LovinMercedes

Attached is a link that will take you to 42 pictures of my new customized 2005 SL600.

I have done the following to this car.

1. Ordered the all black option which turned out to have many upgrades in trim as per the pictures.
2. Replaced the light gray Alcantara headliner, sunvisors and A-pillars to black.
3. Replaced the light and mirror assembly from light gray to black.
4. Replaced the standard Burlnut wood trim to the Black Ash wood trim. This included replacing the steering wheel, center console and shifter knob and both wood trim pieces on the doors.
5. Upgraded carpeting and floor mats as a result of the option of the black interior.
6. Installed the AMG tail lights.
7. Installed illuminated door sills - white
8. Installed new upgraded wheels.
9. Installed SIRIUS radio with TERK antenna in the front windshield grate on the drivers side.

See the heading on the pictures for descriptions. Hope you enjoy the pictures.

I love my new 2005 SL600. Thanks for all the encouragement from many of you. It has been a long wait but well worth it.

Please see link below:

http://community.webshots.com/user/matthewschoenberg

Again, many thanks. Below is one of the pictures. Please go to the link above for additional exterior and interior pictures.

Chris 45971

Very sweet Lovin.

Exceptional detail in your pictures. One of a kind.

Thanks for sharing.

vraa

I'm feeling it man! I love the new leather. Much much better look then what I have in the SL500.

blueSL

Looks good, the black interior is a welcome change from ash and berry red.

Anyone care to speculate why the blue and red air buttons have been removed from the top centre console? I think this was done in MY2005, maybe they were found to be redundant.

MBAMGPWR

You need some 19" HRE's for the car. After all you've done to the car, the wheels would be the 1st thing I would change IMO.

CASL55

On an SL55, they'd not be sporty enough. On an SL600, they look just right.

Jim

VinceB

It all came together beautifully! Question for you, I checked out your photo album and is seems like you changed a lot of trim, buckles, etc. Wondering if Charcoal is std, how did you get headliner, etc in black Alacantara as well as leather around console, doors, dash with nice pattern and in black?

Also, I think you mentioned you have a great independant mechanic, it appears from pictures you maybe in the Blackhawk area, if your wrench in in the east bay, I'd love to get a referal.

Been watching, as thinking up upgrading the ole CE...

Cheers,

LovinMercedes

Thanks. I am not sure if you know this but in 2005 Mercedes Benz added an option for an all Black interior at a cost of $3,750. Everyone thought it was just for the black color.

As you can see, the black interior option came with many upgrades. All the trim changes that you see in the pictures came with the black interior option. All the trim changes that you mention in your post also came with the black upgrade for the $3,750. The instrument cluster cover which is usually plastic came with leather on the outside and alcantara on the inside. In addition, the mats are upgraded.

As for the black alcantara on the headliner and sunvisors, the car did come with a light gray headliner and surnvisors but I had all that changed at the Dealership to the Black alcantara. I also had to change the light and mirror assembly as they came in gray and needed to be black.

You can see from my original post above what changes I made to the car including changing all the wood. Everything else you see came standard as a result of the black interior upgrade.

My mechanic works at Mercedes Benz of Pleasanton and he is incredible. If you wanted to e-mail me I could give you his name.

Hope this answers your questions, if not let me know.

BklynBenz

very nice, i especially like the black alcantara

jasab

The car looks fabulous.
Really like the look of the 600. You're choices are impressive and its great to see the car finally delivered.

Hope it lives up to your expectations!

Jasab

StephenK

Enjoy your new car, it is very nice, and very unique too!

FIXEDupW209

aaahhhb long awaited pictures of the beauty. Nicely done man

fahad

A very nice car with a very nice detailes, about the rims what is the brand? looks amazing man!!

LovinMercedes

Thanks a lot. Those rims are Mercedes Benz rims. Go to the website and "build your own" and they are under accessories.

tiggerfink

You are an artist LOVINSL600. I am in aw. My hats off to you! My wife is in love with that color. Next time we will fly to Germany to look at colors.


I have some questions.

1. Where did you get the TERK antenna?
2. How is the sirus sound quality?
3. Do you have great reception with Sirus?
4. Is that all leather in the rear compartment?

LovinMercedes

Hey tigger, thanks for the support. Much appreciated. Let me answer your questions.

1. I got the TERK antenna from Crutchfield.com. Make sure you get the new mini antenna as they increased the length from 14 feet to 21 feet and the antenna now reaches from the front to back without an extension.
2. The SIRIUS is incredible. The sound quality is great. I am very happy with this and truthfully, mostly listen to SIRIUS now where I always played my CD's.
3. The location of the antenna works great. The only place where I have not had reception is in my garage. While I drive and I live in an area with a lot of trees, I have had no interruptions at all.
4. The rear compartment is all leather. It is just that there is a lot of the new textured leather there so it reflects the light differently but it is all the exclusive leather. The compartment doors are also this textured leather to match the trim up front and on the back panel. It looks great because it took an area that had nothing going on and spruced it up to look sportier.

Hope this helps. Let me know if you have any other questions.

tiggerfink

Thanks Lovingsl600, I have some more.

Is it all leather in the rear compartment a new option in the 2005 SL600 or all 2005 SLs? Is the lower dash all leather?

I am so disappointed in my mb-tex in my rear compartment and lower dash.

LovinMercedes

You get the better leather and more of it when you order the SL600 and it has been that way since 2004 when the SL600 came out. It is not new for 2005. What is new for 2005 is the all black interior and with that you even get more leather, different trim patterns and other upgrades.

When you get the all black option everything in the entire car is all exlusive leather. Even on the door where the rest of the cars have plastic SRS emblems, mine are leather. The instrument cluster is also very special. It is the exclusive leather on the top and the alcantara on the inside. All the other cars are either all plastic or all alcantara but I have yet to see one that is half exlusive leather and half alcantara. It is very cool.

Most of this comes from the fact that I paid the $3,750 for the black interior option and along with this color you get an upgraded interior for your money.

If you want to completeley change the feel of your car inside, change the A-pillars, the headliners and the sunvisors to the Alcantara. I did that on my last two cars and there was no comparison. It does cost some money but it completely changes the look and feel of the interior. You won't even notice the rear compartment anymore.

vraa

I just noticed your leather again now that you've mentioned it. I have to say, it looks AMAZING!

LovinMercedes

Thank you Ricky and thank you everyone for your positive comments.

jeffreyy

WOW! Great car. I especially like the interior. I ordered the X11 package as well for my SL55 due in a month. I hope it has all the upgraded panels like yours. Way cool! First X11 pics on the net too as far as I can tell.

J

LovinMercedes

As you know the SL600 has the exclusive leather and the SL55 has the AMG leather. The exclusive is smoother than the AMG leather and has no texture. The AMG leather has some texture. It will be very interesting to see with the SL55 and the X11 package, what type of leather you will get.

In order to get the X11 code as an option you had to order the base color as charcoal. Do you remember your charcoal code? Mine was 501 which is the code for charcoal exlusive leather.

My bet is you will still get the AMG leather which is a little more textured and then the other textured upgrades that you can see from my pictures.

The regular SL600 comes with a plastic instrument cluster cover and with the X11 package it came with an exclusive leather outside and a alcantara inside. The AMG comes with an all alcantara instrument cluster cover. Again, it will interesting to see what your cover looks like.

On the AMG SL55, the headliner will be black, not the ash that my car came with and I had to change to black. On the Netstar report it will tell you the headliner code and it should say Y83 if it is going to be black.

Keep in touch and let me know what was the code of your charcoal leather was. Also, what did you order for your wood package?

jeffreyy

Well, yes, I ordered charcoal and then it was upgraded to "all black" with the $3750 X11 package. I got the burl walnut which is what I want although I do think your darker wood came out very nicely. I wanted a little bit of warmth and contrast, so I oped fr the walnut.

As long as I get the patterned leather I will be happy although I REALLY like the smooth look of the leather in your car.

I believe the headliner was actually not black but a lighter color. I got the pano roof option as well.

I don't have a NetStar printout. I should go and ask the dealer for it. I basically got everything except for distronic.

Jeff

LovinMercedes

Ask the Dealer for your Netstar Vehicle Information Report. It will show the charcoal leather on the top with a code and then the X11 on the bottom under options.

What happens is the charcoal code tells the computer what type of leather because with charcoal you get a black upper environment and a charcoal lower environment. When you choose the X11 code, it changes the lower environment from charcoal to black and matches the code from the charcoal to tell what kind of leather you are getting.

I would also check the headliner code. I am almost sure your color will be black. If it is light, the code is Y85. The black, like I said is Y83 and I am pretty sure that is what your Netstar report will say. It will actually say after the Y83 code Charcoal alcantara but that color is the same as mine which is basically black.

Once you look at this report you will know for sure exactly what leather you are getting. It will also tell you the exact status of your car. Has it been shipped yet?

jeffreyy

Thanks for the info. Not yet. It is scheduled to be built on the 6th. I can't wait!

Jeff