Here’s a Mercedes-Benz ML 320, seen in central Beijing in 2018. It is rare to see such a base-spec model in China; most are high-end or AMG. It was painted plain white, with black bumpers, and with black Beijing license plates.
The Mercedes-Benz M-Class
Mercedes-Benz produced the first-generation M-Class (W163) from 1997 until 2004, with a facelift in 2001. The car in the photos is a pre-facelift example. The W163 was not officially marketed in China. Official imports only began in 2005, with the second-generation M-Class. However, some examples arrived in China via the gray market, via foreign-owned companies, and embassy import.
The Mercedes-Benz ML 320 stood in front of a wedding photo company. Back then, wedding photo businesses always had ornate shop fronts. This particular shop had copper-plated doors, Greek-style pillars, and statues of dressed-up angels.
The Mercedes-Benz ML 320 was in reasonable shape, with slightly faded paint and some blemishes here and there.
The five-spoke wheels were original, but had been in touch with the curb way too often!
The interior
The interior looked fantastic. A bit dusty, for sure, but completely original. The black leather seemed fine, but the wood trim needed some serious polishing.
How original do you want it? A Bose radio-cassette player brings us straight back into the late 1990s. Just beautiful.
Specs
The engine of the Mercedes-Benz ML 320 was a 3.2-liter V6 with an output of 215 hp and 310 Nm. The transmission was a 5-speed automatic, sending all horsepower to the rear wheels. It had a 180 km/h (112 mph) top speed and 0-100 took 9.5 seconds.
Black license plates
Chinese authorities issued the famous black license plates to foreign-owned companies from the 1980s to the mid-2000s. These companies could either buy a car locally or import one, with no restrictions on quantity, price, or engine type.
The numbering started at 京A·00001 and increased sequentially, meaning lower numbers indicate older vehicles. This ML 320 has 京A·20588, so that’s a mid-age black-license plate car.
The statue is made of a special plaster, very light, easy to transport. I once visited a statue shop on the outskirts of town, which made all sorts of lions and mythical Chinese beasts, and angels. The statue in the photo is quite complex by local standards, with intricate details like the grapes and the vase. Strangely, the creator didn’t paint the angle itself. Well, let’s hope she’ll guard that great old Mercedes-Benz ML 320.