Top Safety Pick

2009 Mercedes-Benz M-Class

midsize luxury SUV / 4-door SUV

Crashworthiness

Rating overview
Evaluation criteria	Rating
Moderate overlap front: original test
Side: original test
Head restraints & seats

Key

G
Good
A
Acceptable
M
Marginal
P
Poor

Superior
Advanced
Basic

Some ratings use a scale of Poor to Good. Others range from Basic to Superior.

Moderate overlap front: original test

Rating applies to 2006-11 models

Tested vehicle: 2006 Mercedes-Benz ML 500 4-door 4wd

The Mercedes-Benz M-Class was redesigned for the 2006 model year. Moderate overlap frontal ratings are assigned by the Institute based on a test conducted by Mercedes-Benz.

Evaluation criteria	Rating
Overall evaluation
Structure and safety cage
Driver injury measures
Head/neck
Chest
Leg/foot, left
Leg/foot, right
Driver restraints and dummy kinematics

Technical measurements for this test

Evaluation criteria	Measurement
Test ID	VTF0604
Footwell intrusion
Footrest (cm)	1
Left (cm)	1
Center (cm)	2
Right (cm)	2
Brake pedal (cm)	3
Instrument panel rearward movement
Left (cm)	-2
Right (cm)	-2
Steering column movement
Upward (cm)	-3
Rearward (cm)	-8
A-pillar rearward movement (cm)	0

Evaluation criteria	Measurement
Test ID	VTF0604
Head
HIC-15	205
Peak gs at hard contact	20
Neck
Tension (kN)	0.7
Extension bending moment (Nm)	10
Maximum Nij	0.21
Chest maximum compression (mm)	33
Legs
Femur force - left (kN)	0.1
Femur force - right (kN)	3.1
Knee displacement - left (mm)	0
Knee displacement - right (mm)	1
Maximum tibia index - left	0.71
Maximum tibia index - right	0.59
Tibia axial force - left (kN)	3.1
Tibia axial force - right (kN)	2.7
Foot acceleration (g)
Left	135
Right	104

About the original moderate overlap front test

Side: original test

Rating applies to 2007-11 models

Tested vehicle: 2006 Mercedes-Benz ML 350 4-door 4wd with standard front and rear head curtain airbags and standard front and optional rear seat-mounted torso airbags

The Mercedes-Benz M-Class was redesigned for the 2006 model year. Beginning with 2007 models, side torso airbags were made standard for second row seat occupants (they were optional in 2006 models).

Evaluation criteria	Rating
Overall evaluation
Structure and safety cage
Driver injury measures
Head/neck
Torso
Pelvis/leg
Driver head protection
Rear passenger injury measures
Head/neck
Torso
Pelvis/leg
Rear passenger head protection

View of the vehicle and barrier just after the crash test.

View of the vehicle after the crash with doors removed, showing the side airbags and damage to the occupant compartment.

Smeared greasepaint shows where the driver dummy's head was protected from being hit by hard structures by the side airbags.

Smeared greasepaint shows where the rear passenger dummy’s head was protected by the side airbag.

Technical measurements for this test

Test ID	CES0625
B-pillar to longitudinal centerline of driver's seat (cm)	-15.0
Negative numbers indicate the amount by which the crush stopped short of the seat centerline.

Evaluation criteria	Measurement
Test ID	CES0625
Head HIC-15	75
Neck
Tension (kN)	1.0
Compression (kN)	0.2
Shoulder
Lateral deflection (mm)	48
Lateral force (kN)	1.6
Torso
Maximum deflection (mm)	39
Average deflection (mm)	38
Maximum deflection rate (m/s)	3.76
Maximum viscous criterion (m/s)	0.64
Pelvis
Iliac force (kN)	0.8
Acetabulum force (kN)	1.1
Combined force (kN)	1.9
Left femur
L-M force (kN)	0.6
L-M moment (Nm)	165
A-P moment (Nm)	30

Evaluation criteria	Measurement
Test ID	CES0625
Head HIC-15	28
Neck
Tension (kN)	0.2
Compression (kN)	0.3
Shoulder
Lateral deflection (mm)	9
Lateral force (kN)	0.8
Torso
Maximum deflection (mm)	17
Average deflection (mm)	13
Maximum deflection rate (m/s)	1.27
Maximum viscous criterion (m/s)	0.08
Pelvis
Iliac force (kN)	0.0
Acetabulum force (kN)	1.5
Combined force (kN)	1.5
Left femur
L-M force (kN)	0.3
L-M moment (Nm)	93
A-P moment (Nm)	-14

About the original side crash test

Head restraints & seats

Seat type: Seats without auto-adjust head restraints AHR

Overall evaluation
Dynamic rating
Seat/head restraint geometry

Technical measurements for this test

Seat type	Seats without auto-adjust head restraints AHR
Geometry
Backset (mm)	46
Distance below top of head (mm)	28
Seat design parameters
Pass/fail	Pass
Max T1 acceleration (g)	13.7
Head contact time (ms)	60
Force rating	1
Neck forces
Max neck shear force (N)	114
Max neck tension (N)	466

About the head restraint & seat test
Currently, IIHS tests apply only to front seats.