High Mileage SL55 AMG...
Discussion
vinnie83 said:
pantsonfire said:
Go for it!!
I bought one a couple years back and could feel my testicles growing in size!
Do it while you still can, 10 years from now it will be very difficult for normal folk to drive around in(as opposed to keeping in a garage) a big thirsty AMG.
I had an E55 AMG a few years back and loved the power delivery. I always promised myself an SL55 with supercharger and exhaust upgrades I bought one a couple years back and could feel my testicles growing in size!
Do it while you still can, 10 years from now it will be very difficult for normal folk to drive around in(as opposed to keeping in a garage) a big thirsty AMG.
I also had an E55 also. Great cars, though a bit muted compared to the similar engine SL55. The combination of the epic engine and the open top really is something.
mwstewart said:
I really recommend a test drive of each if possible. The two cars are almost polar opposites.
Oh yes I am aware, like I said I owned the E55 for a couple of years and I did drive an SL55 at the time with a view to buying, but got the 911 turbo instead.The exhaust sound is significantly muted on the E55, it was a major criticism at the time and had I kept it, I would have certainly modified.
CliveM said:
I had a similar choice to the OP, wanted a hard top and something stupid for a year or two before getting sensible and buying an elise / boxster / hot hatch.
Thought a convertible might be a pleasant change.
Dived in and bought a 2002 SL55 with 36K miles. For what it's worth after 14K and 18 months later my conclusions are:
- servicing really isn't THAT bad. It's not great but if you do some homework and accept it's an expensive car this really isn't a problem. Personally I wouldn't rely on any warranty or dealer back-up, I'd just put the cash aside that I've saved and accept that I'll be spending it at some point.
- tyres really do cost a grand. Cheaper tyres that my car came with were generally fine but gave me a couple of scares in the middle of winter on backroads. Just not worth the saving IMHO as it affected the way I drove afterwards which spoiled things for me until I stuck new tyres on.
- check absolutely everything when you buy the car. Anything that doesn't work will cost a fortune to fix.
- having said that, I've had a couple of unexpected issues that together have cost me c1600 to fix. Painful but I remember eventually spending a grand fixing a problem with an engine on a 1.2 Punto. Now that still hurts.
- Single figure mpg inside M25, mid 20s on a motorway. About 17mpg if driven moderately briskly on motorway / open A roads. If you're doing 4000 miles a year who cares?
I don't regret getting the car for a second. On a trip to Scotland in March it gave me one of the best drives of my life - roof down and heated seats on in a national park it was blisteringly quick, secure on bumpy roads, sounded absolutely immense and comfortable enough to do 7 hours driving. Plus the air suspension means ferry ramps and sleeping policemen are no issue at all. Passengers love the air conditioned massaging seats too, not something I cared about but a bonus when you're trying to persuade someone else to take a long trip by car....
This has been my experience with my CLK55 cab. The key thing that made me take the plunge is that big bill repair items such as engine and gearbox are notoriously reliable. I budgeted 1k a year to fix niggles but so far I have not needed them. I'm not sure I would have taken the plunge with such a high miler though.Thought a convertible might be a pleasant change.
Dived in and bought a 2002 SL55 with 36K miles. For what it's worth after 14K and 18 months later my conclusions are:
- servicing really isn't THAT bad. It's not great but if you do some homework and accept it's an expensive car this really isn't a problem. Personally I wouldn't rely on any warranty or dealer back-up, I'd just put the cash aside that I've saved and accept that I'll be spending it at some point.
- tyres really do cost a grand. Cheaper tyres that my car came with were generally fine but gave me a couple of scares in the middle of winter on backroads. Just not worth the saving IMHO as it affected the way I drove afterwards which spoiled things for me until I stuck new tyres on.
- check absolutely everything when you buy the car. Anything that doesn't work will cost a fortune to fix.
- having said that, I've had a couple of unexpected issues that together have cost me c1600 to fix. Painful but I remember eventually spending a grand fixing a problem with an engine on a 1.2 Punto. Now that still hurts.
- Single figure mpg inside M25, mid 20s on a motorway. About 17mpg if driven moderately briskly on motorway / open A roads. If you're doing 4000 miles a year who cares?
I don't regret getting the car for a second. On a trip to Scotland in March it gave me one of the best drives of my life - roof down and heated seats on in a national park it was blisteringly quick, secure on bumpy roads, sounded absolutely immense and comfortable enough to do 7 hours driving. Plus the air suspension means ferry ramps and sleeping policemen are no issue at all. Passengers love the air conditioned massaging seats too, not something I cared about but a bonus when you're trying to persuade someone else to take a long trip by car....
Parts that I compared are cheaper on mine than my sisters 116d. I'm not so sure that all the mercs=expensive money pits are true but do your research. IIRC air suspension and roofs can be issues on the SL
I bought my SL55 in June 2011 with 37k miles on the clock. It now has 74k and what fun miles they have been during my 3 years of ownership.
It had the remainder of MB Tier 1 warranty when I bought the car and I've renewed it every year for peace of mind.
Servicing costs ( MB Guildford ) are reasonable - £750 for a B service and £300 an A service.
The only additional costs were for a set of new discs and brake pads front and rear ,costing £690, at MB Guildford. I also had the wheels refurbed, cost £400. Remember they're diamond cut.
I intend to keep the car for the foreseeable future as it brings a smile to my face every time I drive it, and I also can't think of a suitable replacement.
My advice to anyone looking to buy an SL55 would be to have it first checked by a reputable dealer ( Prestige Car Service PO8 OBJ are very thorough ) , budget £2000 per annum running costs, ex fuel and tyres.
Enjoy!
It had the remainder of MB Tier 1 warranty when I bought the car and I've renewed it every year for peace of mind.
Servicing costs ( MB Guildford ) are reasonable - £750 for a B service and £300 an A service.
The only additional costs were for a set of new discs and brake pads front and rear ,costing £690, at MB Guildford. I also had the wheels refurbed, cost £400. Remember they're diamond cut.
I intend to keep the car for the foreseeable future as it brings a smile to my face every time I drive it, and I also can't think of a suitable replacement.
My advice to anyone looking to buy an SL55 would be to have it first checked by a reputable dealer ( Prestige Car Service PO8 OBJ are very thorough ) , budget £2000 per annum running costs, ex fuel and tyres.
Enjoy!
Maybe slightly irrelevant but this was in the link from the OP:
http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/m...
What an interior!
http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/m...
What an interior!
If you could get something with (iirc) under 100k miles, you should be eligible for Mercedes Tier One Warranty. The link is here, also tells you what would be excluded from the warranty:
https://www.mercedes-benzwarranty.co.uk/Tier1Overv...
Seeing as expensive things do go wrong on a car that was so expensive originally, this is good for peace of mind in my opinion.
It is a bit pricey though, not sure exactly what they charge.
https://www.mercedes-benzwarranty.co.uk/Tier1Overv...
Seeing as expensive things do go wrong on a car that was so expensive originally, this is good for peace of mind in my opinion.
It is a bit pricey though, not sure exactly what they charge.
vinnie83 said:
pantsonfire said:
Go for it!!
I bought one a couple years back and could feel my testicles growing in size!
Do it while you still can, 10 years from now it will be very difficult for normal folk to drive around in(as opposed to keeping in a garage) a big thirsty AMG.
I had an E55 AMG a few years back and loved the power delivery. I always promised myself an SL55 with supercharger and exhaust upgrades I bought one a couple years back and could feel my testicles growing in size!
Do it while you still can, 10 years from now it will be very difficult for normal folk to drive around in(as opposed to keeping in a garage) a big thirsty AMG.
I actually got a ~65k mile SL55 about 3 months ago and modded it and absolutely love it!
No denying they are fabulous cars and 500bhp for under £20K should be a no brainer and you sound like you're going in to this with your eyes open which is a good thing obviously. I thought much the same when I bought my 2002 500sl £36K with 32,000 on the clock, full Merc history and one owner from new. Over the 4 years I owned it my failures pretty much followed the time line described on most of the dedicated forums, such as:
ABC pump failed, lost all it's fluid, still driveable but drove like a 70's American crusier wobbling and bouncing all over the place. £1,500 for a new pump fitted, lasted a week, lost all it's fluid again but due to a blanking plug firing out under pressure, obviously replaced FOC.
SBS pump failed locking the brakes solid, luckily on the drive. Should have been £1,200 but got full cost replacement from Merc free of charge, heard others not so lucky though and it wasn't a quick process to get them to admit the fault was well documented.
Fuel tank baffle failed. £2,000 to fix although, there are fixes available that do not require a new tank but are best described as a bodge (i.e. propping the baffle up with a coat hanger).
Gear selector jammed in park on a clients driveway blocking the whole family in until recovery arrived, requiring new selector box, think it was £800 to £1,000. Although this again can be bodged by removing the locking pawl in the selector.
Both front struts started leaking requiring replacement £3,600 the pair, you can get recons from the States but this takes time and will still nedd to be fitted by some one with a STAR machine to do the Rodeo test to fully bleed the system.
Keyless go card failed, middle of know where, middle of the night requring recovery. Card was about £130 or so supplied and programmed.
The consumer battery in the boot can fail due to lack of use and plays havoc with the electric's can be had for about £100 and can be fitted yourself without any fancy dealer computers. But check for warning message on dash, usually "Consumer Unit Offline".
Discs and pads, all 4 neeed replacing but this is a consumable and DIYable like any car, total cost around £600 so reasonable.
Xenon igniter failed in headlight, replacement about £80 although if main controller goes this is integral to light unit requiring full replacement £800 a side. Usually when one goes the other isn't far behind.
Glass trim pieces either side of back window delaminate and go milky, Again diyable and about £200 all in. Merc's response was nne of their customers leave their SL's out in the rain!
Final failure was my own fault, moved passenger seat back and a can of Red Bull that had rolled under exploded frying the electric and disabling airbags, seat belt pretentioners etc. with accompanying warning lights. Can't remember the cost but definitely more than the cost of replacing the Red Bull.
Got shot of it before back struts decided to piss themselves, sold for £12,000, full merc history, 72,000 miles, new wheels and tyres all round plus AMG full exhaust.
All of the above may or may not happen to all cars but they are (very) common failures on these cars. But if like me your heart is/was set on one they are hard to resist at the price.
Hopefully this will give you a list of things to look for and or negotiate a decent price.
ABC pump failed, lost all it's fluid, still driveable but drove like a 70's American crusier wobbling and bouncing all over the place. £1,500 for a new pump fitted, lasted a week, lost all it's fluid again but due to a blanking plug firing out under pressure, obviously replaced FOC.
SBS pump failed locking the brakes solid, luckily on the drive. Should have been £1,200 but got full cost replacement from Merc free of charge, heard others not so lucky though and it wasn't a quick process to get them to admit the fault was well documented.
Fuel tank baffle failed. £2,000 to fix although, there are fixes available that do not require a new tank but are best described as a bodge (i.e. propping the baffle up with a coat hanger).
Gear selector jammed in park on a clients driveway blocking the whole family in until recovery arrived, requiring new selector box, think it was £800 to £1,000. Although this again can be bodged by removing the locking pawl in the selector.
Both front struts started leaking requiring replacement £3,600 the pair, you can get recons from the States but this takes time and will still nedd to be fitted by some one with a STAR machine to do the Rodeo test to fully bleed the system.
Keyless go card failed, middle of know where, middle of the night requring recovery. Card was about £130 or so supplied and programmed.
The consumer battery in the boot can fail due to lack of use and plays havoc with the electric's can be had for about £100 and can be fitted yourself without any fancy dealer computers. But check for warning message on dash, usually "Consumer Unit Offline".
Discs and pads, all 4 neeed replacing but this is a consumable and DIYable like any car, total cost around £600 so reasonable.
Xenon igniter failed in headlight, replacement about £80 although if main controller goes this is integral to light unit requiring full replacement £800 a side. Usually when one goes the other isn't far behind.
Glass trim pieces either side of back window delaminate and go milky, Again diyable and about £200 all in. Merc's response was nne of their customers leave their SL's out in the rain!
Final failure was my own fault, moved passenger seat back and a can of Red Bull that had rolled under exploded frying the electric and disabling airbags, seat belt pretentioners etc. with accompanying warning lights. Can't remember the cost but definitely more than the cost of replacing the Red Bull.
Got shot of it before back struts decided to piss themselves, sold for £12,000, full merc history, 72,000 miles, new wheels and tyres all round plus AMG full exhaust.
All of the above may or may not happen to all cars but they are (very) common failures on these cars. But if like me your heart is/was set on one they are hard to resist at the price.
Hopefully this will give you a list of things to look for and or negotiate a decent price.
Edited by davidn on Tuesday 29th July 09:36
Edited by davidn on Tuesday 29th July 09:39
davidn said:
Discs and pads, all 4 neeed replacing but this is a consumable and DIYable like any car, total cost around £400 so reasonable.
Xenon igniter failed in headlight, replacement about £80 although if main controller goes this is integral to light unit requiring full replacement £800 a side. Usually when one goes the other isn't far behind.
Discs and pads are better done with STAR to disable the SBC pump or be careful not to accidentally open the doors or the callipers wind out leaving you in trouble. It is DIY able for sure, but read the forums first as it isn't like a normal car.Xenon igniter failed in headlight, replacement about £80 although if main controller goes this is integral to light unit requiring full replacement £800 a side. Usually when one goes the other isn't far behind.
Xenon igniter is bolted to the back of the headlights, secondhand replacement is about £80 but it needs the entire front bumper / grille removing to get at it. A complete PITA of a job but nothing difficult, just have a day set aside.
BigBen said:
Xenon igniter is bolted to the back of the headlights, secondhand replacement is about £80 but it needs the entire front bumper / grille removing to get at it. A complete PITA of a job but nothing difficult, just have a day set aside.
Hi Ben, well I just pulled the plug on the top of the SBS pump to disable it as per suggestions on various forums but as you say didn't try and wake the car up by opening a door, then it's like any pad and disc change.As for the headlights, I removed mine by taking out the grill (10 mins.) loosening off the wing bolts (3 or 4 from memory)to allow the top of the wing to move out an inch which allows you to remove the whole headlight unit, about half an hour in and out.
The older and poorer I get the more cunning I become
.I'm the guy that has had EVERYTHING go wrong with an R230. Pre-2005 I wouldn't touch with a barge pole. I wouldn't have one given to me.
See that guy over there - the tall dark haired one. That's me. I'm not looking at you driving past in your SL and thinking "that's cool". No. I'm pitying you.
I can't even be arsed going into it anymore. They're a total and utter sack of s
t. Badly designed. Badly put together. Awful. If Merc had an ounce of pride in their product they'd buy them all back and scrap them to keep them off the market. These will be getting into shed 4K territory sometime soon - then we'll see them being frantically sold back and forth when the new owner realises what needs fixing and how much.
ps. they're st.
See that guy over there - the tall dark haired one. That's me. I'm not looking at you driving past in your SL and thinking "that's cool". No. I'm pitying you.
I can't even be arsed going into it anymore. They're a total and utter sack of s
t. Badly designed. Badly put together. Awful. If Merc had an ounce of pride in their product they'd buy them all back and scrap them to keep them off the market. These will be getting into shed 4K territory sometime soon - then we'll see them being frantically sold back and forth when the new owner realises what needs fixing and how much.ps. they're s
t.anonymous said:
[redacted]
I have some sympathy with that view in regard to modern MB's. Seems to me that whilst they used to build to a standard and then charge, they now build to a price and then add. I love MB's up to about 2000, I've tried post 2000 MB's and frankly I'd rather have a Lexus.Anyway, here's a few pics of a low running cost AMG taken last week. In the seven years of my ownership I think the only costs I've had other than servicing/consumables is springs, and arguably they're consumable too.
![](http://thumbsnap.com/sc/V669XvDD.jpg[/img]</a> <a href="http://thumbsnap.com/guszisn9" Target="_blank">[img]http://thumbsnap.com/sc/guszisn9.jpg[/img]</a> <a href="http://thumbsnap.com/EllVxA7u" Target="_blank">[img]http://thumbsnap.com/sc/EllVxA7u.jpg)
Edited by IanA2 on Tuesday 29th July 11:09
I bought one when it was something like 12 months or so old.
Luckily it was under warranty as it was the biggest pile of st I've every owned.
Virtually everything went wrong with it (much of it listed previously in the thread) and it was at the dealer more time than it was with me.
A sorry pile of piss.
Luckily it was under warranty as it was the biggest pile of s
t I've every owned.Virtually everything went wrong with it (much of it listed previously in the thread) and it was at the dealer more time than it was with me.
A sorry pile of piss.
Dog Star said:
I'm the guy that has had EVERYTHING go wrong with an R230. Pre-2005 I wouldn't touch with a barge pole. I wouldn't have one given to me.
See that guy over there - the tall dark haired one. That's me. I'm not looking at you driving past in your SL and thinking "that's cool". No. I'm pitying you.
I can't even be arsed going into it anymore. They're a total and utter sack of st. Badly designed. Badly put together. Awful. If Merc had an ounce of pride in their product they'd buy them all back and scrap them to keep them off the market. These will be getting into shed 4K territory sometime soon - then we'll see them being frantically sold back and forth when the new owner realises what needs fixing and how much.
ps. they're st.
I will strike it off my " will have one day soon" list See that guy over there - the tall dark haired one. That's me. I'm not looking at you driving past in your SL and thinking "that's cool". No. I'm pitying you.
I can't even be arsed going into it anymore. They're a total and utter sack of s
t. Badly designed. Badly put together. Awful. If Merc had an ounce of pride in their product they'd buy them all back and scrap them to keep them off the market. These will be getting into shed 4K territory sometime soon - then we'll see them being frantically sold back and forth when the new owner realises what needs fixing and how much.ps. they're s
t.
Lost soul said:
I will strike it off my " will have one day soon" list
No, you go ahead. It will be fine.My £18K (that's eighteen thousand pounds. 18 grand) in 50K miles was fine. that's just for repairs and servicing. You can live with that, surely?
On the upside my fuel tank baffle didn't break off! Woo-f
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