Makes alot of sense!

 

Hope you find what you were looking for, please keep us posted.

 

I've been around a while and three months ago I picked up a 2020 S63 coupe (very rare spec over 200K sticker a little over 9K miles), from my friends dealership for a little over 80K (CPO included), it was Mercedes # 70. This morning I bought a 2022 SL55 from another friend's dealership for less than half it's 160K sticker (also with a bit over 9K miles), which is MB #72 and car number 489. I'm old now, but I was in not correct order, a racer, a racing teacher, a custom car builder (to those who could afford it I kept a 1 of a kind 911 which was my last build 20 years ago it would cost about 2 million to build today), and just a general carnut. I owned MG, AH, Triumphs, and I think the new SL suffers from the same issues the GTS had when it was released in 2016, you cannot be a big person and be comfortable in it, there were many buybacks (I had one of them paid 70K for a car that sticker for 165K with almost no mileage). Fortunately I am a lean guy and fit perfectly in the seats. There is a dealer in IL that has almost 30 buyback SL's for sale, almost all come from states with lemon laws (like CA) where they highly favor the buyer. When you own 20-25 cars at a time tickle chargers are part of your life, so I'm used to having my cars on them most of the time. I like the new SL is a great looking car, I did not need the power of the 63 (I have other powerful cars) and this was a perfect car (not a mark on it) with a great spec, and a great price. I could tell you stories about failures from many brands the Gallardo drove like a pickup truck in AWD (I built the first RWD one in 2004 and sent the specs to Lamborghini), they ended up building them in RWD finally. Ferrari built some terrible cars, the first Panamera's were nightmares to own, and I could go on and on. I use faraday boxes for all my newer cars keys, it helps keep the battery charges longer since the key is always communicating with the car.

 

I hear you. You sound like a man with immense experience. I have a 2023 SL43. I love it. I’ve had just some minor issues that the dealer resolved. I have never used a trickle charger during the winter but I always try to drive it at least once a week to charge up the battery and warm up the fluids. Thanks for your insight.

 

I came out of a 2014 SL 550 and purchased a 2023 CPO SL55 Performance Pkg in Nov 2024 w/8,800 miles. I owned a 2007 911S Coupe for 15 years. Here is my impression of these vehicles.

I picked up the car 300 miles from home and initially I felt the handling was too twitchy ie ultra responsive in handling compared to the SL550. This impression evaporated after a half hour behind the wheel and realized the responsiveness was a plus not a minus.

The SL 550 would plow in the curves. I had ABC and it would handle flat but still felt nose heavy. With 4WD and steering the SL55 handles its weight very well and feels like a lighter car. The cars limits felt much more competent as I scared myself with its ability to respond to steering inputs and stop on a dime. I think it approaches the handing of the 911 but not quite.

People compliment the looks of the car especially the rear. I have had some mistake it for a 911. At least from the rear.

Pros:
1 Handling
2 Styling
3. The car is a joy to drive and inspires confidence. That’s the name of the game here, not luxury.
4. Burmester sound works great in this cabin.
5. The steering wheel AMG controls work great.
6. MBUX functions work great and are intuitive
7. Driver display graphics are beautiful
8 Ambient lighting beautiful as is the digital light displays.
9. Drivers Assistance features work so much better than some competitors.
10. Top down wind noise management is superb! Sometimes I think the car is quieter with the top down!

Cons:
1 Comfort: seats are not as cushy as the R231. Interior not as wide.
2 Capacitive Controls suck. Bring back buttons.
3. Noisier. C pillar lacks noise insulation I guess so the top can fold. Was this addressed in the Maybach?
4. It’s not often when you buy a vehicle that they hand you a new battery charger. I can go about 5 days without driving before I get a battery notification. I use the car as a daily driver so it is less of an issue than for those who only use their cars on the weekend.
5 Materials. The plastic pieces in the lower cabin and seats are cheap and not as weighty as before. The aluminum trim scratches easily. The carpet is not as plush (this one is picky!)
6. Lack of Lux. No soft close doors. No dynamic seat bolsters.
7. I do miss the automatic pop up wind screen and retractable hardtop.

10 pluses and 7 minuses. No deal breakers. The car makes me smile when I drive it.