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Took a neighbor for a ride in my SL55, and his wife, and they both wanted one.
About a week later he asked if a 2003 SL55 he found about 4 hours away was a good one, with just over 20K miles. I said let's check it out!
We both drove it, ran the SDS and found a few common issues (alarm siren, low battery, trunk soft close, etc.) and bought it for $22.5K.
Drove it home and it's now in his garage. Hard to find a 15 year old with under 21K miles!
It's got the ugly *** standard turbine wheels (no offense to those that like them), and it's missing the Designo wood trim inside (anybody have a set to sell?), pano roof, new tires, and most everything works.
We will start the refresh of all the aging items this weekend.
I now have (3) SL55's under my care.
Very nice, but from my past experience, old car with low miles can be a hit or miss, sitting around for so long hoses crack, tires rot, brakes seize, fuel no good. Hope all is well with this car!
Yeah, I was never a fan of those wheels. When i worked a stint in sales at the dealership, there was an SL55 on the floor with those wheels. It had been there for 6 months. We finally put some "optional" wheels on it to get it sold.
2009 SL550 Roadster Diamond White, 2008 CLK550 Coupe Obsidian Black
That is an amazing find. Wow congrats to your neighbor. Agree about the wheels. Definitely prefer the double 5 spoke or refresh 55 single 5 spoke wheels.
I haven't seen this before.. It says It fits all '03 & up SL's, but what about the '08+ face lift? Does anyone know if they kept the same third brake light after the facelift?
BTW, very nice SL! And as most, I also agree about the wheels..
WOW!! nice nice car. Keep us posted how it drives out over next few months. I took a deal like this on my 35000 mile (at that time) sl500 and so far so good except for the plastic shift lever. Electrics no real problem after my 10000 miles on it.
I find id quite unfair that where i live the 55 run for almost double the price of a regular 500.......... I'm very jelly of a car like this! Congrats!
Never seen a white sl55 in the UK, looks good. My 2003 has 21k miles on it when bought it 3 years ago and added 10k since. I agree with comments about degrading as my tyres with plenty of tread needed changing and i did hoses as precaution.
I haven't seen this before.. It says It fits all '03 & up SL's, but what about the '08+ face lift? Does anyone know if they kept the same third brake light after the facelift?
BTW, very nice SL! And as most, I also agree about the wheels..
Size and fitment is the same for all third brake lights for R230. The thing that changed in 2007 is they upgraded the rubber gasket. Word to the wise when reinstalling the 3rd brake light, don't use any tools. Simply tighten the retaining nuts by hand. When they are overtightened, the rubber gasket deforms prematurely eventually making it easier for water to penetrate and causing the leaking and lamp failures that are so prevalent.
Also worth noting, in the event of trunk leak issues, since the 3rd brake light is a known culprit for leaks, it's where many mechanics will look at and replace when sometimes it isn't necessarily the culprit. The panel that houses the license plate is NOT part of the rear deck lid. That entire piece is separate and bolts onto the deck lid and and has a bead of adhesive along the upper edge. Often license plates that have been in place over a long period of time will see the nut that the license plate bolt screws into detach when you attempt to remove a license plate bolt, and then the nut and bolt just spin. To then remove the license plate, you have to remove that entire panel, and some don't reapply adhesive along the top edge of the panel during reassembly, resulting in another potential point for water leaks.
Last edited by Aussiesuede; Sep 3, 2018 at 04:50 PM.
Keep us posted how it drives out over next few months.
We cleared all the 'f' and 'F' codes, and got rid of the red battery light. We think it was due to the front battery being about 50% full of electrolyte, but it could be the fuse or battery control module. Time will tell.
Alarm siren (H3) is bad, and used one from eBay has been ordered.
Found a set of chrome AMG split 5 spokes to mount. Waiting for the seller to return from out of state. Old wheels will be for winter, if it ever gets driven in rain.
Rear deck spoiler is shipping now.
We are discussing the age related items to determine what to tackle this winter.
Wife LOVES the car. Happy wife, happy life.
I think the turbines and Alphard are beautiful too bad I have neither :/
Owner may be willing to sell the turbines. Couple have fixable curb rash, otherwise, less than 21K miles!
PM if interested and I'll chat with the owner...
Owner may be willing to sell the turbines. Couple have fixable curb rash, otherwise, less than 21K miles!
PM if interested and I'll chat with the owner...
We cleared all the 'f' and 'F' codes, and got rid of the red battery light. We think it was due to the front battery being about 50% full of electrolyte, but it could be the fuse or battery control module. Time will tell.
Alarm siren (H3) is bad, and used one from eBay has been ordered. Found a set of chrome AMG split 5 spokes to mount. Waiting for the seller to return from out of state. Old wheels will be for winter, if it ever gets driven in rain.
Rear deck spoiler is shipping now.
We are discussing the age related items to determine what to tackle this winter.
Wife LOVES the car. Happy wife, happy life.
Nice looking car! I love the White, I've only ever seen a couple and they really stand out! I am one of the few that like the turbines. I have stock AMG's on mine that were powder coated gray. One thing to do for sure when buying used wheels is to have them mounted and spun to check for runout before mounting your new tires. If they happen to be bent too badly, it will be impossible to get them balanced enough to eliminate vibration at higher speeds. Maybe you can work out a deal with the seller for an allowance to get them checked and verified "true" before buying them. On my recently purchased W212 I had two wheels that were bent and were causing vibration at speeds over 75-80 MPH. The tire shop measured runout of .046" on one and .028" on the other. I had them straightened at a cost of $125 each and no more vibrations.
Mercedes SLR McLaren 722 S Is Extremely Rare Example Modified by McLaren
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