Anyone towing a 24’ boat with a MB ML350 or GL350 or GLE350 or bigger engine?

[agannole93]

Well we bit the bullet Friday and picked up a 2017 Armada Platinum, relatively low mileage and a one owner clean and in great shape. Wife is happy with it, it's got all the bells and whistles and seems to have plenty of power. Won't get a chance to test out the towing until later in the spring, but with the 8500lb capacity I doubt we'll have any issues.

 

[Betik]

@MrMoose towed a 240 from houston to Miami, Arizona and then Canada in one summer. I am sure you will be fine

 

[VitaminSea]

Well we bit the bullet Friday and picked up a 2017 Armada Platinum, relatively low mileage and a one owner clean and in great shape. Wife is happy with it, it's got all the bells and whistles and seems to have plenty of power. Won't get a chance to test out the towing until later in the spring, but with the 8500lb capacity I doubt we'll have any issues.

Congrats! What color combo? We have a 2017 as well, but its the SL w/ Tech, so not as many bells and whistles.

Here’s some feedback...
One you hitch/unhitch the boat from the Armada, you might hear a humming/ticking shortly after... It’s the air suspension in the rear leveling the load, and takes maybe 30-45 seconds to subside.
When backing up your trailer, EVERYTIME you go into reverse, unless you like being berated with audible tones, you have to disable the “sonar parking sensors audible alert”, via the soft button on the backup camera screen. Also, if you are not backing up relatively straight, say, out of your driveway, you will want to disable the “cross traffic” intervention (button is on the lower dash, left of the steering wheel) - otherwise the vehicle sees your trailer as cross traffic and will abruptly slam on the breaks. The annoyance here is that say you need to pull forward mid maneuver to straighten up, you have to remember to disengage both settings again when backing up. I question why the engineers didn’t disable, or provide an option to disable the rear sonar when engaging “TOW” mode. I typically don’t find the need to engage tow mode in relatively flat Florida. Also, if you haven’t checked, the Armada comes with a 7 pin wiring harness, so you might need an adapter for your trailer (our trailer is 5 pin).

IMO, it does a great job towing the boat, but is thirsty (9-12 MPG is what I see when towing at highway speeds). Not complaining - just sharing.

Non-towing related items...
Some individuals on the Armada forums have commented about the gas gauge not being very accurate once under 1/4 a tank - you’ll have to see what your experience is. I’ve had times where it appeared we had about 1/8 a tank left, but would only take 16 gallons of gas at fill up time (its a 26 gallon tank). I think the most I have ever pumped is ~21 gallons and that was after the fuel light came on. I find I rely more on the onboard computer’s distant to empty than the fuel gauge once we’re below a 1/4 tank.

The OEM Bridgestone’s aren’t very good in light snow (we found out last year during a trip to the mountains of NC), but it seems like you are in AL, and that shouldn’t be much of an issue for you. Just replaced ours with some Michelins.

Let me know if you have any questions!

 

[ZGhost]

Nice review @VitaminSea Good points to consider. Hate the thirsty MPG part, bu most V8‘s will be around that zip code.

 

[agannole93]

Congrats! What color combo? We have a 2017 as well, but its the SL w/ Tech, so not as many bells and whistles.

Here’s some feedback...
One you hitch/unhitch the boat from the Armada, you might hear a humming/ticking shortly after... It’s the air suspension in the rear leveling the load, and takes maybe 30-45 seconds to subside.
When backing up your trailer, EVERYTIME you go into reverse, unless you like being berated with audible tones, you have to disable the “sonar parking sensors audible alert”, via the soft button on the backup camera screen. Also, if you are not backing up relatively straight, say, out of your driveway, you will want to disable the “cross traffic” intervention (button is on the lower dash, left of the steering wheel) - otherwise the vehicle sees your trailer as cross traffic and will abruptly slam on the breaks. The annoyance here is that say you need to pull forward mid maneuver to straighten up, you have to remember to disengage both settings again when backing up. I question why the engineers didn’t disable, or provide an option to disable the rear sonar when engaging “TOW” mode. I typically don’t find the need to engage tow mode in relatively flat Florida. Also, if you haven’t checked, the Armada comes with a 7 pin wiring harness, so you might need an adapter for your trailer (our trailer is 5 pin).

IMO, it does a great job towing the boat, but is thirsty (9-12 MPG is what I see when towing at highway speeds). Not complaining - just sharing.

Non-towing related items...
Some individuals on the Armada forums have commented about the gas gauge not being very accurate once under 1/4 a tank - you’ll have to see what your experience is. I’ve had times where it appeared we had about 1/8 a tank left, but would only take 16 gallons of gas at fill up time (its a 26 gallon tank). I think the most I have ever pumped is ~21 gallons and that was after the fuel light came on. I find I rely more on the onboard computer’s distant to empty than the fuel gauge once we’re below a 1/4 tank.

The OEM Bridgestone’s aren’t very good in light snow (we found out last year during a trip to the mountains of NC), but it seems like you are in AL, and that shouldn’t be much of an issue for you. Just replaced ours with some Michelins.

Let me know if you have any questions!

We found a pearl white with the black interior, 2nd row captains chairs. Pretty much exactly what we wanted.

All VERY helpful tips, especially on the sonar items. Would not have even considered that until we were using it to tow.

I'll have to keep an eye on the gas tank. Yesterday we went from 40 miles remaining to the triple dash in the span of about 5 miles. I didn't fill up after so hard to say how much was actually left. Next time I'll have to do a full fill up and see how much it takes.

Ours the previous owner had put on new tires and went with wrangler SR-A's (?). They have maybe 10k miles left on them, but they are riding loud over any kind of bumps in the road so I may look to replace them sooner rather than later. How are the michelins riding for you? We never have to deal with snow, really just looking for the best quiet performance I can find.

 

[VitaminSea]

How are the michelins riding for you?

I like the pearl white. That was our 2nd choice, we ended up with our 3rd choice - Silver (which is still an easy color to keep looking good). Went with the Michelin DEFENDER LTX M/S, probably only have ~4K miles on them, as we’re not driving much with WFH. It’s a quite tire, but in my experience most new tires are. I know others who have had these and gotten 85k+ miles out of them w/o issue, but personally can’t speak to longevity on the Armada.

 

[2kwik4u]

We found a pearl white with the black interior, 2nd row captains chairs. Pretty much exactly what we wanted.

Sharp looking SUV. I'm a fan of the "storm trooper" look on SUV's.

I've been really pleased with my Continental Terrain Contact A/T's on my Sierra. Not the quietest, but they aren't loud either. I've also heard great reveiws on the Michelins @VitaminSea suggested.

 

[agannole93]

I like the pearl white. That was our 2nd choice, we ended up with our 3rd choice - Silver (which is still an easy color to keep looking good). Went with the Michelin DEFENDER LTX M/S, probably only have ~4K miles on them, as we’re not driving much with WFH. It’s a quite tire, but in my experience most new tires are. I know others who have had these and gotten 85k+ miles out of them w/o issue, but personally can’t speak to longevity on the Armada.

I've heard with the 20's that come standard on the platinum, you're pretty much lucky to get 40k miles out of a 20 inch tire. With a better one (Michelin, Continental, etc.) maybe 50k, but they just wear faster.

 

[agannole93]

Sharp looking SUV. I'm a fan of the "storm trooper" look on SUV's.

I've been really pleased with my Continental Terrain Contact A/T's on my Sierra. Not the quietest, but they aren't loud either. I've also heard great reveiws on the Michelins @VitaminSea suggested.

I may have to look at Continentals. I was told by multiple Nissan dealers NOT to put an A/T tire on the Armada, because it's meant to be luxury and an A/T will absolutely ruin the ride. But the H/T would probably be the equivalent.

 

[2kwik4u]

I may have to look at Continentals. I was told by multiple Nissan dealers NOT to put an A/T tire on the Armada, because it's meant to be luxury and an A/T will absolutely ruin the ride. But the H/T would probably be the equivalent.

100% agree. A/T might not be right for you. The H/T is probably a better fit.

I am pretty brand loyal to Continental and have always gotten good life, and good traction from them.

 

[agannole93]

100% agree. A/T might not be right for you. The H/T is probably a better fit.

I am pretty brand loyal to Continental and have always gotten good life, and good traction from them.

I've never really had any brand loyalty's when it comes to tires. The last two sets I purchased were a set of Cooper A/T's for my truck and a set of Cooper tourings for our Honda Odyssey, but it was mostly a coincidence that we purchased the same. I'll have to see what my local shop has in and can get, their prices usually can't be beat.

 

[BRosen]

Thank you @Enduro900, I am looking in the range of 2013 to 2016 likely high mIleage to keep the price down. I haven’t thought about wheelbase but wondering is the diff between ML/GLE and GL is big enough to make a big difference in towing? Would that affect stability or something else? would the trailer bounce more with shorter wheelbase?

Are there others here who are towing with MBenz ML or GL that can provide feedback on their towing experience?

I bought my 242 last summer and towed it home with ML350. It did ok.... I was on 1-75 the whole way and never went over 60. It was stressful. I didn’t enjoy it and it was a lot of work. Supposedly it can handle the weight. But having the larger truck with longer wheel base etc made a huge difference.

 

[ZGhost]

I bought my 242 last summer and towed it home with ML350. It did ok.... I was on 1-75 the whole way and never went over 60. It was stressful. I didn’t enjoy it and it was a lot of work. Supposedly it can handle the weight. But having the larger truck with longer wheel base etc made a huge difference.

Thank you, I appreciate you sharing your experience!

 

[SRSx3]

I use my 2015 GL450 V6 turbo, with my SR230 no problem at all, feels like nothing in the back and easy for any steep towing and in the freeway and boat its perfect. It feels better than my small truck nissan frontier for the 230. Because of the GL's towing capacity a 4,000 lbs is nothing. I'm travelling to lake tahoe soon on July and will be towing it for 8 hours with with MB GL450 for 230.

 

[Betik]

Cannot wait to hear back from your 8 hour drive.

 

[ZGhost]

@SRSx3 anything you’d report back on your 8hr trip towing experience with the GL450?

 

[Liveto99]

I had 2 GL 350s and they towed everything awesome even pulled my tundra out of the mud. A 2010 and a 2014 problem is after 100,000 miles the maintenance on them becomes cost prohibitive. I talked to my dealer he said Mercedes will never sell another diesel car in America.

 

[Liveto99]

I am fairly sure the tow capacity was 7500 pounds

 

[johhnyboat]

Anyone tow with a Range Rover Sport? It has a towing capacity of 7,500+. Currently using my son's Toyota Tacoma but he is moving further away so losing my tow vehicle.

 

[jim1]

I tow with 2019 BMW X5 with air suspension and factory hitch. No issues. going over 75 gets bit shaky, but anything below that is rock solid. Going to FL from NJ with this setup soon.

Which ball mount do you use? I have an X5 on order and I’m trying to figure out which one to get (and what drop, etc...).

It’s not intended to be a long haul tow rig (it’s going to be my DD), but I want to get the right equipment. TIA.