I need a cheap, quality, 4×4 to put 2 bikes and camping gear in. Looking at older petrol M Class. Any owners here? Want to put 2 bikes inside upright with no more than front wheel, pedals and saddle removed. Only 2 passengers, so can remove ALL rear seats. Can anyone give me distance from rear of front seats to tailgate? (Basically, can I camp in it as well? Bikes removed, of course, front seats shoved forward all the way).
Pics, opinions, thoughts etc please.

Unless your heart is really set on the M-Class, avoid this car! Build quality was horrendous on the original M-Class (it was being built at a brand new plant in the US where there many quality control issues). I know 3 Merc mechanics and all 3 have said how poor the M-Class is.

I need a cheap, quality, 4×4

and you are looking at an M-Class? 😯

If you are happy for petrol, go RR instead. Or don’t really need proper 4×4, go petrol X5.

Bur really, just buy a Disco.

M-Class was famously bottom of that big UK Reliability survey. Really bad car.

Horrendously unreliable and exceptionally expensive when they go wrong, which they do. Lots.
Also very, very thirsty.

Avoid the M-Class at all costs.

BTW, I’m an ex-Mercedes mechanic so has had plenty of dealings with them.

Last time I was in russia they were asking how much M class/ML/wagon’s are in the UK as some were looking at moving over here, I told them how cheap they are vs. Russian prices (nothing with 4 wheels really depreciates that much, you’d pay $2k for a 30yr old mocbavich). Then was intrigued why they wanted one, as they are aweful, they knew but they are somewhat of a status symbol in the east, as are those porsche 4×4’s

Really really avoid, get a disco 2 with 2.5tdi or even a range, or anything jap. There is a reason those merc’s are cheaper than mondeo’s they are the definition of rubbish.

had one, dont get one. simples.

something like this…..

No need to remove anything from the bikes for transport, and if you get one with a roof rack, lock your bikes up there, and you can sleep in the back.

🙂

Hmm, no actual owners yet then?!
I was looking at 10 year old models for under £3k. Planning to do ‘under the floor’ LPG conversion.
I’m pretty handy with the spanners, I kept a couple of E32 BMWs on the road for a few years at minimal cost, did DIY with help from local specialist so not scared to fix ‘expensive’ German cars.
I’ve had several 4x4s over the years, worst was a Disco – eventually replaced the whole drivetrain, not keen on Solihull products, they have a value that far exceeds their quality IMHO. I would choose a Transit County over a Defender. More comfy. More roomy – but rare.
The best was a Mitsubishi Delica but the 2.8 diesel did 25mpg whatever driving I did! A LWB petrol Delica would be ideal but again – rare.
If the online reviews are anything to go by, most of the owners love the M Class but don’t trust main dealers…
Any actual owners out there?

We had the 320 variant for 2 years. Replaced an older range rover – went wrong all the time in those 2 years, was a nightmare, parents couldn’t wait to get shot of it.

M Class owner here used by the wife for Horse Box towing, (which is why we have a 4×4) in and out of fields all the time and generally abused with feed bags, hay, shavings bags etc. I occasionally use it for bike trips.

It’s the diesel with auto box, fantastically comfortable, not the quickest brick to drive but does nearly 30mpg and when towing it probably drops to 25mpg.

We use a local independent garage for servicing and costs much less than a Mitsubishi we had before.

Build quality could be a lot better but to be fair considering we use it as a working vehicle no complaints.

You will easily get your bikes in and all your kit, I have slept in ours but just reclined the front seat fully which worked fine.

Buy a Dacia Duster.
Really cheap and really reliable.

Have a look at the slightly older rav4’s – the rear seats come out completely. We had one and it had much more space than a Disco or Shogun. Toyota reliability is far superior to Merc.

rav 4 is TINY though….. like buying half a car !

+1 for the Delica/L300, so bloody useful those things! And almost agricultural as far as the guts of it go, anyone can fix one of those, and having a fridge as PART of the dashboard is unbelievably worthwhile.