SL55 write up - mods with pics...

[vinnie83]

OK so I thought I'd do another write up now that I've had the car a couple of months.

So I picked the car up a couple of months ago, and quite frankly, I regretted it soon after getting it home.

It had a duff I/C pump, the paintwork was evidently very dull (I purchased in the rain, doh!), the steering was way off center, parking sensors didn't work, one of the keyless door locks didn't work, and the interior door cards were loose.

Here's the car on the day I picked it up:







As you can see above, the suspension was very high!

So I got in touch with Paul at Eurocharged and dropped the car off a few days after getting it. I asked him to give it a full check up mechanically before I thought of modifying the car. To my relief, he told me that, whilst it wasn't in the best condition aesthetically, it was one of the best he had seen mechanically.

I/C pump was replaced, new door handle, new parking sensor, and full alignment saw good those issues.

So now that I knew the car was in good order, I decided on the following mods:

Eurocharged 180mm crank pulley.
Eurocharged additional charge cooler.
Remap
Removal of primary mufflers and secondary cats (or was it the other way around?) with H pipe.

Here's the dyno run (this was the 3rd run so had lost 5 odd BHP and lb/ft by now):



The car drove like a different car now... I had owned a '03 E55 AMG for a couple of years 6 years ago, and had noticed the SL to be slower, but assumed that it was a case of rose tinted glasses and the extra weight.

Not anymore... the car feels quicker than my 997 turbo (TBC when I get a chance) and just pulled like a train, it just didn't stop... and it sounded amazing too!





I was still unhappy with the ride height so I decided to opt for lowering links to drop the height.

The paintwork was also so dull that I hadn't even wanted to get it washed as it showed just how dull it was, so I got a local car wash to polish it... and it looked crap I did question whether they actually polished it as I went shopping whilst I had left the car there, and he assured me that he did. He said the car needs a professional machine polish to bring up a shine...

Having quotes of between £120 (Leicester MB would you believe!!) and £420 (Spire BMW) I was rather confused... anyway, a bird decided to take a big, horrid ste all over the bonnet yesterday so I had to get it washed... I decided to try another local car wash, except this time I spoke to the owner and he assured me that they could get a decent shine... He guaranteed that if I wasn't happy, he would only charge me the £5 for the wash... £30 for a full polish and clean, I thought why not...

So here's the car today, after having been lowered and polished:










So the paintwork looks a lot better now, so very pleased with the car wash today, very annoyed at having paid £20 to the others who clearly didn't even bother!

So the car is going back to Eurocharged next week to lower slightly more (he said it was showing error codes when they tried to lower it more, which is common and, should allow more lowering when I go back), and to have 15mm spacers fitted all around - it turns out the wheels are from another 55 AMG and are the wrong offset. He thinks he can sort the doors out too, as this is really annoying me:






Am loving the car so far, the great summer sun has helped! Although it has a rather ancient and unrefined traction control system compared to the 997 which did scare the ste out of me the other day on the motorway at a rather scary speed in the wet! Traction is NOT one of this cars strong points!

So what's next? I want to get the centers of the wheels painted black like below:



I will get it properly polished and waxed by a detailer at some point too.

Beyond that, performance wise, I have been advised that there's little more I can do without looking at big bucks each time... a smaller I/C pulley would increase heat and result in overall reduced power after a few seconds of increased power according to Paul... and split cooling is a huge cost.

So I think I'm about done with what can really be done to the car without incurring huge expenses, but if there's anyone who can suggest otherwise, I'll be keen to hear!

ETA : any suggestions on what to use to polish the exhaust tips back up? I remember it taking hours and being a right PITA when I did the E55.

[JohnRS4]

Car looking great. Similar mods to mine athough used the Renntech lowering module instead of the links. Had my secondary cats and resonators removed which could be what you had done. Not sure where you are based but if you need a good detailer in Surrey let me know as had mine done recently and he did a great job. regarding the exhaust tips mine are past it but cant really justify getting them cut off and new ones fitted.

[likesachange]

Great looking car, I considered one for my Le Mans euro trip but was a little worried about the potential problems and repair bills... So I bought a TVR :-O

Be interested in all the costs of ownership.. Maybe one for the future.

SL65 must be a level above again in terms of performance, but fuel a lot worse I guess

[Get2Jaime]

vinnie83 said:

ETA : any suggestions on what to use to polish the exhaust tips back up? I remember it taking hours and being a right PITA when I did the E55.

I have used wire wool and Autosol on both my RX8 and 997, massaging it all over the tip with some Tesco petrol station gloves ;-) Buff to shine and they are gleaming, 10 minute job...

[vinnie83]

likesachange said:

Great looking car, I considered one for my Le Mans euro trip but was a little worried about the potential problems and repair bills... So I bought a TVR :-O

Be interested in all the costs of ownership.. Maybe one for the future.

SL65 must be a level above again in terms of performance, but fuel a lot worse I guess

I doubt the 65 could be much worse on fuel than this! A spirited drive will see ~7mpg!

The running costs are high if something goes wrong... but then the same is true of the TVR... don't they require regular engine rebuilds?

I think the biggest difference would be the AMG being a more relaxing drive in the wet and stuck in traffic or long journeys.

[likesachange]

7mpg :O

The early speed six tvr engines were prone to rebuilds, later ones not so much but at least you get a 100,000 mile warranty if rebuilt...

How's it coming along?

[vinnie83]

Car is running well

Have had it lowered now and spacers put on to account for the incorrect offset wheels fitted.

And call me a chav, but black and silver number plates (I think it looks great)...

I found that it's still a touch slower than my 997 turbo this weekend though