Mercedes-AMG SL (R232) | PH Used Buying Guide
Back in 2020, Mercedes tasked AMG with making a new SL in its own image - how has it panned out?
Key considerations
- Available from £82,000
- 4.0-litre V8 petrol twin turbo, all-wheel drive
- 2+2 format was meant to tempt 911 buyers (it didn’t)
- AMG input nicely sported up the ‘golf club’ image
- Fantastic drivetrain, reliable car with caveats
- More of a sporty tourer than a toury sportster, very rapid
This time around we’re looking at the R232 Mercedes SL, the replacement for the R231 roadster which enjoyed a nine-year lifespan in Benz brochures from 2011 to 2020. Announced in late 2020 but not arriving in the UK until late 2022, the R232 was the first SL to be developed under the AMG umbrella. Its new MSA (Modular Sports Architecture) spaceframe in pressed and cast aluminium supported a bodyshell made from aluminium, magnesium, fibre composites and steel, creating an overall structure that, despite the R232’s surprise reversion to a soft top, was 18 per cent more resistant to twisting than the R231’s.
The new car offered 911-like 2+2 seating as standard, not quite unique in SL history but not far off it, with accommodation (of sorts) in the rear for people sized up to 1.5 metres, or 4ft 11in in old money. This is the typical height of a 10-11 year-old, which by coincidence is the age when they start to get angry at the smallest things, like not having enough room. The old R231 came with a choice of two twin-turbo V8s, the M278 4.7 and the M157 5.5. For the R232, Mercedes binned both of those and switched to the well respected and increasingly ubiquitous M177 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8.
Was the R232 a sports car, though? If you believed in the Colin Chapman credo of ‘adding lightness’ you might think the answer to that was no. For the first time in the SL’s history all-wheel drive made an appearance, with 4MATIC+ on all models bar the 2.0-litre four entry-level SL 43. That, plus rear-wheel steering hardware, added weight rather than lightness. Even the SL 43 which came without AWD componentry got the weighbridge creaking at over 1,900kg. Despite the fabric roof which saved 21kg on the metal Vario alternative, the range-topping plug-in hybrid SL 63 SE Performance weighed over 2.3 tonnes, a difficult number to associate with the original ‘sports light’ meaning of SL.
More than one road tester reckoned that the rear-wheel drive 375hp 2.0-litre SL 43 was a nicer drive than any of the V8 models, but for many brand devotees four-pot freneticism didn’t sound right for an SL. Nor did the actual exhaust note. Then there was the price of nearly £110k new, which seemed a lot to pay for a 2.0-litre car, even if it was an SL.
Hauling the battery-assisted SL 63 S E Performance firmly back into the sporting realm was the ridiculous amount of thrust on tap. In a straight line at least, its 805hp and 1,047lb ft rendered any discussions about bulk irrelevant. It blasted through the 0-62mph run in 2.9 seconds and motored on from there to 197mph. It did cost comfortably over £190,000 though. There was a non-hybrid SL 63 with 577hp and 590lb ft at £172,000. That completed the 0-62 run in 3.6 seconds.
Both of those 63s made the SL 55 look like a semi-sensible choice at £147,000. Powered by the same 4.0 V8 core unit as the 63 and unfettered by the S E Performance’s hybrid hardware, the 469hp/516lb ft 55 did the 0-62 in 3.9 seconds, which was plenty fast enough for most SL owners. Top speed for the 55 was a toupée-twirling 183mph.
Not unexpectedly for what is new very much a niche model outside of Beverly Hills, SL sales haven’t been great and values of the higher-performing SLs in particular have dropped like a stone. As we were writing this in July 2026, pre-owned UK examples of the 63 S E Performance were down to £93,000 or less. That represents a drop of £100k in four years. The SL 55 has held up relatively well. You’ll need at least £82,000 to get you into a used one, but that’s still around £65k gone based on 2022 prices, or more if you include extras. The new price of a Premium Plus SL 55 in 2026 is £154,600.
Bearing all this in mind, for the purposes of this guide we’re going to park the 63 models and focus on the more everyman appeal of the 55. We’re still talking about serious money, mind: the minimum entry fee for an SL 55 isn’t exactly chump change at £82k. For that you would get a 2022 example with 13,000 miles on it, or a ’23 with 22,000 miles.
A midlife R232 refresh that’s due sometime in 2027 will reportedly reposition the R232 back into the grand tourer bracket, a step that will probably make more sense to those long-term Benz customers who have always seen the SL in that role anyway. This refresh will see the end of the E Performance model and of the 2.0 SL 43, which will be replaced by the SL 53 with a 443hp 3.0-litre M256 turbo six engine. The SL 55 will stick with the biturbo M177 motor, but its power is expected to be hoisted to 537hp.
Midlife refreshes usually depress values of earlier cars, especially when there’s a power hike involved, but in this case the new visuals being talked about for 2027 sound like they might be quite significant so it’s not certain that pre-refresh values will drop. They might even go up if the new more toury style doesn’t light any fires under enough buyers.
So, did the AMG all-wheel drive R232 SL 55 manage to make any sort of credible jump from golf club to racetrack? Let’s take a look.
SPECIFICATION | Mercedes-Benz SL 55/63 (2022-on)
Engine: 3,982cc V8 32v twin-turbo petrol
Transmission: 9-speed auto, 4MATIC+ all-wheel drive
Power (hp): 469@5,500-6,500rpm
Torque (lb ft): 516@2,250-4,500rpm
0-62mph (secs): 3.9
Top speed (mph): 183
Weight (kg): 1,950
MPG (official combined): 22-24
CO2 (g/km): 268
Wheels (in): 9.5 x 19 (f), 11 x 19 (r)
Tyres: 255/45 (f), 285/40 (r)
On sale: 2021 - on
Price new (2022): £147,000
Price now: from £82,500
Note for reference: car weight and power data is hard to pin down with absolute certainty. For consistency, we use the same source for all our guides. We hope the data we use is right more often than it’s wrong. Our advice is to treat it as relative rather than definitive.
ENGINE & GEARBOX
For the SL application the 4.0 biturbo V8 was given a new oil sump, re-positioned intercoolers and something called active crankcase ventilation, which apparently isn’t the same as a rod coming through the side of your Austin A35 lump. Improvements were made to the intake, exhaust and turbocharger flows, and the engine was topped off by a ‘signed’ AMG plaque to tell you who had built it.
And what an engine it was. The electric turbos were ready to boost more or less instantly, so even though the sub-500hp power output might seem to be on the low side for the money, the constant presence of big (500lb ft+) torque above 2,000rpm meant that you were never left feeling oversold when it came to making cross-country – or crossing countries – progress. The exhaust was pleasingly burblesome and crackletastic in its sporty settings.
The gearbox was a 9-speed AMG Speedshift MCT 9G transmission with a wet starter clutch to replace the torque converter. In terms of how it performed in Sport+ mode there was little to choose between it and a DCT box. Gearshifts were practically imperceptible and no skill was required to rattle out 0-62mph runs in 3.9 seconds as advertised, or less in the right conditions. Some owners using their SL 55s mainly for stop-start city driving have experienced judder on pulling away and/or clutch slip under heavy loads. Replacing the clutch on an MCT requires gearbox removal.
Speccing your SL 55 with the optional Dynamic Plus package (standard on the SL 63) added Race to the five driving modes in the Dynamic Select menu (Slippery, Comfort, Sport, Sport+ and Individual). After some initial confusion, Race Start (launch control) turned out to be standard in the SL 55, and despite what M-B themselves said in the owner’s manual, not just in Performance spec cars with Dynamic Plus but in all of them.
As regards economy, if that’s relevant to you, the official number of 22-24mpg was easily achievable, with 30mpg on the table for cruises. 2022 and 2023 examples of the SL 55 were recalled as part of wider M-B recall programmes to fix problems with the fuel pump and overheating electrical wiring. Electrical issues have popped up on these R232s just as they have on practically every other modern car. There have been battery drain problems too, again increasingly commonplace. In the R232 this has been ascribed to a bug in the door module that kept it ‘awake’.
High mileage M177s can suffer from fracturing to the plastic timing chain guide rails. Oil can sometimes leak around the camshaft adjuster solenoid and onto the wiring harness. If you’re not especially bothered about going to an AMG dealer for servicing you could try an independent specialist like Pie Performance in Suffolk. Other specialists are available, but Pie will do you an A service for £215 and a B for £321.
CHASSIS
Suspension front and rear was AMG Ride Control with aluminium double wishbones, lightweight coil springs, adaptive dampers, anti-squat and anti-dive. Mechanical anti-roll bars were replaced by active hydraulic units. The ride was firmish even in Comfort mode, but the gaps between Comfort and the sportier modes were quite narrow so dialling up Sport Plus didn’t automatically require a quick visit to the chiropractor. Comfort was good for UK roads. Overall the new SL effectively straddled the line between sport and tour-ismo.
4MATIC+ on the V8s provided fully variable torque distribution to both axles. V8 R232s also had active rear-wheel steering. Its responses weren’t as in your face as the AWS systems in other high-profile sports cars, but the benefits did become more obvious the faster you went. It wasn’t geared to give a London taxi-like turning circle.
The result of all that kit along with well-judged driver aids was good rotatability, high grip and generally reassuring handling. Other cars like the 911 and even the Jaguar F-type felt more ‘direct’, but the R232 was notably less squidgy than its predecessor. Steering was electro-mechanical as opposed to the electro-hydraulic system found in the AMG GT. That nullified some of the unwanted liveliness noticed in the GT, albeit with a slight blunting of road feedback in the SL 55 when marching hard.
Wheels were 19-inch as standard, in silver or matt black, but the vast majority of cars you’ll see on the used market will have 20-inch or (optionally forged) 21-inch wheels that weren’t quite so lost in the bulbous rear haunches as the 19s would have been. Some owners have found that they needed to replace their R232 brake discs at the same time as the brake pads. Sensotronic Brake Control warning lights have been known to light up on SLs and other Mercedes cars but we’re not aware of that being a particular issue with the R232. Ceramic brake discs were available for the 55, with 290mm diameter discs at the front and 360s at the rear.
BODYWORK
The new SL was about five inches longer than the old one. Twelve paints appeared on the palette including two new SL-exclusive colours, Hyper Blue metallic and Monza Grey magno. The vertically-slatted ‘50s Panamericana-style grille sitting above a big splitter and between triangular LED headlights gave the 232 an imposing look in anyone else’s rear-view mirror. Matching LED taillights bookmarked a longer bootlid incorporating a retractable spoiler that rose up automatically at 50mph if you hadn’t already deployed it via the cabin control. Some thought it looked a bit odd in the up position.
Quad pipes were standard and nose lift was available but you had to pay for it. In reality it wasn’t really necessary. Also on the options list was a carbon active aero underbody wing that dropped down by 40mm at speeds above 50mph. Unlike the functional vents in the front wings, the ones in the rear wings were fake. Door handles were flush fitting pop-outs. Some doors have developed annoying rattles.
Cargo capacity was 213 litres, which was less than some SLs of yore but about 80 litres more than a 911. The shape of the space was cleverly designed to allow carry-on cases to be put onto a stepped ledge that ran back under the rear window, leaving the main zone free for more stuff.
A rotating plastic panel under the top boot lip gave you more cargo space but then you couldn’t drop the lovely triple-layer fabric hood in grey, black or red. Lowering or raising it was a 15 second job at road speeds of up to 37mph, but you had to go through the central screen to do it, a needlessly involved process. Not sure why there wasn’t a dedicated physical button for that, in the same way that there was for dropping or raising all the windows at once.
There have been issues with malfunctioning soft top mechanisms, hardly unique in the perennially frustrating world of electrical car roofs. Sometimes these have been rectified through control unit software updates, but side flap pivot points have had to be adjusted and in at least one case an actuator has failed.
The door tops were on a level with your neck, ie not especially low, but you could still see enough of the bonnet to be able to place the car on the road. Rear visibility was poor with the roof in place but the excellent 360-degree reversing camera went a long way towards compensating for that.
INTERIOR
The R232’s ‘hyperanalogue’ cockpit was nicely driver- and quality-focused with a comfy steering wheel, easy dial-up access to your driving modes and exhaust settings, and plenty of proper metal for the switchgear and gear paddles. It was a pity that AMG ran out of quality materials for the gear selector and the steering column shroud. The centre console trims weren’t scratch- or fingerprint-proof either if you didn’t pay for carbon.
The S-Class portrait format central display seemed like overkill in a sports car, but (some occasional latency apart) it was a smooth platform for the brilliant MBUX infotainment system which included pre-loaded racetracks, brake- and G-force telemetry and, if you ticked the head-up display box, augmented reality directions for upcoming racing lines.
To quell unwanted reflections when the hood was down, the central screen did pivot forward from its base, that being the only place it could pivot from. Seemed like a dodgy idea at the time, and sure enough there have been instances of that mechanism failing. The screen itself has been known to black out, as has the highly configurable driver display. Software updates were being rolled out as we were going to press with this guide. On the plus side the ‘mini-screen’ mode/driver aid buttons suspended from the steering column were smartly designed and pleasing to operate.
The seats were not exactly over-padded, especially the optional AMG Performance seats which some found too hard on longer drives, but they did keep you in your place and if you wanted more of that you could call up some extra bolster squeeze.
The Airscarf neck-warmer was retained, a good thing as there was a fair amount of wind rustle in the cabin when the top and windows were down. Put the windows up, drop the top and engage radar cruise and life could be lottery-winner good, but with the top up most road testers were of the opinion that the metal-roofed R231 was superior to the 232 in terms of noise and refinement.
Oddments storage was on the good side of reasonable for this type of vehicle, or very good indeed if you counted the Porsche 911-style ‘+2’ bit behind the front seats as extra cargo space rather than as human confinement space.
PH VERDICT
Neatly mixing aggression and subtlety, the SL was a great looking car, at least from the front and the side. The jury remains out on the slightly bloated back end, and nor was there full agreement on the switch to cloth for the roof, a choice which some thought unnecessarily sacrificed the traditional sharpness of SL steel for a notional (given the available power) weight reduction of 21kg. Maybe someone will come up with a folding carbon roof that might satisfy more people. There’d be some folk objecting to it, of that you can be sure.
The new SL was a mostly great driving car too, allowing for the inevitable limitations of its weight. As a comfortable ground-coverer it was right up there with the best, but it wasn’t a budget option. When a 480hp Porsche 911 GTS Cabriolet with more precise handling, sharper twin-clutch gearchanging in any mode and arguably even better interior quality was £125k in 2022, or £131k with all-wheel drive, you did need to be fully invested in the SL concept to take the plunge on a £147,000 SL 55.
The choice between Mercedes and Porsche on the used car lot is made easier by the fact that SL values have dropped more steeply than the 911’s, partly because they were overpriced in the first place and partly because of the teething problems experienced on early cars by some of those who did make that SL commitment. There have been some buybacks of ‘lemon’ R232s in the US, where high-end car buyers with high expectations won’t hesitate to take action if those expectations aren’t fully met. Generally speaking though the reliability record so far seems good.
The most affordable R232 SL 55 in PH Classifieds at the time of writing in July 2026 was this 5,500-mile ’23 car in black with red nappa for just under £87,000. For five grand more you could be in this 2,000-mile ’24 car in white at £91,980. Or, for those holding a bit more folding, this practically new 55 with just 900 miles on it was going for a tenner under £120k.
Article is incorrect - the 4 litre has twin normal turbos, no electricity involved.
It’s not really a 911 competitor either, it’s supposed to be more of a GT. Too heavy to be a sportscar.
I like it though...I'd have one.
So technically, the top model in 2005 was the 55 with 497bhp and in this later model it's the SL63 hybrid with 800bhp so there has been some progress on power.
That said, as someone who owns a 55 engined Merc of that era, that earlier supercharged V8 is a wonderful thing. As for this, I don't think it's a bad looking car although not as handsome as the earlier generations. My choice would be the non-hybrid V8s though.
I now get them, the brute in a suit appeal of a very muscular engine, two seats and dual personality done right. As much of a sports car as anyone really needs, and a 2 seat luxury barge. I am very biased, but it swayed me from a Jaguar F Type R that I was absolutely set on buying.
However, this one just doesn't work for me. It looks good in an aggressive kind of way, but an SL has never been about pure looks. An AMG GT does that much better. The soft top, the extra seats behind and the cheap looking interior are tough to get behind. Luxury isn't about tech, it's about premium materials and feeling great, as well having style. The tech needs to be there and work, but it needs to be more subtle. It's why Bentley looks like a fabulous thing to sit in, but no current Mercedes does.
I don't need 800hp (or maybe with this weight I do??), I think the sweet spot is about 300hp per ton, ideally sub 2000kg and effortless torque.
It would be quite easy to make this car the perfect SL, but it just doesn't do it anymore.
The other main thing is the hydraulic suspension system which can be troublesome. But the bits aren't that expensive.
The other main thing is the hydraulic suspension system which can be troublesome. But the bits aren't that expensive.
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