RS4 Cab or SL55 AMG? suggestions?
Discussion
Hi,
I know i have kinda left this forum, and this isnt 100% relevant but i felt the opinion here will be more beneficial than the Audi, Skoda, Seat forum! :-)
Sold the Gallardo and X5 4.6is and looking for something else for the next year or two.
Needs to be more practical for everyday use, work etc
Needs to be affordable to run with no known faults like a clutch failing!
Needs to be convertible
Needs to be black
Needs to be quick and fun to drive and sound nice! :-)
I have a 2003 modded defender 90 so that side of life is covered!
I have come up with either a 2006 ish RS4 cab or 2004 SL55 AMG, similar money if you can find one!
What do people think? suggestions? and know of any of the above coming up for sale?
Cheers
Nick
I know i have kinda left this forum, and this isnt 100% relevant but i felt the opinion here will be more beneficial than the Audi, Skoda, Seat forum! :-)
Sold the Gallardo and X5 4.6is and looking for something else for the next year or two.
Needs to be more practical for everyday use, work etc
Needs to be affordable to run with no known faults like a clutch failing!
Needs to be convertible
Needs to be black
Needs to be quick and fun to drive and sound nice! :-)
I have a 2003 modded defender 90 so that side of life is covered!
I have come up with either a 2006 ish RS4 cab or 2004 SL55 AMG, similar money if you can find one!
What do people think? suggestions? and know of any of the above coming up for sale?
Cheers
Nick
The new SL is such an improvement in looks i wouldn't own the old model.
The SL isn't exactly practical. I use an SL550 quite often and it's a great cruiser but if it's going to be your only car go for the RS4 if you have to. Personally i wouldn't even bother with the RS4 - just get the S4 - the RS4 cab was slated.
The SL isn't exactly practical. I use an SL550 quite often and it's a great cruiser but if it's going to be your only car go for the RS4 if you have to. Personally i wouldn't even bother with the RS4 - just get the S4 - the RS4 cab was slated.
The only trouble with early SL55's is that most are prone to a water leak in the boot. My car has been back to the dealer about 8 times in the last 2 years and they cannot fix the problem. Always check in the boot well, under the removable floor, for water, dampness and general damp smell.
Hi. I have an RS4 Cabrio and have had an AMG in the past too, though not the SL. I think the biggest difference would be the gearboxes and whether or not you want a manual only RS4? That's the only downside I can think of to this car, it does everything very well. Sound wise the Audi is nice too and sounds much better than my old AMG.
The Audi build quality is great and I've found better dealership experiences with Audi as well, as opposed to Mercedes.
The Audi build quality is great and I've found better dealership experiences with Audi as well, as opposed to Mercedes.
i had an sl55 for a couple of years (black too) and whilst its a very good car it felt quite normal to drive which is a negative vs italian exotica
they are not trouble free, mine was under merc warranty and had a few things done including a problem with the kompressor. having said that it never broke down, the problems were only picked up when it went in for service
given its complexity i would check out the price of getting an mb warranty which they will sell you following an inspection (or used to anyhow). the extended warranty is not as comprehensive as the inital 3 year one as i found out when asking for a rattle to be fixed (labour not covered unless they find the fault, which was a problem for me as they couldnt work out where the problem was)
in central london driving i used to see 6mpg sometimes so beware it is thirsty
As to the sl65 i havent driven one but i did read somewhere that its so powerful the traction control keeps kicking in. the 55 does that sometimes too if you are trying to nip out of a junction leading to no progress rather than rapid progress!
All in all on the 55 despite a bit of a lack of "x factor" for me, its a car i would definitely have again especially at these prices. If you are buying one, check the gizmos work - mine had an issue with the massaging seat not working - something which merc's inspections didnt notice and there are a lot of gadgets/gizmos to check
get the glass roof if you can, very cool. there are a few other extras which were costly so could make a difference to price/resale. 2004 model had the updated command (sat nav unit) which looked better but i think lost the handy aux connector in the glove box for ipod. Bonnet is a bit prone to stone chips due to shape. As to the latest version, looks like they have tacked a square front onto the original curved body to me
hope this helps some
they are not trouble free, mine was under merc warranty and had a few things done including a problem with the kompressor. having said that it never broke down, the problems were only picked up when it went in for service
given its complexity i would check out the price of getting an mb warranty which they will sell you following an inspection (or used to anyhow). the extended warranty is not as comprehensive as the inital 3 year one as i found out when asking for a rattle to be fixed (labour not covered unless they find the fault, which was a problem for me as they couldnt work out where the problem was)
in central london driving i used to see 6mpg sometimes so beware it is thirsty
As to the sl65 i havent driven one but i did read somewhere that its so powerful the traction control keeps kicking in. the 55 does that sometimes too if you are trying to nip out of a junction leading to no progress rather than rapid progress!
All in all on the 55 despite a bit of a lack of "x factor" for me, its a car i would definitely have again especially at these prices. If you are buying one, check the gizmos work - mine had an issue with the massaging seat not working - something which merc's inspections didnt notice and there are a lot of gadgets/gizmos to check
get the glass roof if you can, very cool. there are a few other extras which were costly so could make a difference to price/resale. 2004 model had the updated command (sat nav unit) which looked better but i think lost the handy aux connector in the glove box for ipod. Bonnet is a bit prone to stone chips due to shape. As to the latest version, looks like they have tacked a square front onto the original curved body to me
hope this helps some
Edited by andy355 on Friday 27th February 19:47
xxx2 said:
The only trouble with early SL55's is that most are prone to a water leak in the boot. My car has been back to the dealer about 8 times in the last 2 years and they cannot fix the problem. Always check in the boot well, under the removable floor, for water, dampness and general damp smell.
My friends SL55 had that problem, he ended up with fried electrics as in the base of the boot is a second battery/electronics and motor for the roof. MB washed their hands of it , he ended up paying £2000 getting it fixed, after that he sold it on. As a test, the MB dealer will blast the car with a hose pipe and then open the boot and say "look no water", its fixed/problem doesn't exist. The problem lies with fine rain water, due to the difference in surface tension it penetrates the seals and floods the boot. One owner whose car did this from new and who from day one got the MB middle finger proved this and was ready to go to court, at this point MB backed down and refunded the cost of the car.sjn2004 said:
Anjum said:
SL55, de-restricted, with DMS remapping and the upgrade to the S/C Pulley.
Not even a Murci (pre-LP640) can keep up with it
- and you get a massage at the same time! 
UUmm, was that the SL55 with the SLR engine that was floating about when the car was first launched?Not even a Murci (pre-LP640) can keep up with it
- and you get a massage at the same time! Personally - I'd had a Lamborghini everytime - but there you go.
Anjum said:
sjn2004 said:
Anjum said:
SL55, de-restricted, with DMS remapping and the upgrade to the S/C Pulley.
Not even a Murci (pre-LP640) can keep up with it - and you get a massage at the same time!
UUmm, was that the SL55 with the SLR engine that was floating about when the car was first launched?Not even a Murci (pre-LP640) can keep up with it
- and you get a massage at the same time! Personally - I'd had a Lamborghini everytime - but there you go.
Gassing Station | Supercar General | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff