Zman

Hi,
I just found out my SL55 will be built December and I will be ordering it as follows...

Brilliant Silver
Panoramic Roof
Parktronic
Tire Presure Monitoring
Keyless go
Phone with Voice control

I am currently debating on wheter I want to get Berry Red/Black interior or not. I have seen several pictures but they all don't seem to show the same shade so I don't know how it looks in person. I would be interested in hearing some opinions from anybody that has seen it in the flesh.

Also what is AMG Charcoal/Black and Black/Black Two tone?

How does the aluminum trim look? Is it scratch resistant. I might go with one of the other trims if it is not.

I am also conflicted about distronic. I am interested in opinions from people that have used. I am not too crazy about the plastic dome look on the star.

Last but not least, does the light assembly look the same externally with or without the Bi Xenon headlamps option?

Thanks for any info

blueSL

Many of the pictures which have been posted here make it look too bright, almost orange (see the pictures of the car in Hong Kong - not even sure that is Berry Red). In fact, the red is much darker, think of the color of raspberries and you're quite close and it looks great with brilliant silver or black. The Mercedes "Taste Police" do not recommend it in brochures I've seen with other body colors. If you have the large square SL brochure, the print sample is accurate.

I've gone for Brilliant Silver and Berry Red and although I have had the occasional few seconds of doubt, I'm quite comfortable with it. Too late now to change anyway. A car as extravagent as the SL55 can take a more extreme color choice than the easier safe options of light grey/dark grey/black. One oustanding question for me is whether to use berry red floor mats or tone things down a little and use black ones. My Ferrari has bright red carpets which will make the SL55 look quite restrained.

As for Distronic, I agree the dome looks tacky. It's an expensive option and its main advantage as I see it is to fill up a couple of blank buttons on the center console. I do ask myself whether it lulls you into a false sense of security and might actually be dangerous because if the braking required is more than the 20% it can apply, you're going to need to react quickly to avoid running into the car in front.

Ferrari got off to a poor start with the aluminium trim in the 360 which marks easily, but people who have it (Richard) seem happy with it. Personally, I don't see a place for wood in an SL55 because the Germans have this amazing ability to make it look like precision molded plastic and I like the "aerospace" look of the aluminimum.

I believe the aluminimum surface is anodized which will make it quite hard; the wood is not exactly scratch-proof either.

northbenz

I second BlueSL regarding the Berry Red Interior and Distronic. Yes on the Red, No on the Distronic. Parktronic and the Panoramic Roof are well worth it though.

I went with the Berry Red on my SL500 and everytime I see an SL with a black or grey interior know that I made the right choice.

b

davidegai

Various comments on serveral items:

1) berry Red: it looks good for the first five minutes, but will you get tired of it? What about residual values when you resell the car? I got mine silver with standard graphite leather. I was under the impression that nappa looks good but tends to wear out more.

2) Panorama roof. For me it's a no because it breaks the nice silver color design, and makes the roof heavier (hinges wear, car's center of gravity....)

3) Distronic: a total no because it is not 100% safe in the rain (the loaner SL I got for 3 months after selling my 996 turbo had it) and it makes the front dome look cheap. Furthermore when I drove my wife's 430 TE with cruise control I was fooled into thinking it was actually a Distronic and I almost crashed in the truck in front of me.

4) Aluminum: not only does it look better in real life than in the brochure, but it looks very scratch proof, and it certainly looks totally dust proof.

NightSea

How come you forget Bose Sound Option with cd changer!

If you have garrage doors , garrage door remote control option
will be convenient.

Aluminum? Don't worry . It is different from ZERO aluminum bag
which is easily scratched.

Distronic - personally I don't need this one.

Bi Xenon - I like this option very much.

northbenz

Davidegai - actually you notice the red less and less the longer you have it. It is like the split side windows on my Subaru SVX - the first few times you drive it they seem rather unique and noticeable, but after that you don't even see that they are there.

2fast4u

I follow Davide's think except on Distronic.

I'm agreed that Distronic it's not 100% safe but concerning my personal test on dry local road or highway I can tell You:
- highway (no rain or fog) it's a good help on normal use (no sport drive) to avoid some distraction you can have during a long trip;
- local road could be problematic cause if you have "rotatory/circle" or long curve it's not good cause the system "loose" the previous object and could accelerate while it's necessary break !!!!!

Concerning Bi-Xenon or Bose System is not an optionals in Italy (we have in stock) but IMO it's necessary to have (especially by-xenon lamps).

I have all the optionals except tyre pressure (unfortunately), panorama roof (fortunately) and linguatronic (not interested).
I've not also TV module (unfortunately if the car wasn't a SL55 cause this is a sport car and not a "walking/shopping car) exclusif leather/designo (fortunately cause it's not necessary IMO).

Bye

Zman

I assumed the Bose Sound Option is standard since I did not see it in the "Build your own" site at mbusa.com. Another requrement I have is that it should have Command 2/DVD.

I was debating about Bi-Xenons. I have a CLK55 and can count the times I have used high beams in the last year with the fingers in one hand. So I don't think I will be getting it.

blueSL

You may have the requirement for the DVD/Command 2 but you'll see from other threads that there's no clear position on it yet. If the changes are as extensive as Richard suggests, this is not something that will be introduced in the middle of a model year and Bremen is firmly into MY 2003 now.

There's nothing at all on the German web-site about it but the new S and CL do use a larger screen (16:9 6.5 inches) than the SL.

The Xenon's for me are an absolute must, as I'm much more likely to explore the car's performance on my favourite roads at night.

The Bose is, I think, standard in most countries outside Germany.

Zman

Yeah I saw the threads. I torn between getting it as is or wait longer for it.

MasterTLT

I personally think distronic is very cool if you take hour plus drives on toll ways. If you do this often as I do (going back and forth from college and home), you find it very frustration setting your cruise control only to have that semi truck pull out in front of you far enough ahead that you don't have to slam on your brakes, but yet you have to hit the brake to take off the cruise then hit resume after he gets back in the slow lane. I sometimes find myself driving closer to the car in front of me than I would like for the simple fact that I don't want to inactivate my cruise control. Personally I don't find the plastic dome behind the three pointed star cheep looking at all, I find the Brilliant Silver SL500 with sport package that I just took delivery this week to look stunning in every manner. The distronic detracts nothing from this, but only adds to the gadget count, and heck on a machine like this why short yourself and not order all the options. I am of the belief that if your going to drop 100g on THE car, get all the toys with it. Oh yeah and I love the sport package, looks like a SL55 amg (much more aggressive), but you get better fuel economy and get to take delivery this decade;-)

davidegai

You might be right, but I prefer the REAL thing!

MasterTLT

Of course I'd rather have the SL55 AMG, who really cares about gas mileage, someone cancelled on the SL500 that I currently picked up, and I don't see someone doing that on a SL55 in the near future and I won't live forever.

henry42

I ordered Obsidian Black w/ Red Berry interior.
Tirepressure, keyless go and AMG 5 spoke wheels.
Distronic on an SL55 is rediculous and too expensive- What do you want to spend almost 3000 dollars to make sure you don't get to close to other cars during cruise control. You shouldn't be using cruise to begin with. Does Ferrari eeven offer cruise controls.
Parktronic- maybe on ML's, but on this car it's low enough to see where you are.
Panoroof- This is an SL folks, to be driven with top down. In my other Sl's I only had soft top up in parking situations to prevent easy entry. I'll be driving my 55 like never in the rain and with the top up unless I get caught and then the hard top up will be fine and I don't need a glass roof to look out through.
Remember folks even these cars will depreciate and the more options you tac on the more you'll lose down the road and harder to sell.

bobafett

The cars will depreciate, but more options doesn't correlate to less value. I think what you're trying to say is that you suffer from ever-increasing diminishing marginal returns.

Regarding the no-rain, top-down, etc. - I think epople might be glorifying this car a bit too much. It's a piece of metal (well, a lot of pieces) - but moreover, it's just an MB. THis is not some special wild italian work. It's more suited to daily driving purposes than you would think, why treat it as a weekend roadster?

I plan on driving mine as the everyday work-horse. Rain, shine, blah blah, whatever. Top up it's nice and comfortable, top down it's just as good. If you don't plan on keepin gthe top up, why not get a sportier and more attractive convertible with a cloth top?

And it's nice on cold but bright days, or cold but clear nights, to have the pano roof. I don't see why one wouldn't option for it.

As for parktronic - it depends. If you've ever driven a lamborghini you'll understand that low has nothing to do with it, it's more so a question of how well you can spatially define the limits of the car in your own judgement, and if you can't for whatever reason, any sort of aid might help. Besides, I'd much rather than people spent the money not to bash into something than letting it happen and replacing the bumper (which will be more expensive). Almost like insurance.

--Dan

Canuck

Like Henry42, I too ordered an Obsidian Black/Berry Red model and it is arriving next week....hurrah! Parktronic and Bi-Xenons are standard here in Canada which is good as I would have opted for them anyway. I passed on the Pano-roof as it appears to me that a glorified sunroof in a convertible seems a bit redundant. I also passed on the keyless-go and the distronic options as I did not think that they enhanced the driving exprerience in any way. I personally would have liked to have the Nightvision option that some Cadillacs already have.

MasterTLT

Do people really care about saving 3 or 5 grand by not ordering options on a car they are going to pay 120,000 plus tax (and insurance cost) for? I don't see the logic of not getting options for reasons of depreciation on a car such as an SL55. What are you going to do with the few grand you save anyway, spend it on back massages? (get the comfort package and have the car do it for you) What is the reason someone buys a 500HP sports cars- even if you never use it, it's nice to know it's there.

bobafett

Master: exactly!

--Dan

Zman

From all the different opinions presented I agree with Master and bobaffet (Master: It doesn't look like you can order the massage option on the SL55 ) I am not planning on driving it only when the sun is out, (Not greatest where I live). That is the main reason I want the panoramic roof when it is not possible to have the top down. Maybe we should have poll on whether the SL's are being used as a weekend or daily car.