2002 Mercedes-Benz M-Class Article at Automotive.com

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Below is an enthusiast article written by the automotive experts at Truck Trend. Road Test: Do you value sport or utility?

2002 Mercedes-Benz M-Class Safety Features

2002 Mercedes-Benz M-Class Costs of Ownership

2002 Mercedes-Benz M-Class Lease Payments

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Value Rating

Excellent

LEARN WHY

IntelliChoice Value Rating

The chart above shows the purchase price versus ownership cost for each car from a specific vehicle class. The cars with better than average ownership cost/purchase price correlations are the best values, and these best value cars are represented by the dots below the curve. (i.e. the cars that have a lower ownership cost compared to its purchase price.) Those cars, which are worse than average or poor values, appear above the curve.

One way to view the graph is to draw a vertical line through any purchase price. You may see several dots that fall on this line - each of which is a car with a similar purchase price. However, notice the difference in ownership costs of each car represented by the vertical position of the dot. Two cars with the same purchase price can have thousands of dollars difference in ownership costs. This is what separates "good value" cars from "poor value" cars.

What is a good car value?

A "good car value" is one whose cost to own and operate is less than expected. The lower the cost to own and operate a car compared to what is expected, the better the value of that car.

But how do we know a car's "expected cost"?

For each car in the class, IntelliChoice plots the car's purchase price against the total five-year cost to own and operate it as determined by IntelliChoice research. Each dot on the above chart represents a specific car. Generally, we find that as the purchase price of the car increases, the cost to own and operate that car increases. This is why the dots on the graph tend to rise upward and to the right. This phenomenon also makes intuitive sense - as the purchase price rises, financing costs tend to rise, as do insurance, depreciation, taxes, and most other car ownership costs.

This is an important concept. It's normal for car ownership costs to rise as purchase price rises. Therefore, we can't just establish one "average" ownership cost number for each class, since cars in the class have different purchase prices. (This is why the "Relative" shown on each chart is different for cars in the same car class.)

Using statistical techniques, IntelliChoice "connects the dots" to form a curve that defines, for this car class, the relationship between the car's purchase price and car's ownership costs. This curve is our "expected cost" curve. The curve defines, for any car in the class, the five-year ownership cost that we would expect to see at each possible purchase price. If every car in the class were an average value, then all the dots would fall exactly on the curve. However, it's rare that any dot is exactly on the curve. Some dots are a little higher or lower, and some are a lot higher or lower. The dots that are a little lower are better than average car values, while the dots that are a lot lower are excellent car values (A dot that is a lot lower than the curve has ownership costs much lower than expected for a car of its purchase price). Conversely, a dot a little higher than the curve is a poorer than average car value, while a dot that is much higher than the curve is a poor car value.

Value is a relative term, not an absolute term. It is performing better than the logical expectation.

So is a Mercedes-Benz E320 expensive to own and operate? Certainly in an absolute sense. Most other cars cost less. But, when its cost to own and operate is plotted against cars with comparable invoice prices, the E320 costs less. So the E320 is not expensive to own and operate - it is a good car value. The Mercedes does not have low ownership costs, but it has low ownership costs for its invoice price.

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Article From Truck Trend Magazine

Road Test: BMW X5 4.6is vs. Mercedes-Benz ML55 AMG

Do you value sport or utility? / Photography by David Newhardt / Article provided by: Truck Trend Magazine

Mercedes-AMG has had the high-dollar, uberSUV market to itself for quite a few years. But the $69,025 BMW X5 4.6is, a full-boogie sport sedan disguised as an SUV/SAV, is a shot clearly directed over Mercedes' bow. It places strong emphasis on sport, moderately less on utility. The X5 4.6is is the only BMW product in our broad test not to wear an official M badge; according to BMW spokesperson Rob Mitchell, a prerequisite for the logo is a high-revving engine and a manual transmission. Though the 4.6is technically has neither, make no mistake: The DNA is there.

X5 4.6is Interior

The 3.0L/225-hp straight-six and now-290-hp 4.4L engines are still available, but the X5's top dog is now the 4.6L/340-hp powerplant. Compression has been bumped up from 10.2:1 (4.4L) to 10.5:1. Bore and stroke have been increased, as has torque, to 350 lb-ft at 3700 rpm. The final-drive ratio has been lowered to 3.91:1. The result is strong acceleration from rest, cracking off 0-60-mph runs in 6.20 sec. Top speed is electronically limited to 150 mph with the standard 20-in. rolling stock, 143-mph with the optional 19-in. wheel/tire combo.

ML55 AMG Interior

High-quality materials and well-thought-out ergonomics make the interior an ideal place to spend long hours putting large amounts of pavement in the mirror. The cargo area, not exactly generous in either vehicle, is better accessed in the X5 due to its sliding shelf and the spare tire mounted under the floor. Lifted from the M power parts bin is a variable warning segment on the tach, which encourages lower rpm upon cold startup; a line of orange LEDs that wink out as the engine oil warms up.

X5 4.6is Engine

Heated rear seats get power-adjustable back rests as part of the 4.6is package. The shift programming has been revised from the 4.4i; the 4.6is' "normal" setting is equivalent to the Sport setting in the 4.4i, while the Sport setting in the 4.6is is even more enthusiastic. The Steptronic five-speed automatic now has the intuitive manual shift pattern as used in a race car's sequential transmission, where pulling the lever back grabs the next higher gear.

The 4.6is employs a speed-sensitive rack-and-pinion-steering system, differing from the engine-speed-sensitive setup used on the 3.0i and 4.4i variants. Road feel is excellent, with little of the tram-lining you'd expect from its massive 275/40 front tires and 315/35 W-rated rubber in the rear. Directional transitions are predicable, with good feedback transmitted through the steering wheel. An impressive array of electronic aids are present, including Dynamic Stability Control, Automatic Differential Brake, Dynamic Brake Control, and Hill Descent Control.

ML55 AMG Engine

Introduced in '99, the AWD ML55 is presented as a utility vehicle with a heavy dollop of sport. Unlike the X5 4.6is, this SUV is intended for light off-roading-it even maintains a low-range transfer case. Its SOHC V-8 and running gear are assembled at the AMG facilities at Affalterbach, Germany, then sent to Alabama for final assembly. This handbuilt 5.4L wonder is an all-aluminum design, replete with matched pistons and connecting rods, hand-balanced crankshaft, modular camshafts, and topped with three-valve-per-cylinder heads. A tweaked ECU and high-flow fuel injectors result in 342 hp at 5500 rpm, with torque coming in at 376 lb-ft at 2500 rpm. Performance? With a 0-60-mph time of 6.24, it's a whisker away from tying the X5. The ML55 pulls strongly, especially as speeds increase; from rest to 100 the AMG takes only 16.48 sec, while the X5 needs 17.23 sec. Stomp on the ML55's accelerator, the revs come up, and you feel like you're aiming a speeding locomotive.

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