mmarshall

Yes, for those, like me, who are old enough to clearly remember the soot-belching, noise-clattering, hard-to-start automotive diesels of the 70s and 80s (and the extreme unreliability of some of them), there's just no comparison between those days and the Bluetecs and VW/Audi TDIs of today. Part of it, of course, is that we also have much better (albeit more expensive) diesel-fuel than back then, too.

As for the towing capacity, with the optional hitch, the specs say 7200 lbs. That's not bad for a unibody-type vehicle....and, of course, as you note, partially reflects the diesel's massive torque. But, even with that kind of power, to get much more than that in terms of towing-capacity, you usually have to move to a body-on-frame vehicle, which can haul more weight without bending things.



The Bluetec models I looked at had full-size, but temporary/limited-use spares. I didn't check the gas-models, and the Mercedes web-site does not mention what kind of spares they have (even for the Bluetecs). But, today, it's hard to find real spares anymore, short of trucks and off-road-designed SUVs. The ML has some limited off-road capability, but, in general, is not designed for it.