BlueSL - the US SL55's have the alcantara roof lining as standard ... (I read in in the documents somewhere and felt sad as we in Europe dont get it as standard)

R

Hi Richard

Have been following your problems with SL55. Glad to hear they are now sorted and look forward to seeing your pics.

I have to specify my SL55 in a couple of weeks and trying to decide between tansanite blue (which I think is your choice) ans jasper blue. Seems both are unusual colours for the SL - they (and white) are the only SL colors I havent seen.

Hi

I liked Jasper , but I think it will date a bit too quickly. I think tansanite is a "classy" colour that will be classic for-ever.

I didnt like the grapite interior, as its too dark, and I decided Jasper needed a dark interior, but tansanite looked great with the light grey interior

Cheers
R

My current SL600 is azurite blue with light grey which is equivalent to transanite/alpaca and it's an easy color combination to live with, as you say, a classic. I wanted a change for my new car, so have gone for Brilliant Silver/Berry Red, don't think it will date so well, the red may well be seen as over the top in a few years. Who knows? At least I'm not going for Travertine Beige...

Richard and blueSL...I have decided on Tanzanite/Capri...my ML is that color and it never ceases to get comments...at night it looks black...and changes alot in different lights and dark blue is a traditional SL color...I am still debating the interior...I like the look of the Alpaca with the Tanzanite but I don't like the fact that the steering wheel and instrument cover is black...I am also concerned about too much reflection off the light colored dash...ideally I would like to have the Alpaca seats and side panels with the full dash in the darker color...unfortunately that kind of customization is not available in the US...Can't wait to see pics of your car Richard!


p.s. Found this link to a Tanzanite SL 55 pics aren't great but you get the idea, click on the photo and see four more:

Tanzanite SL55

I'm sure you'll enjoy your choice of colour. The photographs are interesting because they show a black steering wheel as well as the black instrument cowls which looks odd in my opinion against the light grey interior.

I seem to remember Richard complained his car had a black wheel as well, maybe he has found out more.

Personally, I could live without the alcantara cowls and they do sell an alcantara light grey roof lining as an option, so why they don't use it for the cowls I don't know.

So, if you don't want this combination, you're left with just two standard interior colours - graphite and berry red - which isn't much of a choice for a $125k car.

Yeah...It sure isn't...it seems as though they have decided to only make a black steering wheel for the SL 55...it looks a bit odd to me as well...at this point I will probably go with graphite...

JCO, - AMG are shipping the bits I want to me here in the UK to be fitted by my dealer. I have coming

a) AMG alpaca grey leather / alcantara steering wheel and airbag
b) dark alpaca grey leather instrument pod thing
c) dark alpaca grey keyless-go gear shift thing

Id have liked b and c in alcantara but they dont do a matching one ...

once your car arrives, i'll put u in contact with AMG salesperson (that Ally from Scotland put me in contact)

Cheers

R

They dont use the light alpaca grey for the cowls because it reflects on the windscreen - thats why the top of merc dashes are always a darker shade

Wow that's great news Richard...thanks for the info...I want to look into the labrador blue pearl as well...I hope to make it europe this winter and check it out in person...either in DE, CH or UK...I remember Ally's CLK...fantastic!

James

Why in the world don't they fit these items as standard? Richard, ar you having to pay extra for this lot?

Hang on a minute. Dark alpaca grey? Is that the same as light grey or is it dark grey? I'm getting confused.

Quite a lot extra :-)

Its a dark grey. I'll be able to take some photos soon for you all

Cheers
R

Well, I certainly hope that when my car (eventually) arrives, there are no unpleasant discoveries like this. "Oh, didn't we tell you it was like this???"

I'm sure you can sell the old bits on ebay, there's certain to be someone collecting bits to build their own. 3 down, 28798 to go...