ML500 Review

The Upper Middle Fork road into Washington State's Snoqualmie National Forest is the kind of road a SUV buyer sees all the time-- in glossy ads. It's a roller-coaster ride of immense potholes, fist-sized rocks and ankle-deep snow that carves through an ancient, awe-inspiring landscape. As such, it's the perfect testing ground for the Mercedes-Benz ML500: a vehicle appealing to well-heeled suburbanites who want to know they could drive their $63k SUV down treacherous roads like this, at speed, even though they never will.