Rad22

...which must be one of the most satisfied groups on the forum.

If you look at my forum join date (9/2010), I have been a lurker here for a long time and have actually owned a succession of Mercedes (1992 E500, 2010 S550 amongst others) and a ton of BMW's (3 M5's, a 7-series and others), many Porsche's and even a 2014 Corvette.

I just purchased my first SL...replacing the Corvette, an ill-advised purchase.

It's a previously (barely) owned 2013 SL550. It was "in service" locally to the previous owner for only 16 months. It had just 3600 miles on the clock when I bought it. It had never been out in bad weather and was, for all intents and purposes, a brand new car. No blemishes whatsoever.

I have owned it now for just over a month and have added 1000 miles to the odometer and can honestly say it is probably the finest car I have ever owned. The performance, fit and finish and workmanship are just amazing. This might just be a long term possession as I near retirement. I love it.

It's steel gray with black/brown interior, Premium 1, Driver Assist and AMG Sport packages, dashtop clock, wood steering wheel, etc...

California John

Absolutely gorgeous car! You have indeed joined a happy group - with an occasional issue that we toss around together to try to solve. Again, welcome!

jbattan

I too can't believe what a perfect little machine is my 2015 SL. I take it out for joy rides just for the fun of it.

Steinhart

beautiful car, love the color, I too bought a vet and soon realized my mistake, traded it with just 2k miles for an SL, wow what a difference! great car

PeterUbers

Sweet ride and those rims!!!

Wolfman

Congrats on your new ride! 3600 miles in 16 months? I know even know how anyone could drive a car that little. Not even broken in yet Enjoy in good health!

threeMBs

Last month I traded-in my 2003 SL500 for '15 SL550 White Arrow Edition. I put just under 4,600 in over 11 years of ownership (to me it felt like I was driving a brand new car every time I drove it). Same will be with '15 SL as well.

Wolfman

Incredible...
More or less 400 miles a year? I do that in a day at times. Are you driving other cars for the remainder or are you just not driving much?

threeMBs

Others, have 3 more MBs in the immediate family. For some SL a primary car, for many - secondary, for me - a"third" so to speak. '15 SL has 200 miles in the first month (already), so I'm on pace for 2K/year (a records for me given its "third" car status), even though I very much doubt it will be more than 1K/year. I drive it only on sunny weekends (never in rain and never park outside) and am enjoying car much more that way (with light use) rather than as a daily machine.

Wolfman

For us it's a third car as well (2 people). It just happens to be the one that is the most fun to drive so it sees the most miles.

Please also post some pics; I haven't seen the edition in the flesh yet. Just the press release photos.

threeMBs

Sure:

JC33

Traded for a 2015 sl550 (black on black, AMG wheels) in September. Let go of an
E63 AMG. Before that had a string of BMW's (650, 745, 330ci, 540).
The sl is hands down my favorite, would have joined this group long ago but a family of 6 made it impractical until now. Happy with the top up, heaven with it down. Can't wait for summer on Cape Cod ...

CeEl

Nice car!


May I ask why you didn't like the Corvette? The lease of my current "fun car" expires in May, and both the SL and the Corvette are on my "short list" (mind you, it's not that short of a list...) as a potential replacement.

F1BHP

Could you guys tell me the differences you have noticed compared with the r230?

Wolfman

Here are a couple of random thoughts...

We have had two R230's starting from Dec.2002 (2003 SL55), then later a 2005 SL600 which we replaced with a 2013 SL550 R231. We had one with springs and then later an R231 with ABC.

Three different characters. AMG felt sporty and fast, awesome sound but was slower than the V12. V12 obviously pulled like a locomotive but they have a lazy transmission (which emphasized the feeling of torque, btw). V12 felt front-heavy even with ABC. ABC was better calibrated in the SL55 plus a lighter engine made the car heavy but more balanced.

The R231 is actually faster than either one but in a completely uneventful way. Less torque and drama, but the car hooks up better delivers speed quite smoothly. Does't sounds very sporty just like the 600.

The ABC on the R231 is miles better than the R230 and the car feels light-footed.

Technically the R231 is better in every way and more luxurious (even though the SL600 had more nappa leather (death, doors, etc.)

Tranny is best on the R231.

I had the first R231 on springs and the car sat tall like an SUV. For unknown reasons, the US version SL's sit much higher than the Euro models.
FYI, all US models include the AMG body package but not the sport suspension which is not available in the US. AMG wheels come extra but the the total cost of the package is a fraction of the European pricing.

We lowered the car using H&R sport springs which was a bad move. The car sat too low and the ride quality really suffered.

In general, the R231 feels more solid than the R230, top up or down. Top up, the R231 is a bit noisier inside. Feels like the rear wheel noise is transmitting more into the car. Nothing bad though.

Top down, it seemed that the R230 let less air in, especially at speedthe R231 has more air turbulence inside (must be the different screen design).

I added the SL65 forged AMG wheels with non run flats (Michelin Pilot Super Sports; RF were crap). Car feels more light footed than with stock 19" AMG's.

While I am still not crazy about the R231 front-end design, looking back there was nothing better in the R230. Each engine had it's different character, but I am quite happy with the R231.

I feel a few things were important to do on the R231; lower it (Renntech ELM), better wheels, and widen the stance (I used spacers). Now I like how it looks/rides.

All cars were un-modded.

Rad22

The Corvette is a truly momentous ***** out sports car. It is definitely NOT a GT. It is fast, handles like a race car, stops like one too. But don't plan any long trips in it.

It is very noisy...especially on concrete surfaced roads. The ride can be fatiguing on long trips, you feel and hear every expansion joint. At 70+, a conversation with the passenger can be very difficult due to tire noise on certain interstate surfaces. You can't even enjoy the sound system. My wife hated it.

There is plenty of luggage space if you never remove the top, but there is practically none if you wish to ride with the top out. It totally takes up most usable luggage space. Very poor design for us as this was the only way my wife wanted to ride.

Fit and finish are way ahead of the previous generation but miles behind the SL. There is simply no comparison. My top creaked after 7000 miles and the hatch was very balky at closing without really slamming it. The seats look nice, but don't approach the SL for comfort. Cheesy carpet. Gaps in the interior joins. Misaligned body panels. Orange peel in the paint and wavy composite body panels. Sold it with a broken passenger headlight mount...over tightened at the factory and snapped off a very weak and poorly designed tab.

If you feel you must consider a Corvette, try to rent one for a weekend and REALLY give it a thorough test drive.

CeEl

Thank you! My brother in law has one... got to drive for about 20 mins and it was fun. I would go for a convertible. Given the price, they had to "save" somewhere... your experience confirms my reservations.

Benzfooled

So beautiful! Exactly like the car photos I saw today visiting the Sarasota dealer site!






http://mercedesbenzofsarasota.net/Sa...-Car/35446904/

golfster

That is the point of the somewhat "limited edition," with 400 of them equipped the same.

Benzfooled

I understand they all look alike, which makes them less exclusive to me.

In this case, I'm pointing out that the pictures posted are from a pre-delivered car still available for sale at MB of Sarasota and the same photo poses which I included in my previous post. Those photos are also on cars.com. Notice the same background, the warning sticker is still on the piano lacquer center console and the dealer key is in the ignition when the car comes standard with Keyless Go.

Instead of posting pictures of his car, these pictures were just lifted from the web.

threeMBs

That is correct. They had two (now only one).

jbattan

I posted a long list of the things that are different/better in my 2015 SL550 compared with my 2009 SL550. You can find it in another thread in this forum, titled "My 2015 SL550 European Delivery experience". Let me know if you don't see it.

MJ50

looking good!

F456 V12

How true, thought I wold buy a Camaro ZL1 convertible as daily driver, rented a SS for a weekend in Vegas, quickly cured me of my Camaro obsession. Build quality and overall performance lacked expectations, albeit not a ZL1, but other than engine, essentially the same car.

MB

nuketopia

Congrats, I too just joined the SL club with a new SL400.

I had a 2002 Corvette convertible and absolutely loved it. Agree, it had a lot of road noise in the cabin. I think I owned it longer than any other car I've ever had. I went for an 2008 ISF and though it was everything the magazines said it would be, the Lexus just didn't have any soul at all. Moved to Lincoln MKZ hybrid for a while, good but admittedly boring transportation.

Glad to be back in a convertible again.