I've decided to pass my beloved 1998 SL600 along to a relative. In looking for a replacement, I found a 2005 SL600 for a fair price. The only blemish I could find was a short tear in the driver's side seat bottom leather. The owner offered to fix the tear before sale. However, upon start up the engine seemed unusually noisy. (The car shows 63,000 miles.) It took several minutes to quiet down. The car drove fine, although I didn't have time to do a highway test drive. A bit later the wife was taking delivery of her 2011 E550, so I took the opportunity to ask the salesperson (a longtime M B dealership employee) about SL TT engine problem areas. He mentioned several, valve lifters, spark plug well insulator shorts, etc. and strongly advised to pass on the V12 and go with an 8 cylinder car. The comment about valve lifters seemed to correlate with the start up noise. I live in a small town, rural area, so SL's are not common. I would need to go to Dallas or Kansas City to have much of a choice. What do you think? Vic

 

My 05 V12 is quiet, cold or warm. It also has only 22K on the clock along with full service history from day 1. Additionally I have a 4 year warranty which covers most everything in case of problems.....must have for this car IMHO.

I'd take the 05 to your MB dealer for a pre-purchase inspection, they can isolate the noise(s), should be able to pull up the car's service history, and also tell you what it needs near term $$ wise. Provided it checks out o.k., try to purchase a warranty.

Good luck, hope it works out.

 

I have an 05 600, never had any issues with ticking, aside from my AC does just a bit when it is off (pretty sure it might just be low)

 

I love my 600 never had a issues with ticking as well. Nice to see another Ok person too!

 

I agree with the three respondents. My engine has been a thing of beauty for 6+ years. Find another 600.

 

My 2004 SL600 has 103,450 clicks and she still purrs like a top !!