I am someone who has experienced both the good and the bad with the r232. The model year situation was/is ridiculous. I originally ordered a 2023 which was built and arrived in early 2023, and then held at the vehicle prep center for months. Eventually I purchased a new 2022 that my dealer located out of state. The 2023 I originally ordered didn’t arrive at the dealer for another 2 months. My car is subject to the fuel pump recall, but the part is still not available. I have had issues with the battery enough times to start a lemon law buy back. As much of an inconvenience it has been to bring back the car multiple times, I have not been brushed off by the dealer or MBUSA. On each of the three trips, there have been multiple software updates and some mechanical tweaks. MBUSA has combed through the vehicle logs and worked with the dealer. If it were not for the continuous effort by MB, I would have started the lemon law process. I have had the car back for about a month and the latest fix seems to be holding. As an early adopter, I don’t expect everything to be perfect. I hope that my willingness to let the dealer and MBUSA work on my car has helped them find the problem and come up with a solution for others. I just wanted folks to know that MB is not totally sticking its head in the sand. I came back to the brand solely because of the r232. Will I buy another MB, probably not, but until another shiny object catches my eye, I will continue to enjoy my SL.

 

You know, I can walk into a BMW shop with 100-150K budget and actually have attractive choices. I would actually have fun. I can't do that with Mercedes...period. As for the Chinese virus fiasco, "the best or nothing" was not alone. BMW, Porsche and others faced the similar issues and yet here we are. Heck, some brands are stronger now than ever. Mercedes...not, memories of Chrysler merger but only worse IMO.

 

Very well said.

 

I have my disappointments, but overall, I love my 2022 AMG SL63. In 2023, I drove this out the dealer brand new, with 10 miles on it. Perfect for about a month. Then the gremlins started bugging the car.

1) First was a module related SOS and to software updates has to be ordered from Germany. But without an ETA. After I escalated the issue with the dealership, the GM intervened to get an ETA and resolution. This kept the car at the dealership for about 15 days. Thank G for the loaner.

2) Couple months later, in eco mode at traffic stop failed to start the car. Worst nightmare on a busy street. After a few retries, car eventually started. (key fob has new battery). Brought to dealership but scans failed to detect anything amiss. Failing to start from eco mode has been a stressful experience, it doesnt happen many times, but it happens at the most unexpected situations. ( ie, for gods sakes, why not just dont start before I leave the house,@#$%! ). Recall issues have been addressed with required updates.

3) Main bug lately has been the eco mode causing delayed and missed starts. Lately when turning eco off, it wont! Later, it does!

4) Other electrical, configuration nuances.

I love this car, it just probably assembled from bad lot, who knows, but, I'd look forward to another model probably.
Of the five MB's that I had, the least troublesome was my 2015 SLK350, never had an issue, fun to drive. The worst was my 2007 ML500, mechanical issues galore. My 2018 GLC 63 was doing great, but it got totalled ; (. Replaced with 2020 GLC 63, but tires woreout less than 10K, had to replace all four tire twice, and I drive conservatively. So I got into a well deserved 2022 AMG SL63 -- a car that makes me happy and stressed at the same time. Wow, its like getting married again.

See you guys around.

 

RE: I have my disappointments, but overall, I love my 2022 AMG SL63. In 2023, I drove this out the dealer brand new, with 10 miles on it. Perfect for about a month. Then the gremlins started bugging the car.

Update:

Dealer diagnostics didnt detect any of the problems i've been having. So far car's been behaving nicely.

 

Update: I have almost 8000 km in my SL63 AMG now (I have the car slightly over 2 months now, got it new). No more issues since the 2000 km run-in service (had a misfiring cylinder, they did a couple of software updates and put in a new fuel pump/fuel filter).
I had one small issue once, I wasn't able to activate the sport exhaust, not even in Race (where activation is "standard") but it went away the moment I connected an OBD reader to my car. Tried to read an error, there was none, removed the OBD reader and the issue was gone and it never happened again. Weird. Drove over 1000 km to Italy and back to Germany, no issues, car is amazing. Got that communications moduel update while sitting in a traffic jam on the Italian Autostrada.

 

As reported previously I had a marathon update/recall day with 7 recall items being taken care of at the same time.

That was about two weeks ago.

Knock on wood, since then the car has behaved absolutely flawlessly, no battery alarms at all.

The only thing I do as a matter of habit by now, I double lock the car and keep the key a good distance away.

All I can say I am enjoying driving my car tremendously.

 

I'm happy to report that it has been months since I have received a critical battery message. I think the software updates finally fixed the issue. Based on the average miles per gallon, I definitely do not drive it in Comfort mode.

 

You mileage looks better than mine!

 

I know, so let's start with the roast... I paid $15K over sticker back in 10/22 and leased an R232 SL 55 .. I've somewhat had it with the car after my 11th recall. The car had also been sidelined for 5 months due to re-engineering of the fuel tank as a projectile fell off a truck and went under my car denting fuel lines and fuel tank. They refused to offer me a rental or cover lease payments during that time. In fact the only reason I got a new fuel tank was via blasting the C suite at AMG on Linkedin, imagine that I got a fuel tank a week later (after 100 plus days of waiting and sourcing through three continents). The voucher program had me somewhat relieved to get some compensation for the **** show that has been this car; however I just got notified "Update fuel system control unit software" for another campaign to fulfill before any voucher.

All that to say any advice on how to get out of this car? I got to imagine there has to be a legal precedent for this or I somehow hit the wrong lottery. Much appreciated

 

I miss my Lexus as well, but that’s another story.

Forgetting the gas tank damage caused by others, depending on the Lemon Laws in your state, I would definitely look into getting MBUSA to repurchase your car. In California where I live, it would pretty much be slam dunk. Best of luck to you. The previous model SL was just SO much better!

 

Yikes that breaks my heart is like the car is dismantled. There was another instance but it was a W223 that had to be taken apart like that. https://mbworld.org/forums/s-class-w...ml#post9006278

​​​​​Hopefully the car is back in working order or lemon law works out for you.

 

Interesting.. so I'll be fully transparent .. the accident has me at fault due to me not saying "projectile" on initial insurance report. The incident occurred in Arizona and the fuel tank repair was facilitated in Arizona.. and when I submitted for a buyback in August of last year I was denied based on Arizona standards. However I purchased the car in California... do I need to resubmit for repurchase in California through MBUSA or just file a lemon law claim in CA? COULD IT BE THAT SIMPLE TO SAVE MY SANITY?


And yes the previous SL contained class and elegance with sophistication.

 

I've been a lover of ALL SL models until the R232 disaster. The 11 recalls are quite unfortunate to say the least. In all fairness, the gas tank damage is not germane, the recalls are very valid.

The old rule of "never burn a bridge" is unbeknownst to MB. Having clients beta test their cars is going to be felt for years in declining sales. The management is clueless and should resign in disgrace.

I miss the MB from 30 years ago

 

Very well said. We currently have three MB’s and it’s been that way for many years. My first new MB was a 1979 450SL. My daily driver 2020 S560 will be replaced shortly and for the first time in over a decade, there is not one MB I would consider. I’m not leaving Mercedes-Benz, Mercedes-Benz left me.

 

Sorry to hear of your problems. Yes 11 recalls sounds extreme but if I recall correctly almost all in my case (22 SL63) were software related and all of mine were done in 2 days. Your other issue is unfortunate but a road damage issue is hardly MB fault although they should have replacement parts ready quickly

 

[QUOTE=Imissmylexus;9030212]Interesting.. so I'll be fully transparent .. the accident has me at fault due to me not saying "projectile" on initial insurance report. The incident occurred in Arizona and the fuel tank repair was facilitated in Arizona.. and when I submitted for a buyback in August of last year I was denied based on Arizona standards. However I purchased the car in California... do I need to resubmit for repurchase in California through MBUSA or just file a lemon law claim in CA? COULD IT BE THAT SIMPLE TO SAVE MY SANITY?..............[QUOTE]

In your case, I would consult with an attorney that specializes in Lemon Law cases.

 

My local (Germany) mechanic just told me that there is another service action (apparently not a recall) pending here in Germany for the engine "misfiring" issue, which apparently includes 2023/2024 cars (so the last two build years, not the first one).
Recall involves a software update or even a new ECU (hardware)...
Will learn more about it as soon as I make an appointment.

My car already got updated with the latest sofware updates, incl. MBUX (funny, had a GT63 loaner recently and my SL has a more recent MBUX software version than that new GT63) back in March when I picked it up at the dealer because I had issues and for a while, I had no battery discharging issues, even had my car 20 days in the garage without driving it and no battery discharging warning. Now I was in the US for two weeks and after only 5 days, my Mercedes Me app showed me a battery discharging warning, so annoying. Car key was in a farraday box all the time, so...weird.

I already have almost 10000 km in this car and I am not ready to give up on it because I really love it. If the issues continue though and I get a chance to get out of my lease contract, I am thinking about the new SL63 E Performance.

 

It would be very interesting to see a complete list of all recalls, service campaigns, over-the-air updates, etc. that the R232’s have been subject to since they were launched.

 

The recalls, service campaigns etc... are listed on the MB startek site:

https://www.startekinfo.com/home

 

2025 model year SLs are now available in the US… anyone want to guess if any of the major issues have been addressed finally? Or will we have to wait for the (expected) 2026 facelift?

 

Normally the "avoid the first production year" adage is true. Until there is a multiyear track record, one is taking a major leap of faith. MB appears to have lost it's formally stellar reputation rather quickly. It takes decades to achieve the good reputation but just a few years tom destroy. The R232 ( and other recent models) will be sales disasters and retained values will suffer. ( I buy and keep but I may be an exception)

 

I agree. They bought back my 2020 S560 sedan due to a harsh 3-2 downshift. I got them to push out the buy back so I could wait until the second model year of the new S580 became available and I got one of those, a 2022. That car was an absolute disaster, with too many issues to list here, but suffice to say it was similar to what the worst issues were that some R232 owners have experienced. So, they bought that one back! That’s TWO IN A ROW! Something is absolutely amiss in Stuttgart. After 17 new MB’s, my next new car will be from another maker, which really is disappointing. Oh well.

 

So sad for Mercedes reputation. Look at CR and other review sites. MB vehicles rank among the worst. I hope they can improve the quality as I'm researching replacements for my BMW X5.

 

MB is at the bottom of the reliability rankings because they worked hard to be bottom dwellers. I spoke to 2 dealers just for an initial exploration concerning the SL63S e ( I need my head examined)........the arrogance and condescension is still near the top!!!! The AMG "specialists" knew very little about the product but expected accolades. Maybe they should read this forum to help temper the arrogance.