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It feels good to have a car such as the SL. The only car I have ever owned that I am genuinely happy to drive each time I get in and push the start button. That is saying something considering I have owned Porsche, BMW, LandRover and numerous other Mercedes and Euro vehicles in my life.The only thing I love more than driving it is looking back at it when I walk away. So many memories and smiles are with these miles. Multiple states, multiple beaches, multiple trips, multiple vacations and endless highways. I hope that you find as much pleasure in driving your SL over the years like I have when driving mine. No matter how many miles you have, or how much your drive it is the last of a true icon, so get out there and drive!
Last edited by ThatsMyDawg; Jan 24, 2024 at 04:52 PM.
2015 SL400 (M276 Turbo), 2014 C350 Sport (M276 NA), 2004 SL500 (M113), 2004 Audi TT225 (BEA)
Congrats! You beat me y 110,000 miles. Good to know what I have to look forward to. And I agree, one of the best cars I've owned, though I still have a soft spot for my 2004 Audi TT225. How do you like the tune you got for your SL?
Yep, you have many more great times in front of you! I too have liked some other cars I have had in my life, but none have made me this happy. Remember this was my dream car since a teenager.(the SL model at that time) As for the tune I love it. I forget I have it honestly and just think I'm in a 63, or 550 lol. Funny I have tried to get a Dyno twice by two different shops now and they both ended up canceling on me. One canceled while my car was on the Dyno and the machine literally broke and the other shop canceled the night before because the only Dyno guy was still out sick. I just SMH and never called either of them back. The one shop was super unprofessional, but I wont go into that now..
Gonna try once more to get the car dyned in DE, or NJ (both are close to me)
Stay tuned....(no pun intended lol)
Originally Posted by JettaRed
Congrats! You beat me y 110,000 miles. Good to know what I have to look forward to. And I agree, one of the best cars I've owned, though I still have a soft spot for my 2004 Audi TT225. How do you like the tune you got for your SL?
Last edited by ThatsMyDawg; Jul 24, 2023 at 08:00 AM.
Yep, you have many more great times in front of you! I too have liked some other cars I have had in my life, but none have made me this happy. Remember this was my dream car since a teenager. As for the tune I love it. I forget I have it honestly and just think I'm in a 63, or 550 lol. Funny I have tried to get a Dyno twice by two different shops now and they both ended up canceling on me. One canceled while my car was on the Dyno and the machine literally broke and the other shop canceled the night before because the only Dyno guy was still out sick. I just SMH and never called either of them back. The one shop was super unprofessional, but I wont go into tat now..
Gonna try once more to get the car dyned in DE, or NJ (both are close to me)
Stay tuned....
Congrats on reaching 150K!
Did you have any snags along the way... things the rest of us should look out for?
I believe I have the same engine (M276), so any info./advice you can pass along will be much appreciated.
Thanks!
Snags? Hmmmmmm.
A few years ago I had the chain tensor/camshaft adjuster issue that many have had. MB was able to remove and replace those, although it took them a very long time to figure out what the tapping was. There is a TSB about it that covered certain Vin#s. My AM warranty covered those repairs anyway. You will know you have that issue when you have an engine tapping sound at cold start ups that last a few seconds and then goes away. The sound will only happen at cold start ups and not if you start the car again after the car is already warm.
I had my oil pump replaced at the time of the tensioner work. Pump Cost? $663, but not sure of labor for the pump install alone. I looked and found the paper work and they had 1 tensioner on there in with the total and a lot of labor charge. The pump was covered under warranty. They replaced the oil pump as they thought that was what was causing the problem, but shortly thereafter found out it was all the adjusters and tensioners. All covered under warranty.
Factor MB AMG 5 star wheels that had cracks. Sometimes the cracks are small enough that you are not having air loss, but you can easily inspect your wheels for those cracks in your driveway by taking off each wheel and looking on the inside of each wheel. Cracks do not fix themselves and only get worse over time, which can lead to loss of air, wheel wobble, and or complete wheel failure.
Lastly, I had a slight oil leak at the engine cover seals. The leak was not big enough to make it to the ground, or even down the side of the engine, but it was visible at the seals. MB spotted the leak during one of their routine safety inspection before they did an oil change. This was also repaired under warranty, as they had the seals off while working on the tensioners prior.
Other than normal wear items etc. there is nothing more to say.
That's about it..
Originally Posted by hornethandler
Congrats on reaching 150K!
Did you have any snags along the way... things the rest of us should look out for?
I believe I have the same engine (M276), so any info./advice you can pass along will be much appreciated.
Thanks!
Last edited by ThatsMyDawg; Jan 24, 2024 at 05:03 PM.
Snags? Hmmmmmm.
A few years ago I had the chain tensor issue that many have had. MB was able to remove and replace those, although it took them a very long time to figure out what the tapping was. There is a TSB about it that covered certain Vin#s. My AM warranty covered those repairs anyway. You will know you have that issue when you have an engine tapping sound at cold start ups that last a few seconds and then goes away. The sound will only happen at cold start ups and not if you start the car again after the car is already warm.
Factor MB AMG 5 star wheels that had cracks. Sometimes the cracks are small enough that you are not having air loss, but you can easily inspect your wheels for those cracks in your driveway by taking off each wheel and looking on the inside of each wheel. Cracks do not fix themselves and only get worse over time, which can lead to loss of air, wheel wobble, and or complete wheel failure.
Lastly, I had a slight oil leak at the engine gaskets. The leak was not big enough to make it to the ground, or even down the side of the engine, but it was visible at the seals. MB spotted the leak during one of their routine safety inspection before they did an oil change. This was also repaired under warranty, as they had the gaskets off while working on the tesoners prior.
Other than normal wear items etc. there is nothing more to say.
That's about it..
Thanks for getting back. That's all very reassuring and I hope you log another 150K. I'm at 20K or so and hope to put on many more.
My hat is off to you!! We have the same model so I am feeling better about keeping ours with no warranty. Would you be kind enough to enumerate any issues you have had with yours and how much they cost to resolve? The only one I have had so far out of warranty was a leaking hydraulic line in the trunk. It wasn't cheap but didn't break the bank.
Again, congrats and I wish you many more miles of Happy Motoriing!
Thank you. As far as your questions, I just copied and posted my response to an earlier post to answer you, but I also added in the cost.
ThatsMyDawg
A few years ago I had the chain tensioners/cam shaft adjuster issues that many have had. MB was able to remove and replace those, although it took them a very long time to figure out what the tapping was. There is a TSB about the tensioners and, or adjusters that covered certain Vin#s. My AM warranty covered those repairs anyway. You will know you have that issue when you have an engine tapping sound at cold start ups that last a few seconds and then goes away. The sound will only happen at cold start ups and not if you start the car again after the car is already warm. Solution? R&R. Cost? Around $11k (warranty)
I had my oil pump replaced at the time of the tensioner work. Pump Cost? $663, but not sure of labor for the pump install alone. I looked and found the paper work and they had 1 tensioner on there in with the total and a lot of labor charge. The pump was covered under warranty. They replaced that before they did all the other work and found out it was all the adjusters and tensioners.
Factor MB AMG 5 star wheels that had cracks. Sometimes the cracks are small enough that you are not having air loss, but you can easily inspect your wheels for those cracks in your driveway by taking off each wheel and looking on the inside of each wheel. Cracks do not fix themselves and only get worse over time, which can lead to loss of air, wheel wobble, and or complete wheel failure. Solution? Replaced OEM wheels with after market wheels. Cost? Approximately $2k for all four AM wheels. Cost to replace just one OEM AMG wheel at MB? $1,200
Lastly, I had a slight oil leak at the engine cover seals. The leak was not big enough to make it to the ground, or even down the side of the engine, but it was visible at the seals. MB spotted the leak during one of their routine safety inspection before they did an oil change. This was also repaired under warranty, as they had the seals off while working on the tensioners prior. Solution? R&R seals. Cost? I can’t remember I don’t have that MB paperwork handy, (I’ll keep looking) but it was covered under warranty.
That's about it.
Originally Posted by rmorin49
My hat is off to you!! We have the same model so I am feeling better about keeping ours with no warranty. Would you be kind enough to enumerate any issues you have had with yours and how much they cost to resolve? The only one I have had so far out of warranty was a leaking hydraulic line in the trunk. It wasn't cheap but didn't break the bank.
Again, congrats and I wish you many more miles of Happy Motoriing!
Last edited by ThatsMyDawg; Jul 24, 2023 at 07:52 AM.
Not cheap, but in my case it has more than paid for itself.
There are difference levels of coverage at different costs.
Nothing is cheap until it’s time for you to use it. IMO
My out of pocket cost for repairs thus far was two $100 deductibles.
FYI- there was a site sponsor that offered an AM warranty. Can’t remember their name, or if they are still a sponsor, but they use to post about the warranty services they sold all the time. .
Originally Posted by rmorin49
Thanks very much. Great info. May I ask about your AM warranty? Source/cost?
Last edited by ThatsMyDawg; Jul 24, 2023 at 04:26 AM.
Congrats on the milestone! The M276 V6 is the most reliable MB engine, by far, in easily more than the past 20 years, when the trouble-prone M272 was launched.
They knew that we had purchased 4 Mercedes over the last 7 years and I told them I would not be coming back for any service, or new car purchases if they screwed around ha ha. There were fees on other invoices though.
I actually thinks it’s because my car was with them so long that they felt guilty is likely the reason for no misc shop supplies. That and the pretty sizable grand total. Who knows??
I don't get to drive black beauty as much anymore, basically twice per week. I drive my work truck most times and it is just a matter of time before real winter with its salt, snow and ice kicks in here in Maryland. When that happens it will be the end of the SL driving season for me. Until then I still get to enjoy cruising. Well, that is until the daily Honda, BMW, Subaru, etc. feels the need to tailgate and drive aggressively around me. Must be hard driving around feeling so insecure about every car that is nicer than yours.. Oh well, Enjoy your SL, get out and drive it and enjoy the weekend!
2015 SL400 (M276 Turbo), 2014 C350 Sport (M276 NA), 2004 SL500 (M113), 2004 Audi TT225 (BEA)
My son lives in Parkville and when we go to visit, we usually take the C350, just in case we want to all go in one car somewhere. The Bal'more drivers are almost as bad as Massachusetts drivers, though not quite. Of course, violent crime is so much worse in Bal-tee-more, you don't want to **** off the guy next to you. The beltway is absolutely a nightmare during evening rush. The thing about a black SL, however, is that the other guy doesn't know if you're a criminal or not.
I see it daily. If you notice the very bad drivers/street racers almost always have dark tinted windows and or paper temp tags. Take a look when you see the terrible driving and you will see. Not always, but most times.
I was with you with your post until you mentioned the criminal thing. Not sure where you were going, or what you meant??
Originally Posted by JettaRed
My son lives in Parkville and when we go to visit, we usually take the C350, just in case we want to all go in one car somewhere. The Bal'more drivers are almost as bad as Massachusetts drivers, though not quite. Of course, violent crime is so much worse in Bal-tee-more, you don't want to **** off the guy next to you. The beltway is absolutely a nightmare during evening rush. The thing about a black SL, however, is that the other guy doesn't know if you're a criminal or not.
Ahhhhh, yep that totally makes sense. All this time I swore you had a Red SL. Like I am actually shocked you have a black one. I didn't know that...Great minds and all....
I am telling you, if you pay attention as you are driving you will see that 85% of the time paper tags and or dark tint will equal aggressive and stupid driving.
Originally Posted by JettaRed
Because black SLs look too good to be legal, especially when they are clean. (I have a black SL, not red.)
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