Adi-Benz

Hello guys,

So I'm not new to the forums by any means (C-class w204) but I've been contemplating a Mercedes SL (03-07ish).

I've always liked them as a kid so I figure eventually I'd like to get one. I'm aware of the ABC problems, but I'm curious about a few other things.

Price of SL500 vs SL55 is still quite large. I'd rather buy a 16+ C43 AMG that is daily-able (and faster modified) than an SL55 for only the weekends for slightly cheaper. However, I would like to get the SPDV6 or whatever it's called, widebody for it. So, then it comes down to the SL500 performance - 300hp out of a 5.0 V8 pretty much sucks, but I was wondering what your thoughts are on it.

I know you can swap for the 5.4 but that's a whole different problem, and I guess I just want to keep it as a cruiser with a punch. But does the SL500 actually have enough punch?

Recommend coilovers conversion? Or keep air? That's a big cost to factor as well. I'm sure it goes for a few Grand.

Anything else I need to know? I'm sure stuff will come up in my head as the thread goes on...

Thanks

Adi-Benz

Also i noticed only 2003 has the 5 speed trans for the SL500. I know all SL55's have the 5 speed. I have the same 5 speed in my Chrysler 300, and the 7 in my C300, so Ill assume then, that the 7 speed is a good upgrade.

kbob999

My advice is drive both the 500 and 55. They are miles apart in terms of straight line performance.
The 500 looks and rides the same, but the R230 is a heavy platform to begin with, and needs the extra power to perform well. 500 will never match the 55 in performance, unless you spend double the cost. Why bother.
And you can add a pulley to the blower, or a tune, to get even more power from a 55 (I have).

It is a cheap rocket to buy, but not to maintain,unless you are DIY.
You will need an SDS for either car. It will pay for itself the first problem you have.

As for modifying the suspension, I'd say don't do it. It handles worse, and devalues the car even more. Spend the money to maintain the great suspension it has.
It is all hydraulic, there is no air.

The 5 speed trans was required on all high torque 55 and 600 engines, so switching to the 7 speed is not an option, and opens a can of worms getting the SCN coded parts to work on the car.
The huge torque band of the 55 does not require a lot of gear shifts, even though more ratios would improve acceleration numbers.

Read the buyers guide for the R230 to get a feel of what to look for, and what to expect to break or maintain. The worst thing is to buy a 'cheap' car and spend $5-10K getting it right.
One that has been maintained by a competent DIY type (many found here) is the best investment.

Best of luck in your search!

bobterry99

I'm in complete accord with the above post but would add that bargains are to be had paying $7K and under for an R230 in need of work. Last spring I paid $6.5K for an '04 car simply needing roof hydraulic repair, and friends just paid $4K and $5K for '04 and '05 cars respectively which need ABC work. And I'm currently eyeing an '07 car with 140K miles at a local dealer who is asking $7500. I'm told it's a nice car that drives well but apparently needs an hydraulic pump for the roof.

Adi-Benz

Thanks both for your responses.

As far as diy goes, I do a lot of it on my w204, so no issues there. If I need the SDS I have a friend who can hook me up there. Obviously the SL is more complex, but I assume there would be diy threads on here just as much (perhaps) as there is in the 204 section.

In regards to the transmission, I was not referring to a swap; there's a decent abundance of 2003 models, and they have the 5 speed, but after 04+ it looks like they have the 7 speed (I assume 7G like my w204) but 04+ is harder to come by for some reason.

I wouldn't mind a bargain, but the cheapest SL up north here is $12k. Relatively rare cars in WI. And the hydraulic maintenance freaks me out a little bit because I doubt most at the dealer have bothered to maintain it.

Which also leads me to private sales - never done before, but there are a few SL's. I always get their vin and look at the carfax's, but that only tells half the story...

Blazeracer

I have an 03 and I have DIY'd a ton of stuff already. Never been to the dealer once. I've fixed my ABC twice. $120 the first time and $104 the second time. Both were blown hoses that my local hydraulic shop rebuilt. It's so much fun to drive. Between the wife and I, ours rarely gets a day off. IMO, not driving your car to keep the miles low is like not banging your girlfriend so she's tight for the next guy.. LOL

I'm on the lookout for a M113 designated 5.4 liter motor as it should be a direct swap. I have tons of experience porting Chevy V8 heads and would like to go through a set of Merc 3 valve heads, just for fun, doing a flow bench before and after. I have a custom cam grinder too that can possiby get a little more there. I think there are another 100 ponies in the N/A motor without the extra weight and complexities of forced induction. But that's just me.

If you're not afraid to work on one, go for it. Drive it, fix it, enjoy it, have fun with it. It's a labor of love but you only live once and can't take it with you.

kbob999

Don't be afraid to fly and drive a car home. Many can be found in Texas and Florida, where retirees buy them then change their minds.
I bought 2 AMG's in Philly and Ohio and drove them to Denver. Get towing insurance for the drive home (you never know) and spend a couple days getting to know the car.
Both car had miles on them (80K and 115K) and required $3-4K of repairs, fluids and maintenance of known faults, but I budgeted that money in the purchase. Just make sure it has not had an accident or flood.

If you have SDS, take it with you and plug it in. All the faults, which you can show the owner, are great negotiation points to save more money, or make you walk away.
Worst case, you buy a Southwest ticket and go home the same day. Makes for a great adventure, or mini vacation!

Adi-Benz

I've found on in Illinois (typically I avoid) but it's basically a 1 owner with 116k miles for 10k, a 2003 sl500.

I've never bought mileage this high but I guess this would be more or less a project car...Carfax is nice and clean, with maintanence. Sold at a dealer...

Blazeracer

I paid $10k cash for mine out the door with TT&L from a dealer with 94k on it. I had a stack of bills and he couldn't say no. So you're right in the ball park. We put about 500 or so miles on it this weekend on a road trip, No issues, it was a blast. My car has spent it's entire life in Texas. Originally purchased in Wichita Falls, second owner, third owner and me are all in the Dallas area. Has a clean CarFax also.

Adi-Benz

That's good to hear. Considering the MSRP on these things new, I'm sure this car is well taken care of. If it's still for sale in 2 weeks I'll head down there and see how it looks.

Do these cars rust? There shouldn't be considering this is pretty much a summer car, and my w204 is pretty rust proof so I figure I might as well ask anyways.

Also I assume just try everything - roof, suspension, etc. Anything particular to look for? There's probably a sticky on this somewhere.

Rudeney

Most of the R230's body is aluminum, so technically no "rust". Only the rear fenders are steel. Of course the "frame" is steel, but rust does not seem to be an issue. e,

alk247

I bought a former Florida car. Unless you know for sure that it was kept mostly in the garage, it may not be the best climate for a car. Plastic gest extremely brittle when exposed to a lot of UV. Glue (and there is a lot of it in SL500 trims) looses adhesion, etc. I paid 9K plus sales tax for mine 2003 SL500 with 91K on it. I had it for slightly more than 2 years. By this summer I hope to have most everything working and fixed. Nothing that has ever stopped me from driving it, but not everybody is comfortable with driving a car that displays "ABC Problem, Drive carefully" every time it hits a pothole. Also it has been a coup instead of a roadster for last year and a half. If I knew as much about these cars then as I know now, I would not have bought this particular one, but it is possible that I will buy another one or two in the future for a song (like 4K) and bring it up to snuff. One word of advise - avoid cars that have fake AMG decals on them (removing them is one of the tasks on my list). And another advise - these cars are beautiful, so in a right (for you) combination of colors you'll be so attracted to it, that you might overlook things. Be cool, do not let the car seduce you.

Adi-Benz

That is good to know!

This one is stock and single owner so I know that they paid around $110k+ (in today's money) for it, and so I'm pretty sure it's been well taken care of (has service records)

How did you determine the issues on your vehicle? Or did you not know about them when you purchased it?

alk247

Some of them just popped up, like one day the roof stopped working (it did work initially). Also my car seem to develop every known common problem for R230, except trunk soft close and stuck gear shifter (looking forward to it). I had problem with accelerator pedal. To see if the car you are looking at has that problem, just push pedal to the floor, and if pedal is bad, the car would enter the limp mode, becomes very sluggish and barely accelerating to 60 mph. Stop, restart the car, and, if problem is gone, you have a faulty pedal (I bought replacement one for $35 on e-bay). Parking break stopped to lock - fixed by moving a flat spring in the parking break assembly in the correct position. Driver door inside handle broke - another common thing. Last year it developed "pink shrimp" in the left LCD display - did nothing so far. Small cover on the flap had broken hinge - 100% of R230 have that. Flap drive assemblies needed new part, also every single one needs replacement. Windshield washer was DOA, which I just failed to notice when test driving the car (replacement part is $10, but some elbow grease is required). Then when you start working on something and take things apart, you find more hidden problems. It is most likely not the case for you, since it is one owner car, but in my case it is clear, that car was not properly serviced, a lot of small things are broken, original clips and screws are replaced with some surrogates, and so on. The latest discovery was defroster vent (also know by fancy name "escutcheon). I noticed that some cross ribs are missing. When I tried to remove it, it disintegrated into pieces no more that 2 inches long in my hands. It is literally crumbling. Check you seats, make sure that all air driven adjustments (switch is on the bottom of the seat) are working. Leaking bladders are common thing.

alk247

I wouldn't worry about rust. There is no way you could drive this car during winter without studded tires in the back, and AFAIK, studded tires are not allowed in IL.

Adi-Benz

Thanks for the info, I'Il definitely look into the things you mentioned.

I knew that it's not something people would drive in winter but I figured I might as well ask anyways.

What is that hinge you are referring to?

alk247

See here:

https://mbworld.org/forums/sl-class-...acement-2.html

And countless other threads.

Adi-Benz

So, this may be a dumb question...

As far as the suspension goes, when checking it, do I set the height to the highest mode (I don't know the modes) and check around the "bags" for leaks? Or is this kind of more complicated?

Also when you guys park the cars, do you leave it on a specific height or does it always reset?

alk247

What "bags" are you referring to? There are struts which you may check for traces of ABC fluid. As for the height, there are thee settings from lowest to highest and car remains in whatever setting you selected when you park it. If car was parked for a while and starts rising when you start the engine - that is a sign of potential problem, but it also depends on how long the car was sitting. If it sagged after a few hours, it is not good, if after two weeks, it is ok.

Adi-Benz

So for like, storage purposes, people leave them on the lowest setting? Or stock height?

Sorry, used to air suspension terms

Adi-Benz

Are the 2003's that unreliable even with 1 owner maintained?

Blazeracer

No, SL500's are not unreliable. I firmly believe that a lot of problems stem from a lack of use. When I was in the Army, we had thousands of the HUMVEE's that would sit for months at a time only getting started on Mondays for motorpool day. Once we took em out for field training excersises, hoses would break, seals would blow, electronics would die, tons of problems. When we deployed to Iraq our HUMVEE's were daily drivers and we never had any of the afformentiond problems. My SL500 is a daily driver. My wife drives it to work every day, and I take it out for it's weekly beatings every weekend. I've repaired the ABC twice for blown hoses myself and the dealer replaced my SBC pump uder warranty. Other than that, I've had zero problems with my SL500. It's right at 100,000 miles now. We're gonna put another couple hundred on it today.

kbob999

Storage at any height is fine. If the car tends to sag (normal) you might want to store it on highest setting.

While I would not call the car unreliable, all R230’s are prone to issues, as this platform is absolutely stuffed with features.
Some issues are cosmetic (plastics breaking), some are mechanical (ABC, SBC, shifter), and some are electrical (sensors and communication).
The drive train (engine, trans, diff) is rock solid and will rarely leave you stranded.

Understand this is a super car from back in the day, and it is a demanding mistress, but when she is good, she is very good.
Treat her well and she will return the favor.
And if you don’t DIY, budget $3-4K/year for maintenance, less if at an independent shop.

Adi-Benz

Thanks guys. This is a one owner 2003 with over 100k miles, (which is MUCH more than I'd normally ever look at) but I'm looking for it to be a weekend/project car and it has a really good history.

Lately I have read however people should avoid the 03's - however a one owner maintained car would say otherwise?

I do currently have another Mercedes hence my presence on the forums, and I do nearly everything myself, thus I am not too worried about that. However I want to be able to utilize the car and not have a new repair every week, as I'm sure you'd all understand.

Also, random question, is the SL 5 speed the same as the SL55? Or is the 55's beefier in some way? I know the SL55 cannot handle the 7 speed.

Rudeney

The SL55 used the same basic 772.6 5-speed transmission as the early SL550, but it was beefed up and had some programming mods to improve shift responsiveness.