RTC63

Well...I guess I need to start bashing the SL63 as well:

Drove yesterday (Saturday) on the Autobahn, my car is already broken in, it has slightly over 1900 km. Had driven over a distance of 200 km before and car was running smoothly and fast.
At a speed of around 205 kph, the power was suddenly cut off completely (!), which could have been very dangerous in a sharp Autobahn curve and the engine control indicator "lamp" (orange) came on.
Engine was running pretty rough as well, even at idle.
I stopped, opened the front hood to check for any traces of liquids/damages but didn't notice anything.
After restarting the engine, everything was OK again, the orange engine control "lamp" was off as well.

Drove another 20 km, everything worked great again, even at higher speeds but then, again, the power was cut off at around 205-215 kph and that orange warning "lamp" came on again, engine was running rough again, even at idle.

I stopped, waited 5 minutes, restarted the engine and this time, the orange "lamp" didn't go off but the engine felt OK again and the car accelerated just fine.
I avoided higher speeds or full acceleration from that moment on.

Went home, used an OBD scanner to check for error codes and got P0300, P0301, P302 and P0303. The cylinders are misfiring for whatever reason.

Tomorrow I will bring the car to the dealer but I am pissed. New car. Never had similar issues with a new car and I had owned over 25 cars in my life, including some high performance cars.

My car was standing at a German dealership for almost a year, maybe something happened with the fuel or the sparks or whatever during that time but no matter what the reason is, it shouldn't have happened.

I just hope it is a minor issue, maybe it is even only a software issue (there were several updates for the car since my car was produced in end of March 2023) but judging by my luck lately, I am afraid it could be something serious. It really sucks what happened because we had the first very warm and sunny weekend in Germany this year and I really looked forward to enjoy the car but today (Sunday), I was too scared to drive it because of that OBD warning light. I'm sad, I'm mad and I am very disappointed. Will keep you updated...

The worst part is: It will, from past experiences with AMG cars, take the dealership several tries to find the problem. Had a E63 Edition 1 and a similar issue at some point (after 10000 km or so) and apparently it was a faulty ECU (as far as I remember). They gave the car back to me twice before that final diagnosis without having actually fixed anything.

Streamliner

Yes, could have been very dangerous. I was driving my 2022 S580 sedan in bumper to bumper traffic on a busy highway. Everything was fine, then all of a sudden, I get the RED warning on the screen to pull over and charge the battery. Within a few seconds after the message came up, before I could even change lanes, the entire car shut down. Even the emergency flashers would not work. My car backed up traffic for miles. People were screaming at me. Finally the tow truck came, the car was towed to the dealer where they had it for THIRTY DAYS. The car was repurchased by MBUSA a few months afterwards. I hate to think what might have happened if this had taken place on a high speed freeway at night. Best of luck with your situation.

California John

Please keep us informed as to what exactly the issue is and the resolution available. This particular problem I haven't seen, but it certainly may be the case that it has something to do with the car sitting for a year.

RTC63

Mechanic says that he doesn't believe it has something to do with the car sitting at that dealership for almost a year. He suspects the ignition coils injectors (sorry, I remembered he mentioned the injectors as the most likely issue due to the G63 experience) because they had this issue with lots(!) of G63 lately and the engine is apparently the same, they barely sold SL63 (large FACTORY dealership, actually the dealership where AMG often kept their prototypes hidden here in Germany, driving them at night).

While my car is there, they will apply ALL available software updates to the control units, incl. the ECU and MBUX. Just to make sure this isn't a possible issue.

They gave me a brand new (83 km) CLE200 as a loaner until my car is fixed, quite nice but I wish it had a V8 in it. Of course this is not the car I expected as an AMG customer but at least it isn't a crappy Diesel stationwagon or whatever.

I'll keep you guys updated. I hope the car is ready until next weekend but the software updates alone take ONE whole day according to the mechanic, so I'm not very optimistic.

W205C43PFL

Best of luck getting this resolved and the V8 back in your hands, thank you for keeping us posted.

You mentioned you like the CLE (quite nice) what specifically do you like about it or find that it is quite nice? Curious.

RTC63

Thank you. I really hope this is nothing serious and that I get the car before the next weekend. So far, they haven't even moved the car (I can tell from the Mercedes Me app), so...a little bit of disappointment here but I guess I came unannounced and they need to find the time to work on my car.

The CLE is nice because it looks/feels very "compact", it is difficult to explain. I just wish they'd put a V8 engine into this small thing. It looks better than expected live (the loaner is black with black wheels and tinted windows in the rear), it drives quite nicely (steering is very direct, even in comfort mode) and interior quality seems to be pretty good as well.

W205C43PFL

Yup : ) Hopefully you are back on the road with the V8 soon : )

Thank you for sharing your impressions of the CLE.

Mike P

R232 forum members:
It is true I do NOT own a R232 ( I do own 11 other SL cars starting with a 1956 thru 2015) which apparently confuses a few people why I follow this forum. I initially was going to place an order form the SL63Se, not I'm not so sure. Several of us, me included, have been admonished to NOT criticize the R232. Forums like this provide much needed information to owners and also potential buyers. Should perspective buyers ask the MB sales rep for "objective" information??

These cars are a disaster!!! I'm friends with a MB dealership owner, the disaster label is not in dispute. Consumer Reports puts MB ahead of one single company, Stellantis. Sad. Instead of pleading for no bashing, write a letter to MB or invoke lemon law. Forum members are not the problem, it's the cars. My first SL was a 1986........tremendous quality and reliability. **** poor management and engineering caused the quality decline and rapid depreciation, not forums.

MB2timer

My R232 is my 3rd MB.
I had a 300 sedan,
Slk 320 R171
And now, my SL.
I am very satisfied with it so far.
I love sitting in it.
I love driving it.
I love looking at it.
I love getting it clean.
I love going to and from my J. O. B. with it.
I don’t love making it a daily driver, but right now I am addicted to it.
I am making an extra effort to only take it out on dry days though.
No success with that goal yet.
I ran into some pea sized hail this evening, it was forecast, but I thought I would be home before it hit.
The forecast also included an estimate for tennis ball hail…YIKES!
I only got halfway home before it hit.
Kind of scary, a downpour, and I almost couldn’t see 1 car length in front, and couldn’t hardly see the lane stripes.
I was worried, that because I could only crawl along, that I would get rear ended.
Thankfully I got into the garage no worse for the wear.

Streamliner

I mentioned this over on the W223 S Class forum: One of the very worst issues right now, is the way many—if not most—MB dealer service departments are absolutely overwhelmed trying to deal with all the problems plaguing new models launched for MY21 & later. They appear to be in “triage” mode, doing whatever they can to simply get the cars out the door. About the only issues they pay attention to are those that actually render the vehicles unusable. If the door handles are not popping out as they should or the MBUX keeps losing all your settings or the haptic controls on the steering wheel don’t work, you can pretty much forget about seeing those issues attended to. The SA’s are pulling their hair out and I’ve heard from more than one of them, off the record, in hushed conversations that they have never seen anything like it is now. I’ve also had one tell me that the last decent vehicles produced by MB were made in 2020.

Wolfman

Since dealers make most of their money in the Service, they would be in seventh heaven.
I don’t see that with MB but we can see that the new Fisker Oceans software issues has sunk the company…

Fastcars1969

This is just one dealership? Who gets rid of 22 and 23 vehicles, the loss here is really hard to fathom.

https://www.mercedeshoffman.com/used...%2520Pre-Owned

drgek

That dealership is around 20 miles from my home. I think they buy a ton of cars at auction; they were sitting on a boatload of G-wagens as the market was collapsing on those. They are part of Zeigler Automotive Group which has about 30 dealerships representing about two dozen manufacturers scattered throughout Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Indiana.

Took my SL55 in for a software update recall and found out when I was there that they can do the fuel pump at this time also. Hoping to get it back before the 76 degrees/sunshine forecast for the Chicago area this weekend, but I'm not counting on it. They gave me a GLE 53 as a loaner. Nicest auto loaner I've ever had.

RTC63

Update on my misfiring issue with the SL63: So far, they haven't found...anything.

Mechanic called and asked me if I remember at what rpm the first "incident" happened? Seriously? They have the rpm in the Freeze Frame from the ECU (I used an OBD scanner before I brought the car to the dealer). So why are they asking such a stupid question? I told them "around 6000 rpm" because this is how I remember it, speed was around 200 kph but again, the date (rpm and speed when the first incident occured) were in the OBD Freeze Frame. So weird.

Then, another weird thing: An AMG expert from Berlin(!)...I don't have a clue who in Berlin would be involved because AMG is in Affalterbach near Stuttgart, probably an engineer in his home office or whatever...told the mechanic to work on some sort of check list for the issue.
They came up with nothing so far.

Then, I told them that the car was parked at a dealer for almost a year because it didn't sell. The mechanic told me he didn't know this (WHY NOT? WHAT THE HECK??? The car's data shows that it was manufactured March 2023 and sold new March 2024). He told me that it could explain a few things.

Not sure what they are doing to my car right now but I get the feeling that I am going to get it back without any major repairs done. I also get the feeling that I will encounter this issue again (this happened with my former E63 Edition 1, similar issue, ECU was defective and they exchanged it after 3 repair attempts and the issue went away) and I will end up at the dealership again.

I had so many cars before...BMW...Audi...Porsche...Lamborghini. Always had those misfiring issues with AMG only. I don't get it. Aren't they aware they seem to have a problem which occurs over and over again? If the same issues occur all the time, why don't they do something about it?!

Former C63 S Convertible (last gen) had battery issues. Also, the car always smelled of fuel (garage) and it lost coolant all the time. Problem was never fixed, it was a lease and I just returned it back after 3 years.

I just hope that I am more lucky this time. Had a GLC 63 S AMG as well and this car had ZERO issues. Also owned a C63 S AMG (the last 6.2 l n/a engine), the powerkit version with 487 hp and SLS tech. No issues at all. I still regret selling this car, it was so much fun to drive and it sounded amazing.

W205C43PFL

Ugh, I am so sorry : ( Do they have superseded injector part numbers showing up in EPC? it is hard to imagine they still use the same injectors that had been causing issues.

trikoid

They buy a ton of Lemon Title cars, especially out of California, which is why there are so many, and why the prices are lower.

its not just them either. If you go to cars.com or Car Gurus, and do an SL search, selecting “clean titles only” gets rid of way more than half the cars.

Tifoso48

From what you describe this sounds very much like a failing fuel pump, which is a known issue and for which there is a recall campaign.

The identical situation happened to me ( obviously at lower speeds), even before the recall was called.

My dealership identified the problem as a fuel pump problem and replaced the fuel pump under warranty.

" knock on wood", I have not had a reoccurrence since.

Good luck!

RTC63

Indeed. It was very likely the fuel pump and maybe a clogged fuel filter.

They exchanged the fuel pump (recall was pending anyway) , the fuel filter and did some "cleaning", don't know what this means.

They also updated all control units they can update at the dealership, it took them a whole day.

MBUX was also updated to the latest version (445.201, I had 329.xxx before).

I can be wrong by I think the update messed up my Burmester 3D High End settings, need to redo the setup.

Drove 400 km last weekend and car is perfect. I mean PERFECT. Very fast, the torque is just breathtaking.

Stability in curves is also amazing, there is very little body movement (still more than I want, I am used to a Lamborghini Huracan Performante ) and the aerodynamics package is amazing in very fast Autobahn curves. Did the same at speeds way over 125 mph in a car without aero package and the difference is really quite amazing. The car is much more planted, it is difficult to explain.

I had to be careful on the Autobahn, my tire pressure is set up for speeds up to 250 kph but twice, I just accelerated from around 150 kph and ended up at 290 kph in a blink of an eye, it was just stunning how fast the car goes towards 300 kph.

Fuel consumption was surprisingly low, drove a lot of full throttle on the Autobahn, up to 250 kph (tire pressure) and average fuel consumption was 20 liters / 100 km. Expected more...

I can drive the car under 13 l / 100 km in C mode if I do not drive faster than 160 kph.

Another interesting thing: My favorite mode to drive is RACE. Very neutral setup, much better for fast (and safe) driving that S+.

CarGuySince8

Have owned my '23 SL 63 for a month. This car is simply incredible. Period! Owned a '14 911 4S for 10 years --- for what I value, the new MB wins hands down.

Great V8 sound and torque, incredible interior, beautiful exterior, great tech. Clean sheet design and I think they nailed it. "Talking heads" compare it to past SL's --- I also own a 2009 SL 550 Silver Arrow - and to 911's. This SL is just a wonderfully balanced car. 3.1 to 60; 1/4 in the low 11's, lateral g's at 1.03 and luxurious as anything out there. Is the MSRP a bit too high ... yes. Supply and demand sorts it out and this is absolutely a $170 new car +/-.

Have had 1 quality issue --- noise in the front end when parking. Germain MB in Columbus diagnosed as a set of sub-frame bolts that needed to be torqued up. Problem fixed in a couple of days and they went above and beyond to "make it right". They "get it"!

So early days for me but very happy. Alternatives are the C8 --- a great car but not what I wanted and the 911 --- which is great on a track and at 4,000 + RPM's --- but sounds like garbage when you start it up.

Last point --- a lot of information out there about this car that is just "BS" --- best example is the complaint about how to raise and lower the top on the screen. There is a physical button front & center -- push it twice --- not very complicated but seems to be for many of the talking heads.

So balance --- I think the car is terrific and the one problem I have had was researched and resolved in a very satisfactory way.

RJC

loose sub frame bolts on a brand new car especially of this caliber is very disconcerting - glad they located and fixed the issue.

khiroshima

Congratulations, I'm in a similar boat
Just turned over 1k miles and still haven't launched, but that's not why I bought the car . . . I also come from a '14 911, mine was a tuned Turbo; it was wicked fast with a Sharkwerks exhaust, I then moved from that 911 to a "worse" car, a '19 Aston Martin Vantage (also a hated car by prior year owners) . . . I loved it! The stock sound was intoxicating and the lines are beautiful, yet later added a Velocity AP exhaust and was in heaven. Time to time . . . I was told that the Aston was a worse car than the Turbo, mostly by folks who had owned neither. The SL63, is a completely different car (than both of those). gorgeous at every angle and riveting. I had an initial concerns with low starter battery messages, that has been resolved (other posts here on MBWorld) and outside of that, the Merc has been without flaw. Are there a couple things that I wish were different? Sure

Agree, this car is INCREDIBLE and too expensive. The other day, I bought my son and I $13 (each) milkshakes . . . an OUTRAGEOUS sum for shake . . . and like the SL63, I bought them anyway and enjoyed every moment of the experience-- Cheers, KH

RTC63

I owned over 14 Porsche cars in my life and a Lamborghini Huracan Performante (my favorite car EVER) and I still enjoy my SL63 a lot and wouldn't want another car as a daily driver. It is perfect...IF I'm not plagued by any issues. The misfiring isssue I had (fixed...fuel pump, fuel filter, software updates...not sure what did the trick) was quite annoying for a NEW car but I try not to think about it anymore.
I love the car, it is fast, sounds great and is fun to drive. Also looks great. Period.

khiroshima

Sorry to hear about your bad luck, I had no intention minimize your SL experience; I too hope your car issues are behind you
100% agree that these things should not occur in a new car, drive in good health-- KH

RJC

Btw, I hope there’s been no talk of strikes at the factory as like in the 90’s when the workers were pissed, the new at the time S class sedans were being intentionally sabotaged. How do I know? My dealer at the time Service Director was my weekend golfing buddy and he showed me what they were doing to the cars. Not cool.

Fastcars1969

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