As the SUV market was booming in the 1990s, Mercedes-Benz was in need of an SUV. Launched in 1998, the M-Class was one of the first cars to be manufactured at Mercedes-Benz’s then new plant in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. It won several awards such as Motor Trend‘s Truck of the Year for 1998, and the World Car Award in 1999. Despite the acclaim, the M-Class was criticized for its poor reliability issues. I remember reading about how when it rained, the water would leak through the sunroof of these SUVs. Mercedes-Benz attempted to rectify these flaws with the 2002 facelift. The V8 in the ML430 version was replaced by a 5.0 liter V8 and thus necessitated a name change to ML500. Continue reading
RNR Automotive Blog 