Four huge, round air vents spread across the dash panel, which is dominated by a deeply hooded instrument cluster with sharp graphics and prominent chrome trim around the tachometer and speedometer. A central information window between the gauges can be programmed to supply about as much driving and maintenance information as one driver can stand to absorb.

The steering wheel has a nice, thick rim that's reassuring when driving off road. We're fond of the optional steering wheel that's finished with the top half in wood and the bottom half in leather, but some drivers don't like wood or mixed materials on their wheels. The center hub houses four sets of controls for information, telephone, navigation and entertainment systems. Wipers are stalk-mounted to the left of the column, while primary climate and audio controls are in the center stack above the console. The center stack is dominated by the elements of the COMAND system and a 16:9 LCD display which incorporates entertainment, telephone, and navigation displays.

The M-Class features an electronic gear selector that's making its way into all Mercedes models. It's an easy-to-reach short stalk on the right side of the steering column, with simple up-down movement for reverse and drive. Alternate shift buttons, which allow selection of a specific gear, are located on the back of the steering wheel hub, right where fingers wrap around the spokes. It's a good system, and eliminates the conventional gear selector from the center console, making more room available for elegant design and function in the form of an award-winning cupholder.

The power seat controls have been relocated from the door to the outboard side of the seat bottom. We can fathom no reason for this change except the cost trimmed by eliminating the remote switches. It's certainly a less convenient arrangement.

The front seats themselves, including the standard seats in the ML350, are all-day comfortable.

The ML63 AMG has heavily bolstered sport seats upholstered with Nappa leather and an Alcantara insert across the shoulder bolsters. Its entire dashboard is wrapped with leather. The ML63 also features a leather-wrapped sport steering wheel, unique instruments with AMG graphics and stainless-steel pedals with rubber studs.

The rear seats in the M-Class aren't as supportive as the front seats, but they are roomy, and much roomier than in the truck-based, first-generation models. Most of the newly created space in this second-generation M-Class translates into more knee and legroom for rear-seat passengers.

Cargo space is expanded by folding the rear seat, which increases storage space from 29.1 cubic feet to 72.4 cubic feet. The rear seat folds fairly easily, and is split 60/40. The load height in back is high, as it is with many SUVs, but M-Class offers nearly as much cargo-hauling room as full-size truck-based SUVs.