I'm interested in getting an SL55 after selling my E500 but I'm wondering are there companies who remove the retractable roof completely and give it an SL Black style solid roof. Maybe Carbon fiber. The retractable roof is extremely heavy and it's at the worst place possible, ON THE ROOF (lol), highest center or gravity. How hard would this be to do?

The entire purpose of this car is to put the roof down and hear that engine! Why bother ?? You might as well get a clk55

I think you might be missing the point of the SL55. It is never going to be a light weight racer. That is not its charge. It is a versatile, very fast roadster.... that is plummeting in value as we speak (mine probably lost $5K as I write this!), I still love mine... and I have had it since '03.

Although, extremely capable, attempting to lighten the car will be a costly mostly fruitless endeavor. Your best bet, would be to to get one and live with it for a while... maybe add some extra power, and enjoy it for what it was designed for.

.... And when I said capable, I meant it. On a road course, with other instructors, I was able to take on GT3s and Z06s on equal footing. It is a very special car. Once you get one and enjoy it, you will understand.

phhhbbbtt this neighborhood is Florence/Normandy now... save 30 odd lbs & fix roof lik blk ser due to roof being too high & horrible weight distribution lol
Im getting hott flashes due to the Forest Gump mentality spreading like mildew around here as these cars depreciate..

sorry to OP for being harsh but ask ur local mb specialist/tech before typing such Q's

Sean, we both know that you're not sorry in the least, for being harsh.

what tipped u off there Sherlock

ok guys, e500 almost sold, I'm seriously considering this car. now yes, it defeats the purpose mercedes desinged the car for however, I can't get an SLR and the CLK is let's be honest girly so I want this to be a lightweight project. I was going to do something on my e55 but that's not the right platform and I need that car for the family. The roof doesn't save only 30 pounds if carbon fiber and fixed, the sl black lost major weight due to the roof fixation. I really don't need to have the roof down, ever. By the way no point in asking my dealer about this, this is an aftermarket custom project, they're dumb about Mercedes standard questions, do you really think he'll have answers to this??? Anyways I don't want to know if it's a good idea, I just want to know what's involved in doing this.

If you lower the roof the weight will go into the trunk, lowering the center of gravity and puting more weight on the rear wheels.

There ya go. If u really wanted to save weight just unbolt the roof. You'd probably be the only guy with a permanent convertible sl.

There is really nobody doing anything like this, because there really is no market for it that would justify the tooling, R&D, etc. I bet that to do this right, you are looking at doubling the cost of the market value of the car. The only people that spend more money than their cars are worth are the M3 kids. If I were you, I would find a CF fabricator and run the project by them, and see what happens.

So, you think the CLK Black Series is 'girly'?

If you want a SL65 Black Series but can't afford one and you don't want a convertible than the CLK63 Black Series sounds like the right car for you. They are certainly not girly. In fact, many girls probably won't want to ride with you because the suspension is so harsh.

The SL is not a track car. The CLK63 Black will run circles around a SL55 on the track. Maybe you should look into 911 or a Vette.

It would be interesting to see how fast the SL55 could be if it was stripped out. I'm sure the seat would weigh loads as well. If i had the money i would buy another one to completely strip and use for track. At the moment though i love mine the way it is.

Black Series is DEFINITELY NOT girly, standard is. However it's too expensive right now for me. My question is also how the roof would be made fixed, would there need to be a "roll cage" welded in?