I drive an 06 ML350. Not mine but my Dad's. I drive it almost every weekend to take him to Doctor's appt and such, and frequent 4+ hr drive from L.A. to Vegas. I just got my E70 5 days ago and just turned in my E53. I did not even consider the ML350 when shopping for a replacement for the E53. No offense but I don't care much about the looks. The handling on the E70 (or E53) is way better than the ML. People were complaining about the Idrive? It took my wife 30 minutes to figure out the settings without even reading the manual. She's not even tech savvy. I like the idea of having one knob to go through all menus and settings. I'm more concerned about the reliability of the software that runs it. But if it breaks, it breaks, nothing I can do about it. The ML drives very smooth, but not any better than the E70. I'm not sure why people were dissing the RFT on the E70. Maybe it's just me but I can't even tell the difference from my E53. The ride is quiet and smooth. The E70 feels more solid and I have more control. The 3.0 has more than enough power for me considering I have a 3rd row seat that adds to the weight. I have 2 kids also so I should not even be thinking of more power to out sprint or out maneuver anybody. Besides, with all the traffic in L.A parking lots, I mean freeways, I can't really drive that fast. It would be nice to have a 4.8 but just a bit too much for my budget.

I'm also a big MBZ fan (my other car is an 06 C230 Sport), but not much of a fan of MBZ SUV's except for the G500 but I don't have 80K to burn. I love the E70, I'm glad I made the right decision.

At the end of the day, go with your instincts. Learn to ignore the negative postings about problems with the E70. You will see those on any car forums.

My decision was based on what I can afford, the BMW brand and styling and that I will feel good about the car that I will drive every day for the next 3 years. Good luck!

Oh, BTW, don't even think about the BT pairing as one of your criteria for you decision making. IMO, no BT car kit can beat the call quality and clarity of a $100 BT headset. I'm not even considering using my BT on the E70.

I use my E70 BT connection every day...it works perfectly. I have no issues with quality (I dont doubt the headphone sounds better, its just that I dont have a quality issue w/ the E70). The advantages over a headset are:

1. I simply get in the X5 and it starts working, no need to put on a headset turn it on, etc. Even in the middle of a conversation the iPhone pops up a dialog asking if I want to use the X5 or stay on the iPhone.

2. You dont look like a dork with the earpiece on your head.:rofl:

I look like a dork anyway with or without the headset :rofl:

No argument with personal preference but I have used the E70 and other cars BT kit and there's no comparison with the earpiece. I paired at least 20 different phones with the E70 (including the Iphone). Some are better than the others. It may sound good from your end but for the person on the other side, the audio quality is not as good. I spend a minimum 5000 minutes a month on my cell and I beleive me, I can tell the difference.

Thats not good ;)

A good looking dork, I may say, if there's such a thing.

My wife doesn't think so, I guess that's all that matters :rofl:

dorkiness is relative of course

Here you go.
http://autos.msn.com/research/compar...4241&v=t103549

I will take both if you ask me. And hand it down the other guy at the end of warranty. I am sure they both perform well.

test drove a brand new mb350 didnt like it all felt so slow compared to the e70..didnt hv any good feel associated with it the interiors were not tht good quality either..love the e70 tho worth every penny

Aloha again everyone,

Thanks for all of the replies. This vehicle is for myself, but as my wife will be seen in it, as well as occasionally driving it, I felt the need to get her opinion as well. She likes the Mercedes branding better, but I like the X5 better than the ML350. It seems to be better organized in the interior. I did a side-by-side comparison, size-wise, of the two vehicles, and their dimension (according to edmunds.com, that is) are practically identical. My wife indicated that the BMW was a bit narrower than the Ml350, hence my research. Actually, the X5 gets better gas mileage than the ML350, so it will save me even more money over the life of the vehicle. I especially like the stand maintenance being covered for the first four years. All in all, I prefer the X5 over the ML350 and will, hopefully, be putting in an order this month for delivery in December.

Thanks again for all of your input. I put more faith into "real" people's input than that of vehicle reviewers, whose bias I can not determine.

I test drove ML350, X5 3.0si, Q7 3.6, MDX.

ML350 drives the worst. It drove like a ford truck, only quieter. Outside look is not bad, but I did not like the interior. Especially, there is no door insert, just plastic. Inside looks cheap because of those door panels. But if I did not read the "consumer reports", I'd have bought this car. Dealers were very willing to sell, and I had very nice quotes.

X5 is the second worst (or third best) in terms of driving, but looks so cool outside. Interior is OK, and that maintenance free thing seemed good deal. MB dealer said oil change for ML350 (once a year) is $100, but my friend said that changing brake pad, etc will run about $1,000. $1,000 per year is not that terrible, but I do not want surprises.

Q7 has the best interior, and I liked its handling better than X5. The panoramic sunroof is really wonderful. The whole roof seems to be made of glass. Very bright and modern interior. I liked the wheel mouse type control buttons on the steering wheel. But, it looks like a fancy RV outside, and consumes gas a lot, and the name value... not as good as MB or BMW....

MDX got the best handling, in my opinion. It drove like a sport sedan. Without the elevated view, I'd swear it's not an SUV. But, the look outside is so~~~ bad..... I cannot understand how honda came up with that design to compete with MB, BMW, and Audi?? Compared to the german trio, MDX was not in the same level, in terms of luxury.