Malik1092

Hello there! I am a new member here although I've been going through and reading the forums for a little while now. I'm relatively young (25) and live in Los Angeles. My question/problem is that I'm buying my first Mercedes (a great problem to have haha) but I'm now stuck between these two cars.I'm just struggling to choose between an 97-2002 SL500 or a 07-09 E63 AMG. First off they would be a daily driver for me and I live in an apartment (no garage storage/hard to work on the cars myself). The AMG would have between 80k-120k miles on odometer within my price range. I've found some SL500 within my price range with 50k-150k miles with many examples around 60-80k miles. I'm just conflicted on where to go first for a daily driver as I plan to own both eventually (lol this is not optional for me). If I purchased the SL500 I'd be fitting it with a well made wide-body kit (4-10k) and redoing the entire interior, and eventually tuning the car to 450-550 HP (probably a year or 2 down the line) as I plan to keep the car forever (sounds like a dream to own if you ask me haha). I'm aware of the common problems that come with a SL500 so I've specifically found examples where a lot of these issues have already had work/repairs done already, especially the hydraulic replacement for the Soft top roof.
With the e63 I also plan on keeping the car forever and there wouldn't be much mods made to the car except upgrading the interior to make it more luxurious inside (Red or white leather with diamond stitching). I'm slightly worried though, as every guide I see on the w211 E63's seem to have a lot of things to look out for when buying the car and the maintenance seems to be high if the car hasn't been well cared for. Again I'm mostly looking for examples with good/well kept records and that are in good condition. I will be getting a PPI on both cars to make sure all is well but my dilemma really lies in the fact that I truly want both and have an impossible choice since they're such different cars. On one hand there's the design of the SL500 which I find extremely beautiful and practically perfect (I just wish it didn't have all the possible electrical bugs). I will essentially make it into a one of a kind R129. On the other hand there's the gorgeously designed Mercedes E63 W211 with the N/A AMG handbuilt Engine T_T Much more Horsepower without mods and I'd say easier to sell to the misses as a daily driver lol.
Either way I will look boss when I pull up to school or work XD. But what would you all pick? Living in LA the weather is perfect for a convertible and I'd say after all the work I do to the SL I'll be 30-40k in total (Exterior, Interior, Tuning, Sounds/Bluetooth, Bringing the car up to working order for daily driving reliably) while the E63 I'll probably end up 20k-30k all in (just bringing the car fully up to speed for daily driving, interior).
Sorry this is quite long I've just been pondering this for the last few days and can't decide.
PS. I don't mind spending 3-4k on maintenance per year for either car but hopefully it can be lower with no issues lol
PPS. BTW if you know any trustworthy, reliable IndyShops or Mechanics in LA that specialize on Mercedes please let me know!


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