After months of searching, I found that 2005 White SL55 I've been searching for. It has a berry interior which I find to be more maroon than red (pictures I saw previously distorted the color) and has a unique, yet classy look. Made a deal online yesterday and the shipping company happened to be where the car was on the same day and heading here - so I flew out and finished it up. She's being shipped home and will be here by tomorrow morning.

The 18" chrome AMG wheels on it drive me crazy. I don't like chrome on white, they've got significant curb rash, and they're a little small for my taste so that is a priority to change. Additionally, I plan on some light tint, lowering links, and possibly a rear spoiler lip. Thanks to everybody who helped out. I'll post pics when it gets here.

 

PICS!

That's my favorite color combo for the SL.

 

White and Berry kicks butt! I have the black & berry...love it.

Benz-O-Rama, I want your wheels! btw - Who makes them?

 

Awesome, congrats! Love the color combo. What options and mileage? Did you end up going with an extended warranty?

 

DAMN YOU! You got the car from Tim in AZ right? I was going to purchase that car from him and just found out today that he sold it! Oh well....Post some pictures of it here when you get a chance.

 

Way to go. I know it will be well worth the time you spent looking. I have 2 sets of 19" wheels if you are interested.

 

Sweet!

What did you end up paying?

 

They're 20X8 and 20X11 3pc Savini Forged SV-8s with custom matte black accents and connecting hardware.

If you're truly interested in a set, PM me. I can put you in touch with the right people.

 

Thank you all for the good words. The car will be here tomorrow morning - needless to say, I'm very excited I'm going to take it straight to the wash and get a thorough detail. To answer your questions...

Under optional equipment, it has the following listed:
Alcantara Headliner Charcoal, Parktronic, Active Ventilated Seats, Panoramo roof, Bi-Xenon headlamps, Keyless Go, 18" AMG multispoke wheel

It's got 41,500 miles.

zelement, yes this is the car that was in AZ! What a small community... the internet isn't as anonymous as one thinks Good luck with the search, the anticipation can be fun.

Gene - I'll PM you about the wheels.

The car has no warranty. I haven't decided on purchasing an aftermarket warranty yet. My local MBZ dealer sells this one that I did not jot down the name for, but I never have heard of it and couldn't find info online. $4600 for 36 mos/36,000 miles or $4900 for 48 mos/48,000 miles. I'm going to wait a bit before deciding. I'll post the name after I speak to her again.

I will post pics as soon as I get a chance tomorrow. Thanks and safe, healthy driving to us

 

Man, If you came on before I would have gone and checked the car out for you. We have a good relationship with many dealers, new and used. I could have had the car brought to Dyno-Comp and evaluated, dyno'ed, and STAR Diagnostic'ed.

Who did you buy the car from in AZ? On thing Is for sure.. Check the air filters. The desert sand builds up quick. Also You can ask the dealer to get you a VMI on the car. That way you know what was done to the car and at what mileage.

Enjoy the new ride in good health
-Mike

 

Thanks Mike. Everything happened real fast with the shipper being where the car is located right when they took my offer. I did talk to the MBZ dealer that they serviced it at and they told me the car has been serviced there as scheduled and the only issue he found was the battery being replaced once in the entire history. I'll take it to a MBZ shop to get the air filters checked as you recommended.

It got delivered 45 minutes ago and looks gorgeous... I took it straight to the wash to get a full detail and will pick it up and take some pics to post here this afternoon.. I might stop by the tint shop before that - still debating on tint or not. I hate worrying when the LA's finest pulls up next to my other car at a red light and having to roll down my windows. Even though it's not dark tint, they have a zero-tolerance policy.

 

Decided to hold off on the tint... here are some pics I took an hour ago The car didn't come with an owner's manual as far as I know so I have to figure out the ABC suspension and all the other buttons in the car!

 

Disregard the last statement : found the owner's manual in the compartment behind the passenger seat

 

Nice color combination with the red interior. Hard to find an SL55 other than one that is silver or black. Local MB dealer in Lake Bluff, IL has an 03 on consignment with only 26K miles if anyone is interested.

 

Nice! Enjoy it. Great color combo.

 

Very nice color combo. White cars rock! You may like to consider a dark wheel to make it pop real nice. or a black wheel with white lip, now that would look great, especially with a big ole fatty lip on the rears!

 

If those are the correct stock only plated rims why not blast them and paint them as original? To have it done properly will cost 600-800 dollars. I had my S600 AMG rims redone and they are now as new. When you add in the coast of four new pressure sensing units all of a sudden new tires start to look cheap.....................

Only paid 18K for my 04 S600 a few months ago but it took 10K to get it back looking really nice. Worth every penny because new the car was over 140K. Putting the winter S600 rims that came with the car on my wife's S500 and soon putting the S600 and the SL55 in storage. Again new sensors, re-polishing the rims and new tires comes close to 3K. But that is reasonable compared to going exotic. Replacement two piece rims for the SL55 are $2,500 a pop.

 

Nice car!
But I second your own opinion (and especially Sunirs), that something has to be done in the rims-department...
White is veery clean & cool looking!

 

Congrads on your new ride very nice indeed.

 

Thanks everybody. What an enjoyable evening driving it with the top down. I'm going to go with a semi-OEM look (something I'd imagine Mercedes should've put the car out with) so I'm going to shy away from black or white wheels. I prefer 19" or 20" 5 to 6 spoke aluminum wheels. Maybe I'll go with Brabus or the OEM titanium SL65 wheels. Still looking around at options.

When I accelerate from a complete stop, the car makes a cricket sound about 1 second after. I'm going to have to get it checked out.

The keyless-go has been giving a "key not detected" message since I saw the car too, even after changing batteries on both keys so that will need to get checked out as well. I was hoping it was the heat since some cars experience this in extreme heat but not the case here. I have to be close to the driver's side to unlock using the remote, doesn't work from anywhere else, so maybe the antenna is misbehaving.

Have a great Sunday!

 

Ya done good! Congrats! Agreed on the wheels.... That's truly a minor issue though! Enjoy!

 

Supercharger chirp. Common on the 55K cars and an easy fix for the dealer.

 

If it is white on red, I am interested.

Please let me know which dealership.

Paul

 

Not having a warranty on ANY year SL55 is a big mistake. Almost any visit to the dealer will cost you 1k+. Even for "little things".

It seems your car already has some problems.

I would NEVER buy an AMG without warranty.

Just my two cents.

 

Looks good! My 2 cents - with pano roof/black glass - Black tints would really complete the look (esp with AZ heat too)! Def agree with the rims being the weakest link. Enjoy the purchase!