Mercedes-Benz M-Class (05-11) - Review

Review by David Ross on
Last Updated: 17 April 2009
The M-Class is Mercedes-Benz back at its best. The styling is understated and elegant, the interior is comfortable and attractive, plus it drives well - both on and off-road - the whole package oozes subtle sophistication. There are some cracking engines too, including a whisper-quiet V6 diesel, a very powerful 4.2-litre diesel and a sublime 5.0-litre V8. And if that's not enough, a 510bhp 6.3-litre AMG model which is covered in a separate review. Although the M-Class doesn't come cheap, list prices are close to that of similar off roaders and there's plenty of standard equipment. In October 2008 it was facelifted with slight exterior tweaks (including new headlights) while the diesel models were made cleaner and more economical.
4 out of 5

Other Mercedes-Benz reviews

2 out of 5

Running costs

Large 4x4s are never cheap to run. However, the prestige of the Mercedes-Benz badge and M-Class' desirability should mean that values hold up well. Fuel consumption from the diesel V6 is average (30mpg in everyday driving) for a car of this size, although deeper pockets are needed for the ML500 - it manages 21mpg. Insurance is (unsurprisingly) high. Lower-powered cars are in group 17, while the range-toppers are in 18, 19 and 20.

* based on most recent data

Estimated fuel cost for 10,000 miles per year

Unleaded

£2,557 - £2,922 *

Diesel

£2,003 - £2,465 *

The estimated fuel cost figure is a guide to how much this model will cost to fuel each year, so you can compare between cars. It's calculated by using the model's average mpg (calculated from both town centre and motorway driving) and the average fuel price. It's based on the following cost-per-litre: petrol 135p and diesel 141p. Prices are updated daily.

Summary Running Costs

Servicing period

Variable - usually between 12,000 and 18,000 miles.

Warranty

Three years/unlimited miles.

Road tax (12 months)

£460.00 - £475.00

Vehicle excise duty (VED) varies according to the CO2 emissions and the fuel type of the vehicle. For cars registered after March 1st 2001 VED or road tax is based on the car's CO2 emissions. For cars registered before March 1st 2001 it is based on engine size.

Full running costs data

2 out of 5

Green credentials

  • A
  • B
  • C
  • D
  • E
  • F
  • G
  • H
  • I
  • J
  • K
  • L
    230
  • M
    319

CO2 emission figure (g/km)

Fuel economy rating

The arrows indicate the best and worst CO2 bands for this model.

Emissions summary

The M-Class performs badly on the eco front. With an average of 285g/km CO2 across the model line-up, its emissions are high. The 280 CDI and 320 CDI models are the greenest - facelifted version from late 2008 emit 246g/km of CO2 (previously 254g/km) and average 30mpg (previously 29mpg).

Find the exact engine and CO2