brucewane

A properly running SL600 is likely to break the rear tires loose if you floor it at any speed below 60-70mph. It's a >>lot<< of power. Have fun, but be careful!

A common problem with the M275 is a tendency to get air pockets in the intercooler system. This results in higher intake air temperatures, which in turn results in less power. This problem arises because the M275 intercooler system doesn't have an expansion tank/reservoir. To fix this issue, you can retrofit your car with the intercooler system reservoir from the M279 - read through this thread for details. There's also a more "DIY" approach to adding a reservoir you can see here, but it's a little tough to find space for it in the R230 engine bay. Either way you go, the intercooler system must be filled using a vacuum pump - you cannot just pour coolant/water in it.

It's also common for the electric pump for the intercooler system to go out. The usual fix is to replace it with the upgraded Bosch "010" pump (part #0392022010). It has a little more flow than the original and bolts right in. You can modify the pump power circuit so that the pump runs full time whenever the key is on and this will help keep IATs down, but it will also wear out the pump faster (the Bosch pump is a standard brush type motor, so it is prone to wear). The next higher upgrade would be to replace the original pump with a Pierburg CWA100 which is brushless and has even better flow rate, but this requires a bit of fabrication.

tonylinc

Floor It!!! LoL
Congratulations on your acquisition of a fantastic and amazing car.
After three months ownership of my SL600, a friend got in the car and asked me, "Have you floored it yet?" I answered, NO, and I don't think I ever will!!
I don't believe I ever floored it in my SL600. If you've never driven a car with this much power, you must be careful because there's no guarantee the car is going exactly where you're pointing it to go. This is why you hear of people who bought a Lamborghini or Ferrari and crashed it in 40 minutes. You have to go slow at first and learn what the car will do. Last thing you wanna do is wreck the car.
You likely have ASR, a yellow triangle on the dash that will light up when the car senses back tires breaking loose and retards that action to improve traction. This would be good to have.
My SL600 had a Renntech ECU upgrade so I dunno how many horsepower but it was really ridiculous, probably 650-675. The car wasn't like a car, it was like a UFO. You never got to hear the engine roar, because after only a few seconds you're going over 100MPH, and have to let off the gas pedal, and this was NOT floored. If you heard the engine roar you're doing 140. It really was like someone stole an engine off a Boeing 747 and hid it under the hood. Then I got a SL550 with its 400 HP, 32-valve V8 which was not a slow car by any means, but three or four times a year I wanted some more power. So I got an SL55 AMG with an upgraded supercharger pulley and a couple other mods, and it seems to be the happy medium. Ridiculous power, and torque? It's the king of torque. I can break the tires loose by accident while going 75MPH on the freeway when I decide to change lanes and pass. So it's back to too much power, but I'll live with it. And roar it does. Not like my Maserati but those were made for their musical note. Handling? The ABC is a thousand times better than Maserati's Skyhook suspension. My Maserati has the Ferrari F430 engine but it's a slow car compared to the SL55.
An SL600 is a car you never let a teenager drive. Ever. Basically, the only person besides me who drives any of my R230s, would be my indy mechanic for a necessary test run after working on the car. Period!
Also important to have an indy mechanic who is capable and honest. If you take the car to a Mercedes dealership they will rob you blind. Literally!! Very good if you can learn to do some work on the car yourself. Never use cheap parts and if you change spark plugs get only the ones your owners manual says to use. Look up Clark Rupp's website he knows a lot about these engines. V12icpack dot com if I recall. SL600 uses the five speed trans because it can take the abuse from that engine better than the 7-speed would. If you ever do brakes the SBC absolutely must be deactivated first before removing calipers. Toss a beach towel or Tee shirt in the car to cover the steering wheel to protect it from the hot sun. Hopefully, you have a place to keep the car from being rained on... good luck!
Mercedes Built only 4,015 V12 R230's.
It is against my religion to drive an R230 in the rain. I have other vehicles for that: a W221 S-Class, and a X166 GL450 SUV. Also, my Maserati has not seen a raindrop in seven years, and that was only for a minute. LoL

Irish-Scholar

Thank you all for the fantastic information.

I especially love your advice about not accelerating too aggressively, even when driving at highway speeds.

There is no way I could have known this conclusively. I would have wondered about it...but I wouldn't have known it.

And now I know it's a terrifying possibility.

You may have just saved my life...literally.

I will treat this car with a great deal of respect.

Thanks again.