Dr. Manhattan

I'm not crazy about the interior or option load, but if anyone else is interested...

https://www.mbusa.com/en/cpo/invento...1027?zip=30144

rorywquin

Agree that interior looks terrible. Looks like the original purchaser ticked every box, it has more options than mine does and there were only a few that I didn't tick.

Keon

That interior... Yikes! Plus, for 80k USD you can get an SL550 with a better color combination.

Streamliner

Yes, MB seems to think that most every interior color will look good with generous amounts of contrasting black panels and fabric. The interior color of the subject car, might actually look very nice, if it were the ONLY color in the interior, or if a complimentary, contrasting color had been used instead of black, but that, I guess, would be too much to ask for from Stuttgart. The only current SL interior that does not have tons of black, is the Ginger Beige/Espresso Brown, which is what I chose.

allfortheunion

That one is Exclusive Nappa Saddle Brown/Black. Interesting though, the Dealer Ordering Guide shows the armrests and center console BROWN, not black, which looks a lot better. Designo Brown is the same. But then the actual cars in Exclusive Nappa are built and shipped with the armrests and console black instead of brown, which makes the interior more black with brown accents instead of the other way around.

Utopia Texas

If the whole interior were Saddle Brown it would look nice but the contrasting black dashboard really looks odd.

Streamliner

I agree. The black dash looks great with the Porcelain interior, but with most of the other colors, I would much prefer that they use a darker, COMPLIMENTARY color for the dash. It would so much richer and high end. Oh well.

Dr. Manhattan

If that's true, then they should've asked $90k for this 450.



And a fine choice it was, too. When I first started searching, I had a filter set for no Beige interior, since I've always disliked Beige. Then I configurated a few cars with your interior and it really started to grow on me. It looks absolutely fantastic with a white exterior...as your photo plainly shows. I do still have trouble picturing it with other exterior colors...possibly excepting the Brown, but I don't want to go that dark. I do love the White, Red, Blue, And Silver/Grey exteriors, so I'm trying stay flexible on the interior color.



This is exactly what I thought. That's supposedly an optional, extra-cost interior, and it looks cheaper/worse than the standard interior. Saddle's perfectly fine (though I prefer Light Brown), but for crying out loud, spread it around. Why are the arm rests/center console still black? What the hell is that all about? I've been configurating 450s for quite a while now, and none of the interiors have ever looked that cheap. Then, on top of that, someone specified Piano Black trim, which is the absolute worst for showing dust/dirt/finger prints in a convertible. As pointed out, there are a lot of options on this car..some of which I would refuse to pay extra for, and a few that I would pay extra...to avoid.

rorywquin

What would you pay to avoid?

Streamliner

Another member here turned me on to the fact that MB would do an SL65AMG type quilted interior in a 2020 SL450 or 550, under their special order program. I can’t remember all the details now, but I believe the cost was $12,500.00 over and above the standard Designo interior option. I had just taken delivery of my 2019 and was very tempted to order a 2020 with the quilted interior, but at the end of the day, I realized that I just loved the design of the Exclusive Nappa interior I had and decided not to go that way. One of the problems, is that even with the huge price, they were unwilling to deviate from the standard colors of materials they had for the R231’s. For example, since they had no carpeting in the line up, other than the very light beige (what I have) or black, those would still be the carpeting choices. The dash would be either the Espresso Brown that I have or black, nothing else. That said, IF they would have done a full “Bamboo” interior—a color from the 1970’s—with matching dash and carpets, I would have jumped at the offer. If they would have painted the car any color previously used by MB for a similar price, I would have jumped at the offer as well. Can you even imagine an R231 in Maple Yellow with a full Bamboo leather interior?

allfortheunion

You’ve never worn a black suit with brown shoes?

Dr. Manhattan

Number one on the list is that Piano Black trim, but I also have "range anxiety" issues with Magic Sky Control and Soft-Close Doors. I'm really on the fence with the Driver Assist stuff as well. I think I'd probably end up turning most of that off in the long run, as I have done with similar features on my DD. I find some of it just plain irritating.



I can't help thinking of banana pudding when I look at this car...with the little vanilla cookies being the interior.

Wolfman

Seeing Streamliner's pic of a maple yellow SL and mentioned bamboo combo makes me think the white SL450 doesn't look bad after all
It just comes to show that people have different tastes which is only hampered by limited color/trim options available from MB.

The car for sale only suffers from an inflated price, nothing else. I would have picked a different steering wheel/trim/wheels but I like the leather seats, even with the black dash.

With used cars, 99% of the time you will not get exactly the car you wanted and the compromise is offset by great savings. This can easily be solved by custom-ordering a new car.

bob55

FWIW, here's my take on the options that Doc mentioned above...

With regard to a trim selection, you can never go wrong with Burlwood including adding that trim to the steering wheel via the Wood/Leather Steering Wheel option. Just looks so very nice with the Ginger Beige/Espresso Brown Nappa Interior, (easily the most attractive interior color combo in my humble opinion) .

Based on my 1-year of personal experience, I must also give a strong 'thumbs up' to Magic Sky Cotnrol... I like MSC way more than I expected to before buying my SL550. . It just suits the character of the 231 so well, that I could never imagine owning a 231 without the Magic Sky Rood now. It gets a lot of use here in South Florida because during the summer months it is often 'too hot', (or 'rainy'), for 'top down' driving in the 231...Interestingly, while I never used a sun/moon roof very much in the other MB's from my past, the 'one touch' and 'instant' 'Magic Sky Control' on my 231 has simply changed everything. I find that I use MSC virtually every single time I drive my SL550. I give this option the strongest possible recommendation!

As for the Driver Assistance Package, IMO, the 'Blind Spot Warnings' in the outside rear view mirrors alone is quite enough to make this particular option package worthwhile, even if you don't appreciate the other Driver Assistance features as much!

However, I agree that nobody needs or should even want the 'troublesome' Soft Close Doors Option. This has failed on every MB I have owned with that feature installed. The vacuum actuators inside the door panel will eventually fail, (possibly multiple times), making this option highly unreliable over time. Furthermore these 'actuator failures' are quite expensive to repair post-warranty. I must also say that 231's without the soft door close option shut very easily with a nice solid 'thunk sound'. Bottom Line here is that I recommend a 'pass' on the 231 soft close doors option!




.

rorywquin

That sounds as bad as wearing a suit and shoes without socks or with white socks.......

rorywquin

I really struggle to understand the point of the soft close doors....Pull the door partly closed and then let go so it closes itself? Why? You have to put your had on the door to make it close - just pull it all they way.

rorywquin

Brown interiors belong in the 60s and 70s........

Streamliner

Tell that to Aston-Martin! Here’s a photo of their brand new SUV.

Streamliner

Well, that’s why they make them OPTIONAL. Those who like them can get them and those who don’t can pass.

Streamliner

I used to buy all my clothes at Nordstrom. Fantastic, John W. Nordstrom, 100% Egyptian Cotton dress shirts, etc. The sales people were dressed professionally and it felt good to be there. Today, all the dress shirts are “no iron” crap, most cut so slim that only a teenager or drug addict can wear them and the idiot sales people are dressed like clowns at a circus. I was there with my wife the other day and there was this employee in a suit, with 6” of a bare ankle showing, wearing no socks and what appeared to be something like Gucci bedroom slippers. Fashion is one thing, but throwing any measure of good taste out the window, is a real turn off. Don’t even get me started on the tattoo & piercing covered “artists” in the makeup departments. Oh well, guess I’m getting too old!

allfortheunion

See Paul McCartney, the Beatles rooftop concert 1969.

Wolfman

Bob advocates against soft close doors without any evidence of issues on the R231's. Same non-sense as the usual opinions about ABC that occurred on other, always older models. Luckily, technology and engineering doesn't stand still and people can choose to spend money on these optional features...

In answer to your question, it simply helps when people don't like to slam their doors. Some people can't resist or don't know better and will slam doors on any car but a soft-close door assists the closing on the last inch or so. I end up pulling door lightly and the doors/windows just close and seal.
More common on sedans and developed originally for the W140 to assist closing the then very heavy doors (due to the dual pane windows). I always found it to be a rather elegant option.
As to reliability, we have had them since our W140 in the early nineties and on two of our R231 SL's. Zero issues to date. It's easy to live without but also a cheap option.

Just FYI, the soft-close works better on the facelift model as the first gen R231had to close the door and windows before you could initiate locking...

Streamliner

With my old Corvette memories, if the doors were slammed enough, the door panels would come loose, fiberglass mounts would break off, etc. I remember way back then, schooling my girlfriends to NOT slam the doors. When I would **** one off and KNEW she was going to slam the door, I would reach over and try to soften the blow.
So, I am still that way, especially on a convertible, without the full window frames. Having the Soft Close Door option, I try not to never slam the doors on my SL, as it is just one more way to keep the car as close to new as possible for as long as possible.

bob55

Fact is Wolf, I have direct experience with multiple failures of the 'Soft Close Doors'. It's failed for me on (3) S-500's, a CL500, twice on a CL55 I still own, and twice it failed on my previous 230 Series, an SL500. I was therefore very glad to find a 231 without that option!

The fact that YOU have NOT experienced a 'soft close' failure on YOUR 231 does absolutely nothing to alter my opinion regarding 'the unreliability' of the Soft Close Door option. From what I gather, you trade MB's rather frequently, while I tend to keep mine for 10-years or more! That difference in ownership time, plus the aforementioned direct experience is why I will choose to shy away from 'soft close doors' for any future MB purchases whenever possible, and advise others to do the same.

The part that ususally fails is known as an "actuator', and according to my MB Service Adviser, the very same type of actuators are used inside the door panels as in the past, so I see no reason to believe this option is any more reliable now that it has proven to be in my previous MB vehicles. The same may apply for 231 ABC I suppose, but since so few 231's even have that option, it will be more difficult to ascertain the long term reliability of ABC on the 231.. We know quite a bit regarding the reliability of ABC on the 230 however! Like so many others, I incurred a very expensive ABC repair during my time of 230 ownership. Maybe it's better now, or perhaps not, nobody can say for sure. What is apparent is that MB Dealers are still hesitant to order it, or recommend the option even now, in 2019. That's surprising, as there seems to be evidence of increased demand for ABC based on what I see on this forum. .

While I appreciate your knowledge and contributions to this forum Wolfman, in this particular case there simply isn't credible evidence, (or any kind of statistics), you can present that would even suggest that either of the (2) options mentioned are 'more reliable now', than in the past. You offer only your 'personal opinion', which clearly differs greatly from my own 'direct experience' with 'Soft Close Doors'.

Accordingly, it's best that we simply 'agree to disagree' on the subject of Soft Close Door reliability. For rest assured, I'll continue believe my own 'long term failure experiences' over your short term, 'no failure' opinion' on the subject. IMO, nobody really needs the 'Soft Close Doors' option anyway, as 231's without it. close very easily with a reassuring soft 'thud'. This option is likely to be a lot more trouble down the road than it's actually worth as a 231 'convenience option' .Perhaps the only exception would be those like you Wolf.. A 'short term' new 231 Owner! . .

Wolfman

We are all here to share our experiences! So we are bound to have different opinions

I do consider the lack of a particular issue on this forum as credible evidence. The car has been around for seven years by now and if nobody reports a problem, that is a pretty good reference to me. I also have a little personal experience with these as we have had three of them from the get-go and are also have good insides from the place of manufacture.

Products do improve over time and are revisioned to fix prior failures. For that reason issues on prior models are irrelevant to me. In 1999, all 2000 S-Class models used a flawed water-based paint process which turned virtually all of these cars into rust buckets. This will not prevent me from buying a new S-Class or worry about the cars rusting...
This is not to belittle the issues you have experienced but I feel they are blanket statements and not model-specific.

You are right, we have changed the way we buy and keep cars due to the rapid change in technology. Depreciation has also accelerated. Cars are more complex than ever before and more things will break over time. That's natural. You also can't wrench these like the old days. So switching them more often has become the safer approach for us.