ieb

I know that several of you are looking for this part and that I have one on order from my MB dealer. The lead time turns out to be 10 weeks and the part is expected in early June. Part #2168851125. I think that the price that they are charging me is $1470.

Has anyone heard anything more about MB offering to redo leases at one year? I have a 39? month lease and if the blip down is on the '09, I'd go for that!

WSH

Not sure what you mean by lease re-do's....

Would guess MBF leases in MA (like most other major states) have no early termination penalties; chk the early termination language on back of lease contract....don't know how sales tx is amortized vs MA leases....CA leases are incredibly sales tx-efficient....

Latest rumbling re: '09 CL63 is (thankfully) no MCT; IMO, the slow-speed jerkiness of MCT box is too annoying for daily commute use....still trying to learn if CL gets downshift blips (the really cool aspect of MCT anyway)...wouldn't be surprised if '09 CL gets the blips, as the $100K '09 CLS63 even gets this....

Latest info (this past wkend) I heard from my dealer is that cf interior trim is not available on my early July build 030...only blk wood....AMG seems to have periodic issues w/cf availability, so would set expectations appropriately re: any cf diffuser, etc...

Also am trying to find out if these AMG Perf Studios in US (opening within next few mths) will mean that we can spec our '09 CL63 030's w/65-caliber fine-grained leather (but w/o the codgerly quilting) and more cf choices, w/more efficient pricing/installation of factory-spec stuff, rather than dealer-installed nonsense...

BTW, curious how cf diffusers will resist yellowing, esp w/proximity to hot exhaust tips and sunlight exposure....some owners of the now-elderly Carrera GT report yellowing issues w/various cf interior panels/body shell elements....not clear if it's a relevant risk for those who trade-in cars every 6-12mos, but could be an annoying risk for >1yo cars....

ieb

I had same concern about CF exterior trim parts. The parts guy said that the rear diffuser is not in direct sunlight and that SL's have had rear cf diffusers as an option for some time with no problems.

They just called back to say that the part will be in this Monday so that's ONLY 8 weeks.

I saw a '09 red SL at dealer and was totally disappointed. Really looks bad in red but maybe OK in black or silver. The old SL looked pretty nice in red. I think that new SL is not a step forward. Nobody's perfect.

I love the speedshift transmission. Click downs are nice and smooth especially in C mode. I think that most people driving these cars don't really care about tenths of seconds. MCT not for me.

WSH

Agree...IMO, SL63 030 just didn't offer any incremental reward in terms of driving precision/dynamics, even in twisties, to justify its notably higher safety risks vs CL...

SL's brake pedal feel and antique sport seats are simply awful in mtn twisties driving...and that sea of endless, ugly blk plastic buttons reminded me too much of laughably finished 599/997TT interiors....and it's hard to take seriously a $150K+ MY09 AMG that still has archaic Parktronic bulletholes, no DistPlus/BrakeAssistPlus/BlindSpotAssist, and the primitive sat radio wart/TeleAid antenna

Murtaza

Is this from first hand experience or an assumption? I was under the impression the MCT box would be very smooth...