Mercedes-Benz ML55 AMG 2000

The Mercedes-Benz M-Class is a 4-door SUV with mild off-street capability, first supplied in 1997, and constructed in Tuscaloosa County, Alabama, USA, on the equal time as its competitor, the Infiniti QX4. It marked a shift at Mercedes-Benz in turning into a international player; even as it had plant life outdoor Germany earlier than, they simply constructed facsimiles of German models. In contrast, the M-Class changed into conceived with the American marketplace in thoughts and constructed at an American manufacturing unit. Despite early bad press approximately nice manipulate, the M-Class have become a massive income fulfillment withinside the United States. In fact, best the C-Class and E-Class promote higher withinside the US.

At launch, the M-Class changed into a technological 'excursion de force'. It changed into the primary SUV to function balance manipulate, a gadget designed to come across lack of manipulate and right away interfere with selective braking to convey the automobile returned on its supposed course. This gadget is now hailed via way of means of protection experts, and research have proven balance manipulate and structures find it irresistible are able to decreasing unmarried automobile crashes via way of means of as much as 30 percent.

Furthermore, the M-Class boasted the front and side-effect airbags with superior occupant detection for the the front passenger seat, which, blended with Mercedes' mythical protection structure, earned the M-Class the best marks in coverage enterprise crash tests.

Initial nice changed into poor, and jokes approximately an "Alabama Mercedes" started to make the rounds. A street take a look at at the British programme Top Gear found out that the presenter, Jeremy Clarkson, should placed his arms into the space under the rear lighting fixtures and above the rear bumper. This progressed over the years, in particular after a moderate facelift for 2002. However, proprietors are regularly sad with the auto's nice - for example, the auto changed into positioned final out of 142 vehicles withinside the Top Gear Motoring Survey 2004. DaimlerChrysler spent US$six hundred million on enhancements on the Alabama manufacturing unit earlier than launching the second-era ML in 2005.

Major version editions have protected the ML320, ML350, ML430, ML500 and ML55, in conjunction with the ML230 and the turbodiesel ML270 CDI and ML400 CDI in Europe.

The ML55, or ML55 AMG, featured a V8 engine made via way of means of AMG, changed body-work, and different overall performance features. Pricing to begin with changed into US$33,950 for the bottom version in 1998. The ML350 changed the ML320 because the base version withinside the United States some years after its advent via way of means of Mercedes-Benz.