SL500 or SL350
Discussion
Some good replies guys thanks.
Not sure what i'll be doing now, i've seen the facelift model
in the flesh which rules out the earlier version purely on
looks.
The issue now is my budget is too small so i'm going to have to
wait anyway.
I think for peace of mind i'd take out an independent warranty
if and when i buy one and factor that into the cost of owning
an SL.
Not sure what i'll be doing now, i've seen the facelift model
in the flesh which rules out the earlier version purely on
looks.
The issue now is my budget is too small so i'm going to have to
wait anyway.
I think for peace of mind i'd take out an independent warranty
if and when i buy one and factor that into the cost of owning
an SL.
SL60AMG....but they're difficult to find under £20K at the moment. You shouldn't be scared of an older 129, since original purchase and fettling, costs have been pretty low. Mine's a MY 98 and over about seven years I had to spend out about £300 a year plus services. And boy is it a fun fun car!
Some MB specialists I know are pretty scathing about the R230 series. I just don't like it.
Some MB specialists I know are pretty scathing about the R230 series. I just don't like it.
I don't want older to be honest, im looking for something
newer having had a modified mk4 twin turbo supra for the
past 12 years.
You'd think these newer cars would'nt be so hit or miss
as far as reliability goes but appears they are.
Its scary watching them jump off a cliff in value, who
in their right mind would buy an Aston ? Seems Merc aren't
far behind though
newer having had a modified mk4 twin turbo supra for the
past 12 years.
You'd think these newer cars would'nt be so hit or miss
as far as reliability goes but appears they are.
Its scary watching them jump off a cliff in value, who
in their right mind would buy an Aston ? Seems Merc aren't
far behind though
dunk7 said:
I don't want older to be honest, im looking for something
newer having had a modified mk4 twin turbo supra for the
past 12 years.
You'd think these newer cars would'nt be so hit or miss
as far as reliability goes but appears they are.
Its scary watching them jump off a cliff in value, who
in their right mind would buy an Aston ? Seems Merc aren't
far behind though
Hm...there is a school of thought that older is better in the SL field. Personally I have had two 129's and nothing untoward has happened in seven years plus. R129's are hewn from granite. R230's are not. I would run a mile from an R230. Research the 129's, you might be surprised and you'll almost certainly save money on both purchase and maintenance.newer having had a modified mk4 twin turbo supra for the
past 12 years.
You'd think these newer cars would'nt be so hit or miss
as far as reliability goes but appears they are.
Its scary watching them jump off a cliff in value, who
in their right mind would buy an Aston ? Seems Merc aren't
far behind though
It's not that bad. R129s with ADS are more expensive to repair than R230s with ABC. The R230 SL55 is a much faster (and arguably better handling) car than the R129 SL60. There's no way I'd pay over £20k for an SL60 - rare or otherwise given what else you can get for the money. I turned your SL60 down at £12k before you bought it Ian. It's worth a bit more than that now but dealers trying it on with £30k+ are chancing it. It all depends on priorities I suppose.
stats007 said:
It's not that bad. R129s with ADS are more expensive to repair than R230s with ABC. The R230 SL55 is a much faster (and arguably better handling) car than the R129 SL60. There's no way I'd pay over £20k for an SL60 - rare or otherwise given what else you can get for the money. I turned your SL60 down at £12k before you bought it Ian. It's worth a bit more than that now but dealers trying it on with £30k+ are chancing it. It all depends on priorities I suppose.
Points taken Andrew, but I still don't like 230's, and guys I know who work on both 129's and 230's say that they see the 230 owners more often. As regard price, agree with you on chancing dealers, but like I said, you'll not see a decent one very often under 20K these days, so that's what someone who wants one has to pay. Bottom line is that the 60's are great fun and pretty cheap for what you get.They are great cars - however I can't help think that they've lost some appeal now MBs with 500bhp are everywhere for £15k+. What made them special isn't really that special anymore - it's not like they're beautiful in the way Ferrari 246 Dinos are to justify their pricetag. Hold on to yours Ian as the only people paying over the odds are collectors who will tuck them away to try and see a profit.
Crackie said:
Balance Shaft Gear Issues[edit source]M272 engines that were sold between 2006 and 2009 with engine serial numbers below 2729..30 468993 often show early wear of the balance shaft gears, requiring extensive repairs at a retail cost of over $7000. [1] [2] These complaints led to a class action lawsuit against Mercedes Benz (Greg Suddreth and Paul Dunton v. Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC), which alleged the M272 engines are equipped with defective balance shafts gears which "wear out prematurely, excessively and without warning, purportedly causing the vehicles to malfunction, the check engine light to illuminate and the vehicle to misfire and/or stop driving." [3] The suit further alleged that Mercedes knew of this problem, sending out repair bulletins on how to address this issue and ultimately changing the balance shaft gears to avoid this problem. This suit was ultimately dismissed with the judge agreeing with Mercedes that because the gears fail at 60 -80K miles and outside of the warranty period, Mercedes is not legally responsible for these problems. [4] A second class action lawsuit is being organized. [5]
Am also looking at an SL350, circa 07/08, just how common is the balancer issue or do they all develop it? Any thing you can do to prevent it, or have MB modified the engine since it was first used in the SL350 in 2005?
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