Mercedes-Benz GL-Class 3.0 GL350 V6 BlueTEC AMG Sport G-Tronic 4WD Euro 6

BlueTEC is Mercedes-Benz’s badge for diesels using selective catalytic reduction — the system that injects a urea solution into the exhaust to cut nitrogen oxides. G-Tronic is the torque-converter automatic. The GL is the largest SUV the company sold in this period.

What to check on this specification

The AdBlue system

A BlueTEC diesel carries a separate tank of urea solution that is consumed as the car is driven and must be topped up. When the system detects a fault or an empty tank, the car will warn and eventually refuse to restart. Sensor and injector faults on these systems are a recognised source of repeat garage visits across the industry, so on the viewing check the AdBlue level display, look for any warning, and ask what has been done to the system.

The particulate filter

Every diesel of this era leaves the factory with a diesel particulate filter. Two things follow from that. First, a filter that was fitted when the vehicle was built and is missing at test time is an MOT failure, and removing one will normally put the vehicle outside the emissions standard it was type-approved to — which makes it unlawful to use on the road. Second, a filter only clears itself properly on a run long and hot enough to complete a regeneration; a car used for short cold journeys accumulates soot and, worse, fuel in the sump from interrupted regenerations.

On a viewing this shows up in the paperwork rather than the metal. Look for oil changes at or before the stated interval, and be wary of a car whose recorded mileage is made up of very short annual totals.

Diesel emissions software actions

Mercedes-Benz has published an overview of the service measures and recalls involving software updates applied to its European diesel fleet, covering Euro 5 and Euro 6b engines, with NOx sensors replaced where technically necessary. Whether a particular car has had the update applied is a matter of record: check the registration on the DVSA recall service and ask the seller for the paperwork.

The automatic gearbox

Drive it from cold and then again warm. What you are looking for is a clean pull away in first, a clean engagement of reverse, and shifts that are firm rather than jerky, slurred or accompanied by a thump. Torque-converter and dual-clutch boxes both have scheduled oil and filter changes; those services are frequently skipped because nothing obviously breaks when they are, and the bill when something does break is one of the largest in used-car ownership.

Seven seats and four-wheel drive

Fold and latch every seat. Check the tyres are a matched set: on a four-wheel-drive vehicle of this weight, mismatched rolling circumferences load the transfer case.

Ownership notes

Euro 6 means the vehicle meets the diesel standard for the London ULEZ and the charging clean air zones in England, which for a vehicle of this size and cost is a material part of what it is worth.

Vehicle tax on a large diesel sits high in the CO2-based bands; check the rate against the registration.

About this page

The address you are on was part of a used-car dealer site that no longer exists. The individual vehicle it once described was sold years ago; there is no stock here, nothing is for offer, and no enquiry goes anywhere. What has been kept is the specification the address itself encodes, written up as a reference for anyone looking at the same combination of model, engine, transmission and emissions standard on the used market today.

Nothing here is advice about a particular vehicle. Every point above is a thing to check on the car in front of you, and the official services linked below answer against a registration number rather than a model name.