More than a mom wagon? The Mercedes-Benz ML250 BlueTEC.

Justin Kaehler

March 27, 2015 at 12:00 PM

It’s hard to get excited about the Mercedes-Benz ML. It’s a car for the Lululemon/spiced pumpkin latte/jogging stroller set – a car for those who have given up corporate life to blog about how being a parent makes them the Most Important Person in the World. In other words, it’s a trendy mom wagon.

Or is it? The M-Series was originally designed to replace the iconic G Wagen – a rugged, military-grade machine equally at home on the streets of Monaco as it is the dunes of Namibia. And if you so choose, you can even get an ML with a burly, oil-burning diesel – like the ML250 BlueTEC – and it’s the fanciest way to roll coal.

Well, okay… this ML250 BlueTEC doesn’t belch out huge, thick clouds of smoke. It’s a “clean” diesel, scrubbing the exhaust to make emissions as clean as possible. Still, it has that proper, semi truck-like clattering one expects from a diesel, giving this kid hauler a much-needed dose of toughness.

This engine has the specs to back up that sound, too. Sure, it’s just a 2.1-liter four-banger, but with twin turbos on board it cranks out 200 hp and a massive 369 lb-ft of torque. As with the rest of the engines in the ML lineup, this diesel powerplant is mated to a smooth-shifting 7-speed auto and gets the power to the ground via the standard 4MATIC all-wheel drive system.

And since it’s still dumping snow across parts of the US, we figured now would be a great time to fully exploit the ML’s all-weather capabilities. We could charge through snowbanks, satisfyingly smash those half-melted piles of slush, and scrabble for traction over mud-covered surfaces. However, our SoCal winter weekends consist of 80-degree beach weather, so we’d need to drive far to find suitable terrain.

It’s quickly decided, then, that we take the ML 250 BlueTEC snowboarding. We pile in some friends, throw in our gear and charge toward the mountains in search of cold weather.

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