163s are good to go with towing with no nanny issues. Put on the hitch (I just swapped a 5000lb Drawtite it off the 99ML320 with some tranny limp mode gremlin Onto the 05ML500) and the light kit, you need a powered adapter, whole kit is like $25 or so, per Mitch’s suggestion I pulled power off the rear outlet, easy peasy. That took longer than the hitch kit to swap over as I soldered all the wire joints and had to verify wires.
The 164s have the trailer nanny, keeps brakes and stability controls happy. $2k kit If it was not built with it. The 164 is also uniframe unlike the body-on-frame 163s. I’m thinking to do a lift on this 99E320 when I get the trans issue sorted (I think at this point it must be a bad wire in the harness somewhere as a new CP and TCM did not resolve the limp issue). I got some 18” wheels from a 220 (I think) that will fit with like 8 or 10mm spacers, could get some big tars on them. 164 is nice, bought a 11ML350 dizzel for the former spousal unit, total hot rod. When she gets tired of it I might try to acquire it. I put a hitch on it for a bike rack but did not do the nanny. From what I recall of driving it the ride was a bit softer than my 163 500 but it had all the same drivetrain features, low range and such. Nice vehicle, it was fast as hell, the dizzel was a torque monster. All in all the 163 is likely a better choice for self-maintenance. Its pretty basic aside from a few nannies. 722.6 is a good trans, not sure what’s in the 164, probably a 722.9 which is more problematic. Upgrade the sound/nav unit and you’re all good. I’d go for a later model, the 05 is likely more sorted as it was the last year. --FT Sent from iPhone > On Jun 5, 2021, at 11:35 AM, Dan Penoff via Mercedes <mercedes@okiebenz.com> > wrote: > > True. Up to 2003 or possibly later you can do the towing thing with some > aftermarket bits that are relatively inexpensive - I did it with the 2002 I > had, and it’s easy, took me all of maybe 20 minutes to install everything. > > I like the trailer idea, too. Thanks! > > -D > >>> On Jun 5, 2021, at 11:31 AM, Rick Knoble via Mercedes >>> <mercedes@okiebenz.com> wrote: >>> >>> Other than the gremlins, it was a good car/truck. Mileage sucked, but it’s >>> a truck, so that wasn’t unexpected. >> >> I have gotten 30 mpg consistently on the highway with a rwd E320. That's >> probably not going to happen with any ML. >> >> IIRC, Floyd (and Mitch) have said later models have nanny issues if the >> truck is not set up for towing from Ma Benz. I have a friend that buys these >> things new (multi millionaire) and he gets them with the tow package, not >> for towing, but for all the stuff that comes with the tow package, i.e. >> brakes, cooling system, trans cooler, etc. That is a consideration. Also, a >> small 5X9 trailer can do nearly as much as the small pickup you were in the >> market for. >> >> >> Rick >> _______________________________________ >> http://www.okiebenz.com >> >> To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ >> >> To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: >> http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com >> > > > _______________________________________ > http://www.okiebenz.com > > To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ > > To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: > http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com > _______________________________________ http://www.okiebenz.com To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com
