shoozlover

My husband is 6'6" tall and has wanted an SL500 or SL600 for a long time. He sat in the SL500 and was disappointed that it is still too small for him. Does anyone know if it is possible to lower the seat? He used to drive my '97 E320 but his legs are so long he could have steered with his knees and his head brushed the roof. Also, do the older models have more interior room?

Any help would be great. We need another car and I would rather not buy another SUV.

jmf003

I'm "only" 6'2" so I'm a good 4" shorter than your husband but I have headroom and legroom to spare in my SL55. The seats in the SL55/65 are different than the seats in the SL500/600, so it's possible they have a greater range of travel.

In any event, I'd suggest trying on an SL55/65 for size and seeing if he can find a position that works for him.

Good luck!

detailas

I am 6'2'' and as ''jmf003'' mentioned, there is more than sufficient leg/head space for our height... Previous model R129, had less space.

Indeed SL55/65 seats are different than the SL500, but believe that this only applies to the design / stitching, etc - not to the range of travel back/forth.

Even if I'm wrong and indeed you can put the seat further back on SL55/65's, my logic says that you won't get more than an inch (compared to the SL500), which I doubt would do the trick for your husband.

Hope above helps.

George

++

shoozlover

Thanks so much for your replies. I just received an email from a customizer that I contacted and he said fiddling with the seats would most likely yield very little benefit for the cost. He also suggested a CL convertible because it's the 2-dr version of the S class sedan. I guess this would be the CLK? Have never been in one but it looks smaller than the SL.

If you were this tall and you really, really wanted this car but it was slightly too small for you, would you buy it anyway?

JackStraw

There is no CL convertible, and the CLK is likely to afford no more room than the SL.

I would not buy any car that was too small for me, and certainly not one that cost as much as an SL. For better or for worse, this is unlikely to ever be a problem for me.

It probably does pay for your husband to go back to the dealer and make sure that he has made all possible adjustments to the seating position before he rules out the SL. I seem to recall from this forum others who were similarly sized being able to find a comfortable seating position in the R230.

Vik888

Actually, I saw a show on Discovery HD which was sort of like "pimp my ride" except 100x more classy at some outfit in SoCal I believe. I think the place was called 310 Motors or something like that. I'd try calling those car customizers esp those that do high end cars.

They had a SL500 that belonged to a bball player, and they were able to modify the driver's seat to go back further, etc. I'm sure it would cost a good chunk of change, but on a $100k car, it might be worth it.

jmrdmd

I'm 6'5" and long in the leg and have no problems with it. I wouldn't drive cross country but it is comfortable for around town.
Regards,
Jan

Wehrmacht_benz

well how about this..is money an object?

http://www.dupontregistry.com/Celebritycar/fall04/clFall04-ShaquilleONeal.asp?sessionkey={30D35463-AFB9-4059-A08D-B2A3BC7BA5C2}


do what shaq did...

Wehrmacht_benz

well how about this..is money an object?

http://www.dupontregistry.com/Celebr...-B2A3BC7BA5C2}

do what shaq did...

LovinMercedes

Hmmm...where did you get this idea from?

shoozlover

I shudder to think how much that cost Shaq. We certainly don't have that kind of bank account

So as I understand it, an SL has the most room of all the convertibles but there's a chance the SL55/65 might give an extra inch? We're in Hawaii so I would assume the top would be down most of the time, but does he really want to be picking bugs out of his teeth.

LovinMercedes

All the SL's are the same size.

shoozlover

Seems to me the best compromise since he's got his heart set on an SL would be to buy an '03 or '04 model for about half the price of a new one. At that price, he could probably live with a car that doesn't fit perfectly.

And I could get my GL, too

CY

That CLK is horrible

meegle

My sentiments exactly!

jmf003

AMG models come with AMG seats, e.g. http://www.mbusa.com/media/images/ma...int_5_main.jpg

Standard models come with MB seats, e.g. http://www.mbusa.com/media/images/ma...int_4_main.jpg

The feel is very different and the look somewhat different.

detailas

Maybe LovinSL600 was refering to your reference that SL55/65 seats have a bigger range of travel.

George

++

jmf003

Sure, that's possible and that'd be okay with me.

I posted as I did because LovinSL600's post quoted my comment about the seats being different rather than my comment about the range of travel being possibly greater, i.e.

LovinMercedes

Exactly. I thought the topic here was the range of travel and not how they looked? I certainly understand the AMG cars come with sportier interiors. I have owned both.

LovinMercedes

Talking about seats and interiors, has anyone seen, in person, the new red and black interior?

If so, how is it?

jmf003

I'm sorry but I just don't understand where you're coming from with your comments on this one, LovinSL600.

The original post asked about customizing an SL500/600 to lower the seats, not the range of travel.

In my rather simple response, I made three assertions, one speculative statement, and one recommendation. The speculative statement was about range of travel for AMG seats relative to standard MB seats, namely: "it's possible they have a greater range of travel."

Other posters responded about the range of travel but you elected to take a shot at me: "[The seats in the SL55/65 are different than the seats in the SL500/600,] Hmmm...where did you get this idea from?"

I explained without taking a shot back. It turned out that you were thinking about range of travel but grabbed the wrong text string when quoting my response. No big deal. Stuff like that happens.

However, rather than offering an even perfunctory "sorry, wrong quote" you came back with the post quoted above. As if I'm somehow at fault for responding to what you actually wrote as opposed what you were thinking but didn't write?

Which brings me back to, I'm sorry but I just don't understand where you're coming from with your comments on this one, LovinSL600.

Shouldn't we be trying to offer helpful advice to the woman in Hawaii who asked for our input?

LovinMercedes

This is really not worth getting into more discussion over. You are misunderstanding what I said. Lowering the seat in my opinion, and it is only my opinion, falls under range of travel.

We don't have any disagreement here and I meant no harm. Clearly I misunderstood your point as well.

Sorry if my comment was misunderstood. It truly was meant to be an innocent comment.

elbowyeish

you think those cars are big from shaq? sorry for the sillyness. your last resort...

Marcus Frost

6'5" Long Legs and no problems in my SL600... I actually think it has quite a bit of room.

-m

meegle

I have a friend who is also 6'5" but 280 pounds and he squeezed himself in the driver seat quite comfortably even though he did adjust the seat all the way down and back.