Stockinv

While testdriving an SL500 last week, my salesman, a Mercedes veteran, said that the 2007 model would be out in January and it would be redesigned. I'm wondering if anyone has heard anything about this? I can't seem to find anything, and it doesn't seem to make sense.

lorinserbenz

Your salesman is an idiot..
The new 2007 S class is being released in 06.
The Sl will be around till 2009 or so.

MBZFAN55

So well put!

Reminds of the time I was contemplating the purchase of the new SL, and told the salesman that I'd like to drive one. His answer was that HE hadn't even driven it yet! I retorted, but YOU aren't buying it, I am! Sometimes calling these salesmen "idiots" would be a compliment to them.

carlosfernandez

What lorinserbenz says make logic to me more than the mysterios saleman.

blueSL

That's what happens when you get old enough to be a veteran. This guy probably lost he plot when Mercedes had more car ranges than he could count on the fingers of one hand.

Wintermute

It might be facelifted, but obviously not redesigned. Mercedes-Benz will supposedly be applying a touch of the F1 styling that can also be seen on the SLK and SLR.

blueSL

Doubt it. The tooling costs to change the front of the car would be huge and with an all new SL coming in 2009/2010, it just would not be worth the expense. Mercedes has bigger priorities right now.

carlosfernandez

What says BlueSl make logic to me also. It's very difficoult to make any changes on the car right now.

phonetics

Are you guys sure the next SL will come out in 2009? It also does not make sense as it first came out in 2003, why only 6 years for the new one coming out? The previous SL was around for like 10 years?? Please comment.

northbenz

Just received my recent issue of the British Car Magazine, Mercedes Enthusiast. If I recall correctly in their run down of all the upcoming model changes there was a caution about major facelift change to the SL coming sooner than later.

blueSL

Hmmm, Mercedes Enthusiast tends to gossip from the side-lines, they probably use this site as a source of information.

The R230 was launched in 2001 in Germany, and the car was launched in most places as a 2003 model in 2002. Add 8 -9 years and you arrive at 2009-10. What's certain is that a new design is required by 2012 because of new pedestrian safety regulations in Europe. So my money is on 2009 to launch 2010/11 before widely available.

There may well be a mid-life makeover, but sheet metal changes are extremely expensive. We'll see an engine line-up change, with the SL55 being dropped. The new S Class is coming out next year (saw a disguised one in Untertuerkheim last week) and it will give us pointers on what might be migrated to a face-lifted car.

It's tempting to think that the SL might acquire a new nose as part of that face-lift, but, historically, these face-lifts have a much lighter touch than extensive, and short lived changes.

RadSteve

Can't those pesky peds just stay out of the f.....g way?

blueSL

Well yes, that's the EU for you. Just discovered than an iPod bought in Europe will not play as lod as oe bought in the US in case it damages your ears. The "Nanny State" is alive and well over here.

NeilC123

Hi,

I do find it remarkable how people keep going on about the model being good for 10 years as that is how it used to be in the past....WAKE UP PEOPLE...TIMES HAVE CHANGED...the car industry is changing faster than ever with newer and newer models coming out more and more frequently in an already competitive market. I know that maserati for example are bringing out a folding hard top version of their roadster in 2008 and who knows which other more exclusive car manufacturers will follow - i mean god hlpe us if porsche or BMW M(number) were also ever to get in on the act. We all talk about how advanced the SL is - but the fact is a lot of the newer cars have a great many of the gadgets that the SL has more and more. Also the new SLK is a lot more advanced in some aspects than the SL (pending tweaks).

For those that think their SLs are safe for a number of years - my own view is think again - cars need to keep evolving faster than ever (more EU laws, more environmental laws, better engine technology, better gadgetry) so whilst I am not saying the SLR nose change is on the horizon i would be very surprised if there isn't some major change in the model in the not to distant future perhaps with a hope for Mercedes to make SLs less exclusive than they used to be...personally I am waiting to save up for a maserati folding top or an aston martin...my own personal view is if you can afford the SL's price tag - at leat go for something exclusive rather than a car which is gradually becoming common (I see more SLs in the UK than SLKs!)

Just my thoughts

pilot20

When the R230 first came out there were very few on the road. People were paying list and waiting a year to get them. Now they're a commodity item. Dozens to be seen on any given day around here being driven, usually, by balding middle age men (MB's target market). To make matters worse the exclusive SL65 looks to all the world, on cursory exam, to be identical to the lowly SL500 except in the eye of an enthusiast. For 200 K why not go for something truely unique visually like the Aston?

blueSL

Don't foregt we also have the SL350 in Europe which, while still an SL, lowers the entry point and the price difference between the 350 and the 65 is at least 2.5 times. Here, most people spending the sort of money an SL65 costs will want to go for something more exclusive like an F575 or a Vanquish. I have yet to see an SL65 on the road.

We've always known that the one thing you do not get with the SL is exclusivity, there are pockets where it's commonplace. MB are making them as fast as they can which does not bode well for future resale, but the same is true with Ferrari - the F430 is in short supply and F360 prices are in free-fall.

Neil may be right about a replacement coming sooner rather than later but you do wonder what else they can put in the car to make it a must-have.

NeilC123

Ok well let me think....

1. more airbags? more responsive seatbelts during accidents?
2. better aerodynamic body? the SL is nice but i think the body looks a bit dated - carry on to 3.
3. A new sexy body - after all just look at Aston Martin and the new Jaguar - now their body makes you go meooowwwww. SL is nice but bodywork is changing and AMG just isn't worth the high price.
4. more fuel economic engines - if the SLK-to-newSLK can do it - so can the SL and in fact I wouldn't be surprised if they do produce more engine varieties very soon.
5. a head up display like in some of the top end BMWs

Don't get me wrong the roof is still a winner, and envy of other manufacturers - but time is a great leveller.

I believe that's it for now...i would also add one that fires missiles to destroy speed cameras but i think that would be going a bit too far

v8plus4

How about using the rain sensor in the windscreen to activate the top and close it if the car is parked in a sudden downpour?

blueSL

Nice in theory but would you like to be a manufacturer who is sued to hell and back because the roof didn't close because little John's arm got amputated by the roof and the interior was ruined with a blood/water mixture? Might be alright if you had Berry Red though...

PA55AMG

Maybe a sensor for sudden drop in barometric pressure would be better. The interior could get pretty wet while the roof was closing.

RadSteve

Nice imagery.

v8plus4

Several makes offer anti-trap features on sunroofs and windows, you would think the engineers could wrap their brains around this idea. How about it, science?

If not, maybe Tigger can help find a set of rubber floor mats in Berry Red to match the blood stained seats.

lorinserbenz

Someone will always have something better with more features, whats important is that the features are useful and WORK.
Maserati??!! I think Id pass on that, most people don't know what the heck they are. Maserati comes back from the dead every 10 years and releases a car that is cool for about 6 months then they return to a hole somewhere in Europe.
Sl dated??! Its only been out three years.. plan on it being pretty much the same till 2009-10. The cost to retool a car is staggering, especially a car like the SL.
The SLR nose isnt coming to a theater near you anytime soon. With SLK looking like a mini SLR, it would hurt SL sales to make them look a like.

blueSL

Agree with all of that, Maserati is a warmed-over brand which retains little or none of the heritage of the marque and as such is worthless. If you buy a Maser, what exactly are you buying into, apart from a daft clock?

I'm confident the SL will both outlast the competition and remain largely unchanged. As regards the nose, keep in mind that the SLK nose was frozen some years ago at a time when they thought the SLR would be a smash hit and progress with Formula 1 was assured.

Well, the continued lack-lustre F1 performance and spat with Ron Dennis/McLaren means that no longer applies. The SLR is now consigned to the sidelines where they had expected it to be the enduring icon for aspirant buyers. If there ever was a plan to put an F1 nose on the SL, my guess is that it's been pulled. As lorinserbenz says, hugely expensive and for what? SLs are selling as fast as they can make them. DC has a few other problems, being in the top 6 is not easy, ask GM or Ford about the problems, ask Toyota about their solutions.

blueSL

Yes of course you can stop the roof moving to prevent injury but you then don't meet the objective of closing the roof to keep the rain out. Either way, someone will perceive that the Mercedes roof is not working and pick up the phone to their lawyers. Sadly, the litigious view in the US - that any misfortune is always somebody else's fault - throws sanity out of the window.

Visited Porsche last week and they have stopped showing people around the body plant because some Americans sued them because their clothes were damaged by stray sparks so the actions of some ignorant Americans have spoiled things for the rest of us.

Was also told about this (true) piece of US litigation.

Some guy was killed in a 911 being driven by his drunk mistress. His (jilted) wife then sued Porsche for selling a dangerous car and the jury awarded $8m even though Porsche were able to prove the car could have cornered at more than double the speed in the hands of a normal sober driver. Subsequently reduced to $1.5m on appeal but this sort of folly means than any vendor is naturally cautious faced with this compensation culture.