Non BMW content - ML55 AMG Overland build

[Benji]

Have you ever walked into a situation knowing that it was a bad idea and was going to cost you?

I found myself in such a situation on the last night of Bullrun in 2023. We were sitting around the campfire, well lubricated and exhausted, reflecting on the Bullrun when that expensive thought entered the conversation... Surely we could do something better for similar money... A Topgear style adventure to somewhere nice in some old cars? How bad could it be?

After a few more beers, we had a rough framework in place:
Must be a V8
Must be 4x4
Must be under R60k (lol...)
2 weeks adventure to Mozambique, avoiding highways were possible

The idea was a haze the next morning and all but forgotten by the time we returned to daily lives, but it raised its head again when I bought the L322 which met all these criteria...

"Hey, were we not going to do a V8 roadtrip to Mozambique??"
"Oh ya! But this Range Rover is too nice to be used as an overland toy"

So, the search for another offroad V8 started...yes, I need help, but none of you on this forum are offering any

FBMP was gradually trained to show only V8 4x4s...I was considering:

• P38 Range Rover - this would be cool, but probably characterize the roadtrip with breakdowns
• Discovery 1 2 door V8 manual - awesome, cool, capable, but a bit dated
• Discovery 2 V8 - Probably the sweet spot
• Jeep Grand Cherokee - not the worst idea, but I dont really like Jeeps
• Odd-ball choice, Volvo XC70 with a straight pipe - breaking the rules, but a 5-cyl straight pipe is a very convincing thing

Then I had a lightbulb moment! Mercedes W163 ML430 were within budget, maybe a ML500 if I got very lucky. These come with low range, are simple (no air suspension etc) and have legendary reliability from their M113 motors and 722 5-speed boxes. They could be lifted for (almost) free and are pretty good offroad...

My FB was now only showing me MLs, I looked at a ML430 within budget but was a township special with a bent frame, popped airbags and pretty significant body welding. Must exercise patience...

Then a non-township ML55 AMG popped up in Mafikeng for R70k, it looked very tired, it was missing the AMG bumpers and had 330k on it, but apparently drove very well. I phoned the seller, he seemed like a proper gent...the gears were turning, but I decided against it (actually - my bank account said no)

A week later however, a ML55 popped up in the "dam-duiker" side of Pretoria North at R55k...it looked really clean, but also, very dodgy. Nothing ventured, nothing gained they say. I got off work early and hightailed it to the other side of the boerewors gordyn. It was proper dodgy and I had to break out my Afrikaans. Some story about the father in-law being sick and needing to sell his car, but the history checked out and the car was in surprisingly good condition if you could see past the dirt and powerful cigarette smell.

A deal was made at 53k - the Indian in me would not have slept that night had I not negotiated the low price even further down...





The car was left at my mates place for 2 weeks while I cleared space in my garage...Bonnet latch was adjusted, radiator hose clamp tightened to stop a coolant leak, steering and seat covers were removed to reveal a surprisingly good condition interior. The car even has full service history, some receipts for recent work done and matching Conti tyres. The AC, heated seats and all other electronics work as well. The battery was weak, but I found it was still under warranty and was replaced by Midas Montana at no charge! Score!





This is why I dont like black interiors, they hide dirt. It was disgusting in here. Remnants of brannies-and-coke, biltong, many used toothpicks, children, cigarettes, car oils and sticky human juices over every single panel. Yuck. I spent the better part of 3 weeks cleaning the interior and treating the leather. I went as far as removing the centre console, but it still stinks.

Anyway, I gave it a quick wash, it turned out quite nice actually





I had to break out the polisher to polish out that scratch in the front bumper...got a bit carried away and did the whole car...whoops! All original paint except for the front and rear bumpers.




Best get it dirty then. Off we went to de Wildts where the ML fell at the first hurdle. It could not even make the bypass of the first obstacle. As soon as one wheel was in the air, the car could not proceed...weird, as these are supposed to have a pretty good traction control system, 4-ETS, which works by braking the spinning wheel. Also, we noticed the ABS doesnt work, yet no warning lights on the dash...hmmm...

Note also the useless suspension travel...


Anyway, a bit disappointed and ready to sell it (not helped by a nice P38 for 60k on FBMP) , I went to the exhaust shop to sooth my sorrows. Centre silencer duly deleted, I was rewarded by the most catastrophic misfire. That was thankfully traced to ignition leads that were not properly clipped onto the spark plugs. I also discovered that a previous owner had deleted all the cats, so the car sounds awesome now Just on the right side of obnoxious; fitting for an AMG.

Next up was to get some "proper" tyres from your friendly neighborhood Nigerian dealer...From 255/55 to 285/65:



A bit more scouring of FBMP to procure front and rear stabilizers (-2mm in front, -1mm at rear diameter) and rear springs from a non-AMG ML to undo the greatest abomination of the car world...the performance SUV.

I added 30mm spring pre-load to the rear springs and a 3mm strut spacer - because that would allow me to reuse the stock shock mounts and also because 3mm is all I had in my garage. This is when I found a loose balljoint...which turned out to be a a worn knuckle...





After many hours of research, I bought Land Cruiser 100 series front shocks which apparently bolt straight in and give you 300% more front wheel travel. Spoiler alert: They dont fit. The shocks were about 20mm too long, making the driveshaft hit the control arm.

Shock duly shortened. I now have 1mm clearance between driveshaft and control arm

Stock vs new. The ML is designed to ride on its bumps stops and has about 40mm of shock travel before it hits the bump stop. Ridiculous.


Front torsion arms cranked all the way to their maximum and car looking suitably manly now It also rides so much better than before


Some very slight rubbage on the fenders, it will self clearance...


The front needs to be lifted a bit more and it needs wheel spacers. I have a engine light for a O2 sensor as well.

I investigated the ABS issue and found the pump motor did not work, but I got it working after cleaning the brushes, the issue now looks like the steering angle sensor which has failed. Also found that a previous owner had simply removed the ABS and ETS warning bulbs from the cluster...nice one restored:



This is definitely no longer a 60k build, blame it on inflation! I was at first disappointed by the ML, it was too subdued, rode very harshly and had too little ground clearance, but the loud exhaust, better ride quality and proper stance have won me over.

There is still some work to do to the car, but really looking forward to the adventure and starting to save for the fuel bill!

 

[FILV]

This is awesome
Its story has just began, and it is already so good.

Cant wait to see it in action in Moz

 

[Urban963]

Loving it. Also love how almost every single warning light is shining, that's peak ML energy.

 

[Greenz]

You are one funny bloke lol.

Congratulations.Looking forward to the updates.

 

[Sibonelo]

you know that song by Beyonce " you could be a sweet dream, or a beautiful nightmare" I am pretty sure that's what's its like inside your head.. lol... really dope find! the saga continues!

 

[evnmopwr]

You are a bad influence in a great way. lol.

 

[MR_Y]

Waiting for the YouTube channel.
Really good content here 💯

 

[Peter@AEW]

Your tolerance for pain is admirable!
That thing is thirstier than a 60ton truck

 

[Kish2604]

I dont know if a should congratulate you or admonish your decision here! One thing for sure is if you want a Grand Tour style trip, this thing will certainly provide one. I just hope there is a sensible 4x4 with a winch and sand tracks in the pack for the incoming rescues that will be needed.

Now i am not to familiar with the first gen ML's, does this thing have a proper low range? if you are planning a trip to Moz, you are going to encounter a lot of sand, some will be easy to handle and some will get soft and deep like quick sand. i dont doubt you will have the power required but the transmission (more especially the TQ) will take a beating. perhaps consider upgrading the gearbox oil cooler while your there. You will also need to work out if that front dust cover is removable to breath better in the sand. lastly, figure out your recovery points, if there aren't any, fabricate something up. Recovery in sand is gonna take snatching or a kinetic pull and the usual towing eye will simply crumble.

Will be tuned in to watch the developments of the build. Best of luck!

 

[Bizmark]

That cluster is like me when I stand up! You got big balls taking a ML there.

 

[Benji]

You are a bad influence in a great way. lol.

Waiting for your V8

Your tolerance for pain is admirable!
That thing is thirstier than a 60ton truck

This returns around 15-16 L/100 on the highway which I dont think it too terrible... I am hoping once I fix my O2 sensor, it might come down a tad...

Loving it. Also love how almost every single warning light is shining, that's peak ML energy.

I was in a state of joy to actually see the ETS and ABS lights illuminated during the initialization test where all the warning lamps come on. This was how I discovered that the ABS and ETS lights were not coming on, which lead to the discovery that the bulbs had been removed from the cluster.

I dont know if a should congratulate you or admonish your decision here! One thing for sure is if you want a Grand Tour style trip, this thing will certainly provide one. I just hope there is a sensible 4x4 with a winch and sand tracks in the pack for the incoming rescues that will be needed.

Now i am not to familiar with the first gen ML's, does this thing have a proper low range? if you are planning a trip to Moz, you are going to encounter a lot of sand, some will be easy to handle and some will get soft and deep like quick sand. i dont doubt you will have the power required but the transmission (more especially the TQ) will take a beating. perhaps consider upgrading the gearbox oil cooler while your there. You will also need to work out if that front dust cover is removable to breath better in the sand. lastly, figure out your recovery points, if there aren't any, fabricate something up. Recovery in sand is gonna take snatching or a kinetic pull and the usual towing eye will simply crumble.

Will be tuned in to watch the developments of the build. Best of luck!

Thank you for your advice, I will investigate the possibility of a proper recovery hook. Ive done a fair amount of sand driving in Moz before, the plan is not to do "serious" challenges, the hope is that a bit of dutch courage and deflated tyres should be sufficient for what we encounter. I will be building a skid plate for it as well, but, this being a "budget build" it is pretty much complete... The ML does have proper low range and was one of the primary reasons I decided on one vs something like a E53 etc

 

[Benji]

I forgot to mention I did a full fluids service (gearbox, diffs, transfer case) mostly because the gearbox had a catastrophic oil leak. I replaced the gearbox sump gasket and gearbox filter, but it is still leaking through the electrical plug and selector shaft. I will sort those out, I guess the bright side is that the gearbox is getting a proper fluid flush and Merc ATF is surprisingly cheap. The fluids were all quite black, but thankfully no sludge or glitter on the magnets.

After my ABS/ETS saga and discovering the missing cluster bulbs, I tried repeatedly to clear the remaining steering angle initialization error, but it remained current. I did notice however that the sensor seemed to initially work when you read the live values, but it would freeze and throw a second coding error. I gave up on it and started shopping for a new steering angle sensor which are 2k used and 6k new! My procrastination paid off however, because when I moved the car the next morning, the ABS/ETS lights did not come back on! I quickly headed out to my testing spot, lo and behold, the ETS works! I do love it when a car fixes itself! Fantastic...

The culprit:


The cluster is much less like christmas, the engine light is for an O2 sensor, the windscreen washer is for the missing bottle which has disintegrated, but a R700 Temu bottle is on its way...



My theory is that due to a lack of use, the ABS motor brushes lost contact (common fault on these), which thew the warning lights, so a previous owner removed the bulbs. When I got the ABS motor working again, the system would not re-initialize because it needs confirmation that the warning lamps work. Weird "safety" check, but OK...

Note how I am now on top of this little mound, whereas in the previous post, I could not climb it. Note this pic is taken with 2 wheels off the ground. The ETS on the ML is nowhere near as sophisticated as in the L322, but it does eventually get the job done with a bit more screaming and shouting.




Next few jobs:

• Windscreen washer bottle
• Spare wheel mount
• Sump guard/skid plate
• New O2 sensor
• Replace gearbox electrical connector and shaft seal
• Replace torsion arm bushings and index by one tooth to lift the front a bit more
• Wheel spacers
• Replace missing foglight cover
• Brake fluid flush
• Weld up exhaust leak from exhaust shop dodgy welding after silencer delete

 

[tamgoem]

Envy..

 

[modocrat]

I finally own the same car as Benji..

 

[Katanator]

Nice work @Benji, lots of man hours going into something like this. These old german SUVS are nice for overlanding, one can get a nice Gen1 TOUAREG for decent money as well with lots of support wrt aftermarket parts for overlanding. If lucky a V10 diesel.

Im a big fan of the VW/Porsche 3.6 V6 engin, not insanely strong but nice grunt and super reliable.