What are the reasons for Mercedes' M class to be plagued with reliability issues? ?

[JimB]

It can't just be that they are assembled in Alabama. My research is saying Mercedes really dropped the ball on this class of vehicles.

[NormanO]

Ah, but the toothbrush was invented in Alabama. Had it been invented in any other state, it would have been called the Teeth brush.

Isn't it possible that poor reliability and Alabama are synonymous?

This is just a question, not a slur to Alabama.

[TuffD]

If you want a true German car, it has to be built in Germany not America. I only buy Japanese cars that are built in Japan. There are differences in the quality and attention to detail than that of American built cars.