SL55 or SL63?

[Candellara]

As per title,

Budget up to 40k, which car would you buy and why?

[Candellara]

Thanks.

It seems the price points are also fairly evenly spread with good SL55's at £25k, SL63's at £35k and i've found a couple of 2012 SL63's at high forties

Some test drives are perhaps in order

[Candellara]

SL55 prices seem to be getting extremely firm / rising whereas 63 prices haven't really changed much. Is there some sort of a cult following for the 55? It seems a lot of car for £20k - £25k?

[Candellara]

It's between two cars that i plan to view on Saturday - both at used car dealers.

One has thorough MB service history and all receipts bills - the other has stamped service book (mix of Indies and MB dealer) but no receipts - although mileage is 10k lower

The warranties that used car dealers offer on these cars is as useful as a chocolate teapot with max claim limits of just a few hundred pounds and labour rates of £70

[Candellara]

I'm guessing they're a bit akin to an F Type V8.

GT cruiser with lots of grunt but really do feel their weight

[Candellara]

cb1965 said:

The trickery of the ABC suspension does mask the weight to an extent on my 55, but at the end of the day the laws of physics can't be bent. The car weighs 1900kg and you will feel it when you chuck it around, but not as much as some very heavy cars.

You really need to drive one and then you will know.

I'm not really looking for a drivers car. I regret selling my old R107 300SL as i loved it for cruising about on hot sunny days so a newer SL with a bit more grunt will suit.

Have to say that i'm nervous about ABC issues. Is this a common affliction to every car?

[Candellara]

oap750 said:

After owning a whole list of exotica - children came along, so i'm very time poor. For this reason i won't really derive value out of £50k+ car depreciating in the garage which may only do 1500 miles per year.

The 55 sits quite nicely for me. It's the better looking of all three models (IMO) and - to be honest, for what i want it for (cruising around at the weekend during the Summer), it's cracking value.

[Candellara]

Well, eyes wide open - i test drove all three variants today.

Although lovely, the latest cars are still depreciating heavily and TBH don't want a £50k car in the garage that i barely use. Been there and worn the t shirt with exotica costing 6 figures

The 2009 car that i drove - is a very capable car but, a good one is still £40k+ and it's too close in price to the latest generation car for it to make financial sense. Plus, i really don't like the front end of the car.

There were several SL55's to choose from (or so i thought). A super low mileage car which i ruled out as i don't want a garage queen and any significant use will destroy it's value (£35k). The next car, a 2006 facelift car was perfect - but literally sold within days at £28k. Nice spec car though - shame i missed this

The SL55 is the prettiest IMO and i love the sound of the supercharged V8. This is the car i'll opt for and i'm not too concerned with the bills it could generate as any car costing £100k new has the ability to generate significant bills.

[Candellara]

As a matter of interest and when i find "the car", the main starter battery is located under the bonnet - where is the aux battery?

Also, where do people connect the trickle charger to? Fly lead to the main starter battery? Will this charge the aux battery as well?

Any preferred Insurance companies for ltd mileage policies - Locktons? Footman James?

[Candellara]

Update. Found myself a car :-) Black with black leather. Pan Roof, 19" wheels

56 plate facelift car with 57k miles. Nice spec and pretty much a full MB history from new. From the history i can see that the roof seals have all been replaced and the ABC system flushed with new oil just 10k miles ago as part of a major service.

[Candellara]

swisstoni said:

Have a look a stuff called Gummi Pflege to keep the many seals working well.

I'm in Hamburg for a few days as of tomorrow so i'll pick some up

[Candellara]

Pick up car next week. I popped into my local MB dealer which i know quite well and they kindly printed off every single piece of history on the car - there's lots. Roof seals replaced by MB a few years ago amongst a host of other items like roof control unit etc

The independent retailer that i'm purchasing from have been very good so far. The car went to an independent Mercedes specialist to be checked over as part of the purchase:

ABC system inspected (pump / struts) and no faults found.

Roof operation and condition checked - no faults found.

Brake pads getting low front & rear - both sets replaced

Drivers seat heating faulty. STAR diagnosis, seat control unit & pads. Seat heating fixed

No other faults found

[Candellara]

swisstoni said:

That's interesting because UK dealers make it difficult to trace a car's history in my experience, even if you own the thing!
They often claim 'Data Protection' when it's more likely that they cannot be bothered to help or don't know how to do it.

Maybe I need to find a friendly German dealer.

This was from a UK dealer. There's no ones personal details on it, just details of every transaction on that car since new - all warranty work and all paid work. Highly detailed and comes from an MB UK system called campaign builder.

[Candellara]

DSLiverpool said:

ABC system inspected (pump / struts) and no faults found.

What was the count on ? ie how many activation's till fail

That i don't know. The system was flushed by MB last year as part of a large service.

What information should i ask for?

[Candellara]

swisstoni said:

Great info - thanks.
I'll mention the app by name next time. Care to mention the dealer or dealer group? Not a problem if not.

Mercedes Chichester.

A great dealer but i've built a good rapport with them over some years with various E-Class, ML's and old SL's.

They'll be looking after the 55 although it's under warranty for the first 6 months from the retailer

[Candellara]

Out of interest, where's the best place to buy a carbon boot lid spoiler?

[Candellara]

Well, a bit of an update

The used car dealer has been nothing short of fantastic so far.

The drivers side heated seated was inoperative and prior to collection this was sorted (new seat pads and seat control unit) along with new brake pads all round along with a complete set of spark plugs.

Collected the car and drove home the 150 odd miles. It's a bit of a brute isn't it? Doesn't take much to break traction at stupid speed even in the dry!!!

A small glitch near home saw the SRS warning lamp come on along with some other electrical gremlins so the car is currently at my local MB dealer. Diagnosis is that the EIS unit has a fault but this is being discussed between MB and the supplying dealer.

[Candellara]

Bit of an update. Car went to MB with the SRS lamp fault. They couldn't pinpoint it but after much research on the internet, i told MB it was the EIS unit. Problem solved

So, for the benefit of other SL owners, if the SRS warning lamp comes on in conjunction with the roll over lamp flickering and COMMAND cutting in and out - it's the EIS unit. Many have spent a small fortune trying to trace this problem

Impressions so far. Loving it. It's not shouty like my old F Type V8 but the sound of that supercharged V8 is intoxicating!! She's no track car but the torque is immense and if you're hard on the loud pedal, the way in which it gathers speed is pretty awesome

A much underated car IMO