The other half's SL350
Discussion
Well my other half has changed jobs meaning the commute of 100 miles each day is down to 14 miles a day. Meaning that her diesel Focus, which has been ideal for the drive is not really needed. After many suggestions of various marques, she decided she liked the look of the Mercedes SL and after a bit of homework managed to track this down.
It's a 2006 SL350 so is a slightly revised model over the earlier R230 so has the 3.5 V6 engine making around 270bhp and hits 60 in about 6.5 seconds, also has the 7 speed auto box which is nice. It's not a light car but has enough grunt to be a great change in pace from a 115bhp diesel. The airmatic suspension was an option on the 350 and in a way it's a blessing that box wasn't ticked, it rides extremely well and it's a feature Mrs 225 wouldn't ever bother with but added complexity and potential woes.
Anyway here's the car....
It looks like quite a big car until I parked it next to my CLS63 and then you realise by comparison it's quite dainty or the CLS is basically a battleship!
I couldn't help but get my hands on it and tidy a few little bits and pieces up. Interior has been given a through clean up and I treated the leather seats to some Gliptone Liquid Leather treatment. There's a few little niggles to sort out inside but essentially it's pretty sound.
I'm either super sensitive to smells (according to the Mrs) or the previous owner smoked in the car so I picked up one of these. Basically put the fans on circulate, set this off and shut the door for 15 minutes. Awaiting reports that it all smells like new or I have to think of a plan B.
Had original dealership plates on which were a bit tired so had some simple UK legal pressed plates waiting for when we picked up the car.
They're not everyone's kind of thing but I think they're simple enough but a bit different from a plain number plate.
Had some LED sidelight bulbs spare from my E class so they had to go in otherwise they look really yellow alongside the Xenons. The picture makes them look a little green but are very white to the naked eye.
Gave the engine bay a quick clean up with some all purpose cleaner.
The interior looks a little dated, especially in contrast to how the outside does't but there's some neat little features in there. Satnav, cruise control and all that. Plus it's got the usual Merc computer built in along with tyre pressure sensors etc.
My inner geek was quite taken with the heater controls. When pressed in they just say Auto...
Pop the control out and you get your fan directions...
Parking sensors are pretty essential but I quite like the Knight Rider style clock and distance indicators on the dash.
So there you have it. I'm totally bowled over by it and would say it's probably prettier than my CLS although that looks perhaps a bit more purposeful.
Next on the agenda is to bust out the DA and give the bodywork a polish and get some protection on it.
It's a 2006 SL350 so is a slightly revised model over the earlier R230 so has the 3.5 V6 engine making around 270bhp and hits 60 in about 6.5 seconds, also has the 7 speed auto box which is nice. It's not a light car but has enough grunt to be a great change in pace from a 115bhp diesel. The airmatic suspension was an option on the 350 and in a way it's a blessing that box wasn't ticked, it rides extremely well and it's a feature Mrs 225 wouldn't ever bother with but added complexity and potential woes.
Anyway here's the car....
It looks like quite a big car until I parked it next to my CLS63 and then you realise by comparison it's quite dainty or the CLS is basically a battleship!
I couldn't help but get my hands on it and tidy a few little bits and pieces up. Interior has been given a through clean up and I treated the leather seats to some Gliptone Liquid Leather treatment. There's a few little niggles to sort out inside but essentially it's pretty sound.
I'm either super sensitive to smells (according to the Mrs) or the previous owner smoked in the car so I picked up one of these. Basically put the fans on circulate, set this off and shut the door for 15 minutes. Awaiting reports that it all smells like new or I have to think of a plan B.
Had original dealership plates on which were a bit tired so had some simple UK legal pressed plates waiting for when we picked up the car.
They're not everyone's kind of thing but I think they're simple enough but a bit different from a plain number plate.
Had some LED sidelight bulbs spare from my E class so they had to go in otherwise they look really yellow alongside the Xenons. The picture makes them look a little green but are very white to the naked eye.
Gave the engine bay a quick clean up with some all purpose cleaner.
The interior looks a little dated, especially in contrast to how the outside does't but there's some neat little features in there. Satnav, cruise control and all that. Plus it's got the usual Merc computer built in along with tyre pressure sensors etc.
My inner geek was quite taken with the heater controls. When pressed in they just say Auto...
Pop the control out and you get your fan directions...
Parking sensors are pretty essential but I quite like the Knight Rider style clock and distance indicators on the dash.
So there you have it. I'm totally bowled over by it and would say it's probably prettier than my CLS although that looks perhaps a bit more purposeful.
Next on the agenda is to bust out the DA and give the bodywork a polish and get some protection on it.
kapiteinlangzaam said:
I like these, and the 350 is a good engine (at least in the SLK).
Any reason you went for the 350 over a 500 (purchase price?)
It certainly seems like a good engine so far and suits the wafting part of the cars feel rather than all out sports car. Any reason you went for the 350 over a 500 (purchase price?)
In terms of SL350 vs SL500, for the price range we were looking at the 500s tended to be the older models (02/03 era) annd it's easy to see the purchase price creep up and up. I'm hoping the 3.5 will be a little 'cheaper' to run day to day as well but the main reason was the age of the car for the price.
That said, I await the, 'That costs me a fortune to fill up' comment at the end of the week haha
To be fair that's the last thing she wanted and would have put her off the car no end.
That said it's getting into the mentality that an older more interesting car, may cost more in maintenance but a lot less in depreciation. I mean if she ran this car for 18 months, spent £2k on it, that's less than her previous car last in that amount of time. I can't help thinking this is a far better looking and more interesting car to drive than a Focus! haha
That said it's getting into the mentality that an older more interesting car, may cost more in maintenance but a lot less in depreciation. I mean if she ran this car for 18 months, spent £2k on it, that's less than her previous car last in that amount of time. I can't help thinking this is a far better looking and more interesting car to drive than a Focus! haha
kapiteinlangzaam said:
They are tremendous looking cars, all the best with it.
Interesting to see what sort of MPG it does. Im predicting <20.
Thank you mate. Well on the drive back from collection it was showing around 14mpg but that was traffic pretty much the entire journey. I'd imagine 20mpg is realistic and I'd imagine 30mpg on a run. If I can get 28mpg from the 6.2 in my CLS 30 or maybe a little more has got to be possible in this! Interesting to see what sort of MPG it does. Im predicting <20.
TR4man said:
Lovely car, such understated class.
I'll have a small wager that you will drive it as much as your wife.
Given the choice I'd drive it plenty that's for sure. She's insured on my E320 so there may be times she drives that and I drive the SL but she's more scared of driving my cars than the other way round haha. That said if we go out somewhere together I tend to drive her car as she's happy having her own driver haha. I'll have a small wager that you will drive it as much as your wife.
As you know, I think you have the pick of the r230 range. The 24valve V6 offers similar performance to the original 24valve V8 but is lighter and more economical; you get the first facelift which sharpens the looks without that absolutely gash transformation they wrought on the second facelift; and best of all you avoid the fancy suspension which is a known weakness. I would expect the steel suspension to be just as good 90% of the time or, perhaps, 90% as good all of the time! Fingers crossed that proves a cheap car to run. Keep an eye on the oil level: this engine does not respond well to prolonged use at a low oil level.
Hmm.. Very nice car, one I looked into getting, but reading up on them I was put off by this engine (M272) and the potential balancer shaft issues. Basically a third party produced the sprockets that fail prematurely and without warning wrecking the engine taking the timing gear with it. I was trying to limit potential damage collateral with these SLs so to avoid the 500 with its standard ABC. But it seems you trade potential suspension issues with potential engine issues with the 3.5 350.
Kierkegaard said:
Hmm.. Very nice car, one I looked into getting, but reading up on them I was put off by this engine (M272) and the potential balancer shaft issues. Basically a third party produced the sprockets that fail prematurely and without warning wrecking the engine taking the timing gear with it. I was trying to limit potential damage collateral with these SLs so to avoid the 500 with its standard ABC. But it seems you trade potential suspension issues with potential engine issues with the 3.5 350.
Well, the 32v 500 suffers the same problem. Oddly, it does not seem to be much of an issue in Europe, a bit like the crank shaft damper problem on m112 and m113 engines of the previous generation. I suspect its incidence is rather less than warrants the fuss and that proper maintenance will abate the risks. OP, if this is something that worries you, it can probably be tackled on a preventative basis quite reasonably.r129sl said:
Well, the 32v 500 suffers the same problem. Oddly, it does not seem to be much of an issue in Europe, a bit like the crank shaft damper problem on m112 and m113 engines of the previous generation. I suspect its incidence is rather less than warrants the fuss and that proper maintenance will abate the risks. OP, if this is something that worries you, it can probably be tackled on a preventative basis quite reasonably.
Thanks chap, I can't say I'm too knowledgable on this issue. I shall get Googling 
christurbo said:
How did you get on with the Meguairs kit?
Not too bad mate, I think it does a better job of clearing odours within the ventilation but less so with the fabrics. For that I just used some Autoglym odour eliminator. I reckon with a bit more ventilation it will end up smelling like talc more than smoke haha.
dibblecorse said:
Thats really nice, I'm currently weighing up one of these in either the 350 or 50 flavour but struggling to commit, every time I think I've decided I then change my mind, what are the pitfalls of a 500 over this ?
Mainly the ABC suspension, very expensive to fix when it goes wrong, which it most likely will. Monkeylegend said:
dibblecorse said:
Thats really nice, I'm currently weighing up one of these in either the 350 or 50 flavour but struggling to commit, every time I think I've decided I then change my mind, what are the pitfalls of a 500 over this ?
Mainly the ABC suspension, very expensive to fix when it goes wrong, which it most likely will. Gassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff