Category: Sporting 4x4s 
Price Range: £30,280 to £75,823
Sport trim's aggressive new look, new kit, great engine range.
Rivals are sportier and all-round better to drive.
Not quite a sporting SUV, but a decent alternative nonetheless.
Facelift is too strong a word for the revised Mercedes M-Class. The big 4x4 is making do with the mildest of aesthetic revisions and a minor tweak for the V6 diesel models.
The biggest change is that the Sport trim has been set further apart from the SE trim, with more aggressive styling and huge 20" wheels, plenty of shiny metal work and a razor-effect front grille.
Four engines carry over, a 187bhp and 221bhp 3.0-litre V6 diesel, a 302bhp twin turbo V8 diesel and two petrols, a 5.5-litre and 6.2-litre V8. The old 3.5-litre V6 has been dropped.
Equipment increase across the range, but so does the price. The SE is now £250 more expensive while the Sport trim rockets by £2,500, but Mercedes says this more than covers the cost of the new kit.
The big ML news comes next year with the arrival of Mercedes' all-new hybrid powertrain, but for now is this 'facelift' enough in a struggling segment to take the battle to the BMW X5?
Latest Readers' Drives About the Mercedes E-Class Coupe
wrote on 27 05 2006