After hankering for an SL for a while, PHer Hereward took the plunge last year after watching an owner video on an 80,000 mile 1997 SL - fitted with the mighty V12. The fabric roof and plastic window of his car looked like to be in pretty good condition, as did the hydraulic suspension. But under the bonnet that big V12 had an oil leak, the rear differential was leaking and the air conditioning needed a new condenser. Other than that though, a couple of remedial jobs to get the SL up and running were all that was required.
Once he got the car up on the scissor lift, Hereward expected the worst... Fortunately only a teaspoon of oil was dripping per day from the sump, but the alternator was coated in oil. The exhaust had certainly seen better days too.
A compression test on the V12 proved reassuring, with all cylinders holding good pressure, and the rear differential was fixed by replacing the three oil seals. An interesting fact from one of the PHers on this thread - we think so, anyway - is that on right-hand parts the third digit from the end is always an even number, whilst on left-hand parts it's always odd.
Hereward goes on to say that there is very little reason to pick the 600 over the 500 apart from the elevated dopamine and serotonin levels produced by the driver. We salute you for your choice and would like to offer our congratulations! Hereward, your Mercedes SL600 is our Reader's Car of the Week.
Read the full thread here.