SL55/63/65/R230 AMG: The SL55 Rocks!!
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From: Arizona
SL55AMG, Ferrari 348, Ferrari Testarossa, Ferrari F40, Ferrari Mondial t, Ducati 916, Indycar
The SL55 Rocks!!
I had the opportunity today to attack a favorite mountain road that I usually choose a Ferrari for. The 55 was easily as quick as all my Fcars and pretty darn close to the F40.
Acceleration, Brakes, Balance........and the roof comes off!!! Great car....now if it were 1000 pounds lighter....WOW!!
Acceleration, Brakes, Balance........and the roof comes off!!! Great car....now if it were 1000 pounds lighter....WOW!!
Thread Starter
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 3,703
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From: Arizona
SL55AMG, Ferrari 348, Ferrari Testarossa, Ferrari F40, Ferrari Mondial t, Ducati 916, Indycar
Originally Posted by LittleB
The roof came off?! OMG! Did you pull over and grab it?
Very funny!!
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From: Central California Coast
2004 SL55, 2005 E500 Wagon
Originally Posted by IngenereAMG
The 55 was easily as quick as all my Fcars and pretty darn close to the F40.
Except for extremely rare circumstances, 7/10 is about as fast as I want to go away from a racetrack, which means that the SL55 is really suited to the way I drive.
Jim
Thread Starter
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Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 3,703
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From: Arizona
SL55AMG, Ferrari 348, Ferrari Testarossa, Ferrari F40, Ferrari Mondial t, Ducati 916, Indycar
Originally Posted by sprins
If it were 1000 pounds lighter it wouldn't be a Mercedes.
Would it be a MaClaren?
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Sorry to disagree guys but the SL55 is totally soulless.
The brakes are appalling with absolutely no feel. The steering is inert and provides little or no feedback and the build quality is an absolute joke.
Compared to the 911 C4S I changed this car for, it is worse in just about every way. Apart from the straight line performance which is excellent, the SL55 would not see which way the Porsche went.
I am so glad that the dealer has agreed to take back the car and refund my money (due to the multitude of problems and inability to even locate spare parts to rectify them).
I so wanted to like this car but feel that it is totally overrated.
Also, the "customer service" from my local MB dealer is criminal.
The brakes are appalling with absolutely no feel. The steering is inert and provides little or no feedback and the build quality is an absolute joke.
Compared to the 911 C4S I changed this car for, it is worse in just about every way. Apart from the straight line performance which is excellent, the SL55 would not see which way the Porsche went.
I am so glad that the dealer has agreed to take back the car and refund my money (due to the multitude of problems and inability to even locate spare parts to rectify them).
I so wanted to like this car but feel that it is totally overrated.
Also, the "customer service" from my local MB dealer is criminal.
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Joined: Jun 2004
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From: Central California Coast
2004 SL55, 2005 E500 Wagon
Originally Posted by NeilH
Sorry to disagree guys but the SL55 is totally soulless. The brakes are appalling with absolutely no feel. The steering is inert and provides little or no feedback and the build quality is an absolute joke. Compared to the 911 C4S I changed this car for, it is worse in just about every way.
Sounds like you got a lemon. I have had a much better reliabiltiy from my SL55. So far, it's been more reliable than my last 911, which had a few small problems that never got fixed in 40,000 miles, the most aggravating of which was its habit of spewing blue smoke from the right side when hot and making an extended high-g left turn with the engine near the redline. Of course this only occured on a track, and always got me black-flagged until I proved there was no oil leaking onto the track. It lost both fuel rails, but the rear main seal did hold. If I had your experience with the SL, I'd probably hate Mercedes myself.
Jim
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Joined: Jun 2004
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From: Central California Coast
2004 SL55, 2005 E500 Wagon
Originally Posted by NeilH
Also, the "customer service" from my local MB dealer is criminal.
Jim
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Originally Posted by CASL55
I changed out of a 911 (1999 996 C2 was the last one), and my experience has been completely different. I think the differences are partly expectations, and partly the particular SL55 (and 911). The 911 is certainly a real sports car. The brakes are great, the steering is a marvel, it's 1000 pounds lighter, etc. However, it's noisy (I used to wear earplugs on long trips), built well but with obvious cost-cutting in the interior, and if pushed hard, has the potential to turn and bite you (I only spun mine on a race track, but driving it at the limit gave me a lot of respect for being careful when driving it on public roads. The SL55 is quiet, capable in the twisties even if missing some of the feedback that makes the 911 so great, comfortable, plush, and satisfying on the freeway as well as the twisty two-lane road. I can see why someone who is looking for a rawer experience would prefer the 911. I certainly don't, at this stage in my life. I'm glad a drove a procession of Porsches, and I glad I don't any more.
Sounds like you got a lemon. I have had a much better reliabiltiy from my SL55. So far, it's been more reliable than my last 911, which had a few small problems that never got fixed in 40,000 miles, the most aggravating of which was its habit of spewing blue smoke from the right side when hot and making an extended high-g left turn with the engine near the redline. Of course this only occured on a track, and always got me black-flagged until I proved there was no oil leaking onto the track. It lost both fuel rails, but the rear main seal did hold. If I had your experience with the SL, I'd probably hate Mercedes myself.
Jim
Sounds like you got a lemon. I have had a much better reliabiltiy from my SL55. So far, it's been more reliable than my last 911, which had a few small problems that never got fixed in 40,000 miles, the most aggravating of which was its habit of spewing blue smoke from the right side when hot and making an extended high-g left turn with the engine near the redline. Of course this only occured on a track, and always got me black-flagged until I proved there was no oil leaking onto the track. It lost both fuel rails, but the rear main seal did hold. If I had your experience with the SL, I'd probably hate Mercedes myself.
Jim
you are probably correct in that the car I had was not representative of SL55's in general.
It has, however, sullied my opinion of the car and, more particularly, Mercedes Benz. I have owned cars from Porsche, BMW, Jaguar, Maserati, etc.
Without a shadow of a doubt, MB have demonstrated the worst customer service of any marque I have owned.
Cars are mechanical and we all accept that they go wrong.
What is absolutely unforgivable, is their lack of any real desire or urgency to remedy obvious problems and turn a bad situation round.
Anyway, I now have a better problem to deal with; what to buy next.
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Joined: Jun 2004
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From: Central California Coast
2004 SL55, 2005 E500 Wagon
Me too
Originally Posted by NeilC123
I would be very interested to know what you will choose.
I myself come to the SL55 as a second choice. I had a deposit in on a 645 for years, but couldn't bring myself to pull the trigger when it had all the early problems. I love my SL55, but I'm not looking at it as the last car I'll own. I have a deposit in on the M6, but I'm not wedded to that as my next car, so reading your thoughts may help me.
Jim
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Originally Posted by CASL55
And there's another difference in our experiences. My local Porsche dealer (who is also, sad to say, the local BMW dealer, and I still have a BMW) has service that occasionally rises to the level of acceptable. My local Mercedes dealer has spectacular service: conscientious, considerate, pro-active, competant, everything you could want.
Jim
Jim
my experience with the local Porsche dealership was nothing to write home about either.
With regard to what to get next, I have orders placed on an M5, M6 and an Aston Martin V8. However, none of these will be with me this year.
I am toying with the idea of the just-launched Alpina B5 which I can get in 5-6 months. I would keep this until one of the other cars turns up.
I have test driven it and it is a car of rare all round ability.
Potentially ruinous depreciation awaits on this though.
Thoughts?
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From: Central California Coast
2004 SL55, 2005 E500 Wagon
The Alpinas are certainly interesting possibilities, and the B5 sounds very nice. I don't think it would work for me, though. First, hardly any Alpinas are imported to the US, the Alpina Z8 being a notable exception. Second, I would worry about getting something so unusual serviced. Service considerations in my case actually are quite limiting: Ferrarri, Maserati, Aston-Martin, and Bentley are all off my dance card because there is no local service for them.
So I'm left with the usual suspects: MB, BMW, Jag. It would be interesting if Honda made an all-out assault on the supercoupe market like they did to the sportscar market 15 years ago with the NSX, or if Porsche makes the four door that's floating around the web. What I'd really like is a modernized 928: a fast, cushy, practical (with the hatchback, really practical), beautiful, fun-to-drive GT.
Jim
So I'm left with the usual suspects: MB, BMW, Jag. It would be interesting if Honda made an all-out assault on the supercoupe market like they did to the sportscar market 15 years ago with the NSX, or if Porsche makes the four door that's floating around the web. What I'd really like is a modernized 928: a fast, cushy, practical (with the hatchback, really practical), beautiful, fun-to-drive GT.
Jim
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Originally Posted by CASL55
The Alpinas are certainly interesting possibilities, and the B5 sounds very nice. I don't think it would work for me, though. First, hardly any Alpinas are imported to the US, the Alpina Z8 being a notable exception. Second, I would worry about getting something so unusual serviced. Service considerations in my case actually are quite limiting: Ferrarri, Maserati, Aston-Martin, and Bentley are all off my dance card because there is no local service for them.
So I'm left with the usual suspects: MB, BMW, Jag. It would be interesting if Honda made an all-out assault on the supercoupe market like they did to the sportscar market 15 years ago with the NSX, or if Porsche makes the four door that's floating around the web. What I'd really like is a modernized 928: a fast, cushy, practical (with the hatchback, really practical), beautiful, fun-to-drive GT.
Jim
So I'm left with the usual suspects: MB, BMW, Jag. It would be interesting if Honda made an all-out assault on the supercoupe market like they did to the sportscar market 15 years ago with the NSX, or if Porsche makes the four door that's floating around the web. What I'd really like is a modernized 928: a fast, cushy, practical (with the hatchback, really practical), beautiful, fun-to-drive GT.
Jim
in the UK Alpinas are serviced at normal BMW dealerships so that's not a problem for me.
Love the idea of a modern 928; great minds think alike.
