Trac:
If you plan to go japanese, avoid the Toyota brands. The physics is poor and roll-over is quite high with the trucks. I did witness one on a Saturday morning and to date, I cannot fathom how this truck rolled over within such short distance and narrow room for excessive body-roll. It turned over to the driver's door. It was also at the line for the red light (traffic light). The road isn't rough.

The ML in its design is superior and except you like trucks, you will be down-grading (the ML is a car and not a truck - the very reason it doesn't drive like one). To answer your question, firstly, I believe you are referring to the 163 chassis. It won the FIA world cup Cross Country Races (toughest rallies in the world) in its reign 4 or 5 years in a row. It was production-based homologation; in other words, the production car was what you took except for some adaptations to match the desert conditions, which were the aggressive tyres and a few other changes. So, the vehicle is rugged and you won't have to worry about straight-line/lane-change stability. Since your model designation is E-Spec, the ignition timing could be dialed back a few degrees to adapt it for the lower octane gasoline. There is a resistor where it could be manually done. I actually don't know where it is because it isn't available on the U.S. market and MB did not begin using the ECU approach or adjusting ignition for lower octane fuels till 2009.

Get your suspension worked on (if the state is questionable) and ditch the OEM dampers for Bilsteins. It's cheaper and you won't have to replace the dampers again despite wild road forces Nigerian roads might demand. It's a good investment.

If you plan to keep the ML for a couple of years, sell the V6 and trade-up the V8. The V6 will cost you more with serious attention and expenses. The V6 is prone to a catastrophic engine failure where the balance shafts rips through the engine. If you are worried about fuel, the rear has been tuned tame acceleration, hence fuel consumption is 1 mile more than the V6 variant.


Happy Benzing!