there’s a day of reckoning to come. Riding high adds mass without consequent utility, which is one reason a lower wagon with a taller roof can gain so much space efficiency; much of that room evaporates when you change the height of the load floor for a crossover. Reckoning? Yes, if you believe the most recent National Academy of Sciences Report that outlines how one factor in meeting tougher fuel efficiency guidelines will be to make vehicles considerably lighter.

That likely means that while the ML and its competition currently come with baubles like standard all-wheel-drive and over eight inches of ground clearance, and Driver Activated Downhill Speed Regulation (DSR) that lets you crawl down a slick hill at between 4 and 10mph (dial in that limit via the stalk that controls cruise control speed), such extras will quite literally be weighed against fuel economy gains that can be made by moving customers away from quite so much ground clearance and heavy 4WD systems.