I have an opprotunity to purchase SL 55 AMG 1998 silver 90K km, fully loaded, including Alpine stereo and video system (~$10K) and new 19" titan-firbe weels ($9K). Though, it has no hard top. The first image from the left (on a parking lot).

Along with transportation and customs costs, it will cost me $62 - 65K in Russia.

Shall I go for it?

P.S. the car is perfect, one owner, and I have been looking for it for 2 years.

well, there is another one, registered in 2000, 90K as well, just plain SL 55 AMG with a panorama hard top, but, will cost me $80-83K. The second image from the left (in a showroom).

SL AMG's are pretty rare, so it is hard to find a price comparison.

This link says that fewer than 300 SL's were given the AMG "treatment" before 2003:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercedes-Benz_SL-Class

If that is true, given that you are talking about a very limited production, you are not really in a position to price shop.

However, you can find comparable Brabus cars for less money -- someone in Los Angeles, who posted here, was selling a 1998 with $50,000 worth of Brabus mods for $38,000 a month or two ago.

But I would go with the AMG because it is considered "factory" and it is a rare and amazing car.

There never was an R129 SL55 AMG; the SL55 AMG was introduced in R230 form. The only factory R129 AMG's are the SL60 and SL73.

HLG: You may be correct, however, the link I cited above, contains the following:

The SL55 AMG was sold through AMG in the R129 bodystyle from 1998 to 2001 in limited quantity. It was the predecessor of the production R230 SL55 AMG sold today.

Certainly, wikipedia could be wrong.

I am almost positive there never was an R129 SL55, but the R230 SL55 motor in an R129 would be nice.

Sure There Was An Sl55 Amg In The 129 Body. Different Than The R230 Because It Was Not Supercharged. The Sl55 R129 Replaced The Sl60.

Anyone can post info on Wikipedia; I'd love to be shown otherwise, but there is no such thing as an R129 SL55. MB-AMG never made a production R129 with the naturally aspirated 5.4 Litre V8. I am sure custom jobs have been done, but I have never heard of a factory R129 SL55.

HLG600: Well, you might be amazed with the fact that there are a lot of wonderful cars that are not shipped to the US. There are SL 55 AMG R129, mebeJOE is so right.

Actually, there are only 55 and 73 from 1998 till aug 2001. check this link http://www.autonet.ru/catalogs/auto/.../serie/SL.html
though it is in Russian, you can easily figure out the models, year, technical data, and see some really small pictures

here is some technical info on 55 R129, from http://www.mbclubs.ru/w129t.php3
Model; Year; Engine; Displt; Type; PS/kWt; Нм; Max speed; sec to 100 km/h
SL 55 AMG; 98-01; M119 AMG; 5439; V8; 354/260; 530; 250; 5,9 sec
SL 60 AMG; 93-98; M119 AMG; 5956; V8; 381/280; 580; 250; 5,6 sec
SL 73 AMG; 99-01; M120 AMG; 7291; V12; 525/385; 750; 300; 4,8 sec

Alright guys, thank you all! I will get the car, do some restyling (mostly interior), take pictures (before and after restyling) and post them here. It will be seen here in about 1,5-2 months!!!

Interesting info, thanks.

One thing though, it lists the motor used in the R129 SL55 as an M119, which is the same base motor used in the 500SL/SL500 and SL60 from 1990-1998. What I am trying to figure out is why MB would downrate their 6.0 Litre M119 to a 5.4 (or 5.5) Litre M119? I don't think it can be the N/A 5.4 Litre we see today in the C55 SLK55 CLK55 because that is not an M119. These newer ones, which were available in the US market in 2001, had a 3V per cylinder configuration, while the M119's had a 4V per cylinder configuration. Either this was simply a name change, or it was the not the M119.

Regardless, best of luck with the car and don't forget the pics! Welcome to MBWorld!

HLG

HLG600: Check this one!

HLG, you are right! it has 3 valves per cylinder. The site I quoted says that in april 1998 there were significant modifications for the whole SL series, mostly in engine. It says that the new 3-valve cylinder with double ingnition (I'm not sure if I translated "ingition" the right way, it is about fuel inflammation in a cylinder) provided for a lower fuel consumption (by 10%) and exhaust.

Sure I'll post the pictures.

Thank you!

Car looks great! Always cool to learn something new.