Hello everyone I'm new here and just wanted to say hi.

I'm looking into ordering a Sl 55 but ahve some doubts and would apreciate if some of you could help me.

The question I ask my self all the time while thinking about orgering one is this. It's a 2 seater how will I be with it since I will only be able to take another person with me. At the moment I have CLK 55 AMG 2002 model and I'm wery happy with it but since the day I saw the new SL 55 I wanted to get one.

I was thinking to trade it in for the new CLK 320 or BMW 330 Convertible so that I have a 4 seater car since I can't have only a 2 seater car.

So my question to all you SL owners do you have a second car and what is it or you just own the SL 500 / SL 55.

Here in australia where I live the SL 55 AMG costs $ 230 000 USD dollars on road with all the options and the waiting time is 12 months.

I know that the car is cheaper in USA and Europe but I'm willing to pay this much for the SL55.

Are you happy with it and do you think it's worth the money.


I would appreciate any help anyone can give me so that I can speed up my ordering decision.


One last thing how much money do you think you should have before you can own the SL 55, here there are some people that think you need to be a multi milionaire to own the car. So waht is your opinion on this.

 

Welcome josipk! My name's Ricky and i'm prolly the only guy that doesn't have a SL of my own yet experiances some of the most fun with one

I've noticed that you said you have the CLK 55 which DOES NOT have the new Supercharged AMG 5.5 liter V8 engine, currently you car produces something like 342 hp right? The new V8 AMG's produce an amazing 498hp (or 493, something like that). That's a huge preformance difference, i'm not factoring any weight or stuff like that in. So if you like preformance, the SL55 is the fastest AMG (right?) to date so far.

You also asked if us R230 owners have second cars. Heres what we have.

2003 SL500 (Dad's daily driver, two seater, coupe/convertible)
1994 LS400 (soon-to-be mine, five seater, sedan)
2000 Odyssey (Mom's car, seven seater, van)

Of course since we have the van hauling people and luggage around isn't that big of a problem, but i'm pretty sure even if we did have just the sedan and the coupe, life would go just fine. It all depends on your current situation and family and such. If you asked me this just a couple years ago I would say a large vehicle is almost mandatory because all the younger kids in our family were involved in numerous sports and such. We also took long drives almost every weekend. Now since we moved to a new house closer to my cousin's we no longer have those three hour drives and have cut that down to 5 minutes or less. We needed the space to sleep (mom, dad, and then the kids slept in the back with the rear seats taken out or folded down). As i've stated before, all it depends on your family and what you really need.

Also the SL55 is probably a enormous value for it's money for what it can keep up with. It's a supercar class of it's own. I dare you to find another car that can match it's abilites. It would be wise to go for the SL55 or 600 if you can because those are the coolest right now. We took the 500 because the 55 wasn't out and we didn't want to wait :p . The car is worth every penny and then some, i'm pretty sure even with the 230K$ sticker . This car is just amazing! It's a head turner everywhere, it always (so far) gets the good looks!

I wouldn't say that you have to be a multi millionaire to own this car. You only need one requirement, you like to have fun!

I hope i've helped you at least a little bit in your aid to decide weather to take this car or not. I hope you do take the SL55 AMG! You'll love it for life! , until then, good day.

 

Hi josipk, welcome to the board.

Your questions boil down to "Do I need more than 2 seats" and "Is it worth the money?" Both of course are very personal judgments because what might be essential expenditure for one person is reckless extravagence for someone else.

However... I think it would be difficult to have just an SL55. It has no rear seats at all (in spite of morebhp thinking of shoe-horning his little girls into the back) and it has only a limited amount of space for load lugging. With an SL55, you will also need a regular car for carrying more than two people, trips to Australia's fine wine growing areas and other of life's essentials. It's also good to have a "don't care" car for those times when you are not sure where you will be leaving it.

I have only a little experience of driving in Oz but I know road policing is perhaps even more zealous than in the US, so you will rarely have the opportunity to use anything more than a fraction of the performance on offer.

Add to that the very high price you are paying for the car due to the punitive taxation (just like NZ but not as bad as Norway, believe it or not) and you are right to question whether it is worth it. At the price you will pay, you are definitely on the slippery decline of diminishing returns with this car.

You do not have to be a millionaire to own one of these cars, of course not, but I suspect most of us here do not drop our last £90k/$130k on one of these things. They are a discretionary purchase after all.

If you decide the SL is too limiting, look at the forthcoming CLK cabriolet. It looks great, better than the coupe and has the 4 seats you need. I think a CLK350 would offer the space you think you might like in a package which you will enjoy in Australia's great outdoor life and climate.

Let us know what you decide!!

 

welcome josipk!
it all depends on how many family member u have....and how many people u expect being in ur car on a daily basis...

about that second car thing..it is always handy to have an SUV...actually depends on what u plan on doin like vraa stated
our cars are....
sl500 comin in may
X5 4.4
S500
bmw 325ci

sl500 is a good value for its money

u dont really need to be an multi millionaire....like me im not ..but we're gettin a sl500 and it is expected in the beginning of may....and just have some money to be there jsut in case something happened

hope we all have helped!
have fun