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The Nonsense I think about those who are nitpicking, worrying about production dates, and all the rest of the "expertise lending interesting information" It is a really nice car at a super price. So Dude you got the answer you were looking for. BOO!!!! its Halloween
Congratulations, Magnificent car, and good price... I even like the color, I almost bought on that color when buying my first R230. Now I have two R230s, and almost toyed with the idea of a third, in Mars Red. LoL But with five Benzos and a Maserati I think the last thing I need right now is another car.
Congratulations, Magnificent car, and good price... I even like the color, I almost bought on that color when buying my first R230. Now I have two R230s, and almost toyed with the idea of a third, in Mars Red. LoL But with five Benzos and a Maserati I think the last thing I need right now is another car.
I had to laugh when I saw your post. R230 #3 in Mars Red is arriving today. #1 is Aegean (Teal) Blue, #2 is Tanzanite Blue, so all three are rather uncommon SL colors.
The Nonsense I think about those who are nitpicking, worrying about production dates, and all the rest of the "expertise lending interesting information" It is a really nice car at a super price. So Dude you got the answer you were looking for. BOO!!!! its Halloween
Obviously meant in a good way. It's always good to know about potential risks, but in the end these cars are priced accordingly. Sounds like nice deal to me...
I just gave the car a final check and wasn't happy to discover that a few things were inoperable/malfunctioning.
The hard top wouldn't go down (yes, the trunk divider was locked in place), the rear trunk wouldn't stay up, the automatic trunk closure wouldn't work, the key fobs wouldn't work, automatic entry wouldn't work, the climate control was acting strange, and the rear windows rolled down somehow but wouldn't roll up.
Additionally, there was a low tire pressure warning and a "temporarily unavailable" error.
The front tires need replacing as well.
Could all of this be symptomatic of a dead or faulty auxiliary battery?
As it stands, I'm going to renegotiate a lower offer or pass on it.
Some of the things you're talking about can be explained by the "temporarily unavailable" message in the MFD.
The vario roof, radio and a few other convenience features need the convenience battery to be at a certain charge level. If the battery is not, then you get the "temporarily unavailable" message, until the battery charges, usually after driving the car for a while. I don't remember if the central locking system is also governed by the convenience battery, so your keyfobs might not be working because of it. You mentioned they had a trickle charger on the battery. If the battery is not holding a charge, it may need replacement.
The rear windows go down if you keep the windows switch pressed after the main windows went down. to put them back up, put the main windows up, then keep holding the switch, and they'll come up. The TPMS will show low tire pressure if the tire pressure is 25% below the recommended pressure, so that's just a matter of inflating the tire. If it still persists, and your tires are not loosing pressure, you can check the TPMS sensors. Check for slow leaks.
The other items you mentioned. The automatic trunk closure. If your car was so equipped, then it should fully open and close the trunk, but not all were so equipped. Mine is not. It has the soft close, but not automatic trunk lid.
As for the climate control acting strange, I don't know what that "strange" means to you. describe "strange"
Some of the things you're talking about can be explained by the "temporarily unavailable" message in the MFD.
The vario roof, radio and a few other convenience features need the convenience battery to be at a certain charged level. If the battery is not, then you get the "temporarily unavailable" message, until the battery charges, usually after driving the car for a while. I don't remember if the central locking system is also governed by the convenience battery, so your keyfobs might not be working because of it. You mentioned they had a trickle charger on the battery. If the battery is not holding a charge, it may need replacement.
The rear windows go down if you keep the windows switch pressed after the main windows went down. to put them back up, put the main windows up, then keep holding the switch, and they'll come up. The TPMS will show low tire pressure if the tire pressure is 25% below the recommended pressure, so that's just a matter of inflating the tire. If it still persists, you can check the TPMS sensors.
The other items you mentioned. The automatic trunk closure. If your car was so equipped, then it should fully open and close the trunk, but not all were so equipped. Mine is not. It has the soft close, but not automatic trunk lid.
As for the climate control acting strange, I don't know what that "strange" means to you. describe "strange"
Agreed. I'm hoping most of this is a simple battery issue.
The climate control increased the fan speed if my finger bumped the middle rotary button, without actually turning the knob to the right. It seemed like an electrical glitch.
Agreed. I'm hoping most of this is a simple battery issue.
The climate control increased the fan speed if my finger bumped the middle rotary button, without actually turning the knob to the right. It seemed like an electrical glitch.
Pushing the middle button puts the climate control into Auto, which typically, automatically increases the fan speed.
My experience in buying a typical used car is to expect to spend 2000 dollars to make it right by my standards. With these cars I think expecting to spend 4000 dollars is not unreasonable. Again to make the car fit my standards. Just sayin Gene
I had to laugh when I saw your post. R230 #3 in Mars Red is arriving today. #1 is Aegean (Teal) Blue, #2 is Tanzanite Blue, so all three are rather uncommon SL colors.
****** Third!! Wow, Congratulations. Seems crazy to have more then one. But.. three! LoL. I thought I was crazy having a GL450 SUV, an S550, A R230 SL600 Renntech, and a SL550 and an also a R170 SLK230 plus a rare Maserati 4200 Coupe Cambiocorsa. My insurance agent asked me why I need to have all these cars, I replied, "Well, the SLK is for the butler. He uses it strictly for picking up liquor, beer and groceries..." I was actually in the market for a G Wagon the square boxy looking SUVs, when I found a GL450 that is just as big, smooth comfortable, safe and powerful and a lot less money, and once I drove that I was sold. It does everything the G Wagon does except look like $100,000. The question was whether I cared what the neighbors think,. as opposed to the vehicle's comfort and usefulness. I think the GL might be more comfortable than the G Wagon. I haven't really bought all these cars to impress the neighbors, I just like the Benzos. Such great, Great cars!! Oh, well!
2005 R 230 SL350 (M112 3.7). Sold the 1966 W113 230SL recently
Originally Posted by Slider
The climate control increased the fan speed if my finger bumped the middle rotary button, without actually turning the knob to the right. It seemed like an electrical glitch.
Not a big deal. A familiar glitch that this forum has seen more than once, and I noticed it in my own car once; the contacts in the control need cleaning. You'll probably cure it by using it. Don't go wild with pressurized air 'cause there's a delicate temp sensor in there (and near the mirror), behind the small louvres.
I just gave the car a final check and wasn't happy to discover that a few things were inoperable/malfunctioning.
The hard top wouldn't go down (yes, the trunk divider was locked in place), the rear trunk wouldn't stay up, the automatic trunk closure wouldn't work, the key fobs wouldn't work, automatic entry wouldn't work, the climate control was acting strange, and the rear windows rolled down somehow but wouldn't roll up.
Additionally, there was a low tire pressure warning and a "temporarily unavailable" error.
The front tires need replacing as well.
Could all of this be symptomatic of a dead or faulty auxiliary battery?
As it stands, I'm going to renegotiate a lower offer or pass on it.
Sounds like convenience battery- each time mine goes "dead", I have to unlock the car manually. Once I start up the car I get "consumer battery" offline message and a lot of the features of the car seem dead. Climate control doesn't turn on, cant unlock the car with fob etc....never tried putting the top down so that may not be related- I'd wait for a full charge and test that thing a few times before you find out the pump or some other component related to the top has failed....$$$$$$$
Takes about 15-30 minutes of driving to get the car charged back up. I'd have the owner turn the car on or have him drive it around before you make another visit. Better to test everything with a charged battery
oh yea, the trunk not staying up in a very easy fix. I replaced mine in 10 minutes. Parts were like $30 from amazon
Mostly sounds like convenience battery issues, that’s why we trickle charge them constantly 😉. Always expect to buy a new set of Michelin Pilots at a grand every 20K miles. Still a great deal on the car, probably $3-4 grand saved even with a few issues to pay for.
****** Third!! Wow, Congratulations. Seems crazy to have more then one. But.. three! LoL. I thought I was crazy having a GL450 SUV, an S550, A R230 SL600 Renntech, and a SL550 and an also a R170 SLK230 plus a rare Maserati 4200 Coupe Cambiocorsa. My insurance agent asked me why I need to have all these cars, I replied, "Well, the SLK is for the butler. He uses it strictly for picking up liquor, beer and groceries..." I was actually in the market for a G Wagon the square boxy looking SUVs, when I found a GL450 that is just as big, smooth comfortable, safe and powerful and a lot less money, and once I drove that I was sold. It does everything the G Wagon does except look like $100,000. The question was whether I cared what the neighbors think,. as opposed to the vehicle's comfort and usefulness. I think the GL might be more comfortable than the G Wagon. I haven't really bought all these cars to impress the neighbors, I just like the Benzos. Such great, Great cars!! Oh, well!
I posted a family photo of all three in the picture thread.
Congrats. Once you've had an SL500/SL550 with the top down and hear the exhaust note, heaven! I have an 06 w/29K miles in excellent cond. Pewter over Oyster. Classic cruiser always getting second looks.
Slider, Great job on the purchase, I think you bought it at a great price, the right year and model. Fortunately this gives you a little budget to fix the issues, present, and hopefully some left over for future. The issues cited are common for these cars and quite common in rarely driven ones I wouldn't worry about the engine being in the "below the serial number line" just enjoy the car. You might want to have the motor mounts checked. My 2007 SL needed them at 26K miles (now has 31K). The other repair I did was the ABC pump dampener. Both of these gave me unfavorable vibrations in the body and footwells and no dash light warnings. Now smooth as brand new and gives "Great Vibrations" going down the road. How are you going about repairing the issues? DIY? Indy? Dealer? Plenty of advice on the forums about all three. My fleet, mostly DIY, some Indy maintained. Summer Car 2007 SL550 and Winter Car 2012 S550 4-matic Designo, B&O
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