panoptic

Hi,

I am really close to pulling the trigger on a 97 SL500 with 47k miles. It has been babied, all service done at the local dealership. Although I didn't press every button, but according the owner absolutely everything works. No accidents. All panels line up perfectly. It comes with a panoramic hardtop and the optional upgraded leather interior and Bose sound.

It drives flawlessly. If I know my MB history 96 is one of the better years. I'll have another MB dealer do a per-purchase inspection.

I plan to drive it on sunny weekends. Definitely upgrade to AMG wheels sooner, and probably Xenon headlights later.

I hope to hear from owners and custodians of these fine machines:

What should I look for?

Any recalls?

How reliable will it be?

Any major upcoming costs I should know about?

Thanks,

Sean

kbdixon

I had a '94 since sold they are good reliable cars best suited for the occasional use they were intended. That said I found mine to be decently reliable (stranded once transmission implosion) I can't pick out any major faults that occurred, I have a very good independent mechanic who indulges me with my cars, basically allows me to be in the shop under the car with him so can check systems as well. This really helped as I could find and point out things that needed a wrench or a new part before they caused problems. The cars have dropped in value that there are a lot available at good to excellent pricing. Sounds like you may have found a good one as maintenance history is the number one great tip for purchase. Finding an original set of amg wheels will be a chore (took me a year) I mostly wish I kept mine burn two SL's is a little impractical. Enjoy

Jimmy Chen Shib

Congrats on your purchase. No doubt you would be a happy owner.

Have had and still own my 97' SL600, second owner from 8,500km and gone north of 100,000km recently. Have gone through some minor issues but those were meant to be from wear and tear. Nothing major so far. Wonderful car to own, IMHO.

Just remember that the car is approaching 20 years and there would be things that require replacements and attentions. If maintained properly, these cars can go on almost perpetually. Such is the build quality.

w/ smiles
Jimmy

makim

97 are the best years or so they say, still there are dozens of parts that will need to be replaced, I dont care if the car was stored in a bunker in the Saudi desert. Engine mounts, top strut mounts, ball joints, front and rear lower controll arm bushings, all bushings in general, then air intake and vacuum hoses etc etc


basically be prepared to spend $$$, these are not inexpensive cars,

ohollenbeck

BTW, What color is it? post a pic or 2 if you have any.

First thing, change all the fluids out after you get it, just to get a fresh base mark, the transmission will love you for being so thoughtful.

Seriously, the Hydraulics for the conv. top will need attention sooner or later. I think a 97 has 12 hydraulic cylinders that operate the top and will need to have new seals, they will dry out and leak over time and disuse. There are a couple of businesses that do this, "Top Hydraulics" I think is the best known, remember that name in your future maint list. Rebuilds them for about $600 for the set. Stealership will charge you $$$$ for the same replacements. As a test, time the opening and closing of the conv top, should be around 17 seconds beginning to end.

Open and close the conv. top 3 times to be sure it's working OK. If the Pano is mounted, go through the process or removing it now (with help), to be sure the Pano unlatches and re-latches correctly. I had a 99 SL500 that the conv top worked perfectly but the Pano release never went right, and every year had to remove trunk panels and manually sync everything back into sequence, or the conv. top wouldn't work. It was a complete pain in the ***...

My 2000 top works perfectly, now I don't dread the annual Pano removal any more, but you should do the process with the owner once to see for yourself if it all works properly. Remove the pano, run to soft top 3 times, reinstall the pano, if nothing else you'll learn first hand how it all works.

Good luck...

Merc Mania

Panoptic you sure lucked out finding the very best year of the entire R129 lineage, namely the 1997.

http://www.kenrockwell.com/sl/r129history.htm

Ken Rockwell is a true connoisseur of the R129 family, and he wrote the above opinion.

Zavato

Ken Rockwell? You got to be kidding? I rarely believe a word the man has to say. That goes for photo gear, audio gear, and cars. I read his stuff for entertainment, not information.

You do know he claims to be the grandson of Tesla. One problem- Tesla never had any children. It's a small detail.

Merc Mania

Mr. Rockwell's auto review is widely quoted when discussions turn to the Mercedes R129 family of cars, Zavato, but you are indeed right in pointing out that opinion is divided about whether Ken Rockwell's reviews are worthwhile reading, or biased and therefore worthless.

Regarding the 1997 Mercedes SL500, there does seem to be a consensus among drivers of the R129, that '97 was indeed the most bug-free production year for this car. That favorable rating just happens to agree with the one preached by the Gospel According to Pastor Rockwell, for better or for worse.

Zavato

I do have an issue with Rockwell's auto reviews. In no particular order, he views the w212 as no better than a typical rental car company fleet car. Some years back he routinely bashed Mercedes and greatly favored BMW. When extolling the E39 540, which I believe was an excellent car, he makes fanciful claims that simply don't exist.

I also would not give any credit whatsoever to his audio reviews. While he's entitled to his opinions, I'm entitled to believe he doesn't know what the F he's talking about.

To each their own I suppose. He might have got it right on the R129 but I would not believe that was the result of a great deal of original thinking.