cal1

Very true. Even with about stage 3 mods, my SL seems normal. The best thing about driving my ML500 all winter is getting used to its power level as normal and then taking that first spring day ride in the SL.

+1 on that. I have learned tons from the members over the years and always start at the forum when I have an issue with a repair. The E55 guys saved me from letting the dealer replace my 80mm TB with a new stocker. The stealer tells me "code says bad TB must replace TB." The E55 guys say "no prob, your TB ate a gasket, tell the dealer to get off their *** and look." The stealer finally does look. They replace the gasket and I am down the road. The *******s still charge me 3 hours diagnostics time, but whatever.

DigitalKnight

Ok, so I did get a call from Exotic-Motors today and they emailed me the bill of sales.

They did check those error codes and said one was for the fog light lamp (fixed) and one was for one of the tire pressure sensors (also fixed). He said they do not do car service recorders? But said I could try contacting MB but they also do not usually provide them due to prior owners information showing up on them????

As for extended warranty, I got an email back from Bruce and he said he could not warranty it due to the high miles on the car as his only goes to 72K. He recommended I try autopom.com but they also rejected the car but did not give a reason.

Exotic-Motors said they could warranty it with Directbuy auto warranty out of NJ and that it would be $3300 for two years bumper to bumper with $0 deductible and 20K miles a year up to 100K or $4900 for 3 years and $6100 for 4 years.

cal1

Wow! the warranties have changed a ton over the last few years. I have one of the coveted Chrysler Service contracts you will hear some on the boards talk about. It was written in April of 09. It cost $2,360, is bumper to bumper and lasts 60 months or 70,000 miles. It is $200 deductible, but I am happy to pay that. I have already had about 5k in repair work covered under the plan.

I have heard Chrysler no longer writes service contracts on AMGs. I would be happy to pass on the contact info to you if you are interested. The guys name is Michael Case, he wrote contracts for a number of guys on mbworld.

DigitalKnight

That sounds more reasonable then $3300! Sure send me his info and I will reach out to him.

I did get a call from a guy I was going to purchase a 2004 SL55 from today and asked if I had found one yet. He said I got a really good deal on a 2005 even with the higher miles on it (his has 64K on it) as he wanted 35K for his. He thinks I should go with the 2 year $3300 insurance since I got the car for such a good deal.....

cal1

Here is the info I have, hope it is still good.

Michael Case
Zeigler Automotive Group

www.MyChryslerWarranty.com
www.michaelcase.wordpress.com

Office (630) 231-3464
Direct (630) 386-1707
Fax (630) 566-4197

BobLibSL55

HA, women!

It sounds like my wife. We just bought an SL 55 in September and a Ive already done tons of research on different mods available for it.

About a month ago on our way home from dinner, I was telling her about everything that I'd like to do to it and how much power it would add to the car and how much faster that would make it when the looked at me with puzzled look and said: "Why do you need 600 HP? And why do you need to go 200 mph? The speed limit is only 65." My reply was, "Because I can."

Women, they just don't get it!

benzfan205

Hope you enjoy your purchase. I am one year and 14K miles into my 2004 SL55 Designo, with renntech upgrade to the supercharger - and now at 69K miles. Repairs aren't cheap, but it has been and continues to be a thrill to own. It is a total joy to drive, and I start to get withdrawal symptoms during bad winter weather. It took me a couple months to feel totally comfortable in the tight seats - my CLK320 is more comfortable for a relaxed ride. I think it is like hiking boots and dance shoes - both nice but clearly made for different purposes. I am blown away by the difference in handling when I get into a conventional rental car on vacation and return to the SL. I can't imagine going back to something less. Best wishes.

DigitalKnight

Thank you.

Most of the SL55's around me that I was looking at were 2004 models. In fact Autotrader just notified my this Christmas morning about a newly listed one that would have been very tempting had I not already purchased the 2005.

It does not appear to have the Panoramic roof but it does have some device mounted right in front of the instrument panel? Not sure what it is for as it does not mention it in the listing. The milage on it is lower then the 2005 I purchased at only 48700. The other thing I noticed is it seems all the 2004/2003 SL55's have the roll bar always up when the top is down? The 2005 looks like it pops up when a roll over situation is detected?

http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.js...standard=false

EsEl

Enjoy your car and the rollbar function is the same no matter the year.... they are designed to "pop up" in fractions of a second as needed.

I had a 1991 R129 model and kept it for 16 years and 200K+ miles. You need to realize you will always have some mtc. issues (R129 had leaking top cylinder issues) but once those are dealt with, M/B makes a virtually bullet proof car.

Enjoy!

DigitalKnight

That is what I thought but when I look at all the pictures online the 2004 SL55's show the roll bar up while it is just sitting there being photographed? Is there a button you can press to make it stay up?

BobLibSL55

There is a button to manually operate it up and down.

cal1

They do deploy quickly. Check this vid at about the 54 sec mark:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJ-MPOUBNMA

DigitalKnight

That is a great video! Looks like the SL55 handles going air bound pretty well! It did not look like it even bottomed out when it landed. I like when the passenger gets sick... wuss....

The video I watched that made me re-think getting the SLK55 was the one I have below and at the 2:56 mark it also has the pop-up roll bar which puts a scare in to the not so hard on the eyes girl.... who even seems to be able to drive! lol

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSZYw3Q0bG4&feature=fvsr

cal1

Interested vid. I am not sure why they would compare head to head two such different cars. I think they miss the fact that the SL is not a sports car, but instead an ultra luxo grand touring car. I think the SC on the SL is for sustained high speeds on the autobahn. It just happens to create massive torque that makes it a blast to drive on the streets of America.

DigitalKnight

Sounds like I made the right choice then going with the 2005 even though the miles are a bit higher then I would have liked.

Also this "Keyless Go", is it an option that one would order when they bought the car new? Or did it come standard on all SL55 starting in 2004? Reason I ask is on the car I purchased it lists:

Options & Packages
OEM Code Description MSRP
ADDITIONAL OPTIONS
401 Active Ventilated Seats $1,240.00
415 Panorama Roof $1,880.00
614 Bi-Xenon Headlamps $770.00
889 Keyless Go $1,060.00

cal1

I think keyless go is still an option item instead of standard. I originally thought keyless go was silly and not very useful. Boy was I wrong, I love keyless go and have it on both of my MBs.

DigitalKnight

Left a message for Michael Case for a quote but have not heard back from him yet.

I did get a direct quote from directbuywarranty.com out of NJ and they can do a 5 year / 60K miles, bumper to bumper with no deductible for the same price the car dealer was going to sell me a 2-year plan.

Anyone use this company before or have heard of them?

Did some research and it does not look like diectbuywarranty is to reliable.... Just an FYI...

DigitalKnight

So what exactly does it do? Is it were when you get close to the car as long as you have the fob on you it will let you in the car and start it?

cal1

Yep! that is pretty much it. As you approach a locked car and reach for the door handle, you will hear the click of the car unlocking. When you leave the car, there is a little button near the door handle that you depress to lock. You can also program a FOB for all of your personal settings which includes seat adjustment, steering wheel adjustment and I think the side mirrors. When the door unlocks, the personal settings adjust automatically. And of course, you just depress the start button to bring the beast to life. I know it sounds decadent and useless, but it becomes really convenient not to remove a key from your pocket. I love it.

Easchef

I called Michael Case a week ago, he did not call back. Maybe he is no longer in the business.
Has anyone ever been able to get an extended warranty on an SL55 with RennTech modifications? I recently acquired an 04 SL55 with a Stage 6 package. The car was under extended Mercedes warranty for 7 years, even though it had mods since new. All the RennTech equipment and upgrades over the years were installed by that same Mercedes dealer.
The car is a blast to drive. Until the ESP is able to get things under control, the rear end "wiggles" a bit. I wonder if it might be the tires (Michelin SP 295x30x19), maybe the sidewalls are a bit soft?
Has anyone had the resonators removed? I can imagine it would get more exhaust sound into the mix, right now the compressor sound is dominant under hard acceleration. Very much like the SLR.
Happy New Year.

DigitalKnight

Still no call back from Michael either. Perhaps it is just due to the holidays and he is off.

My 05 SL55 should be shipping early next week then I take it for a thorough inspection.

Easchef, were did that hood come from on you car? That looks very nice!

Becks Imports

You guys, please read this:

1. Chrysler no longer warrants Mercedes, Audi, etc. So don't bother speaking to Michael or anyone else, it's been over for almost two years. If you find a car with that warranty from a private party, they can transfer it to you, but you can not buy it any more from Chysler or anyone that sells Chrysler.

2. Direct Buy warranty is a HUGE rip-off. It would take me too long to go into here, but trust me, you may as well take a lighter to your money. Exotic should be sued just for recommending them.

3. No warranty company, anywhere, will warrant a car that has mods not approved by the car manufacturer. This includes MB with their new-car warranty, although because that's a true warranty in the legal sense of the word, they are bound by more requirements about denying coverage for a mod than the extended warranty companies are.

So that leaves you with a few choices. The first is don't mod your car. Hahahaha, ok, just kidding. The second is to mod your car in a way that you can go back to stock if needed in the event an inspector comes out for a claim, or to mod your car with subtle mods (like ECU flash) that are hard to detect by a visial inspection. That's what most people do. The third is to hope for the best, as many claims just get approved by phone so only you and the shop will know the car has mods. But that's risky if an inspector comes out, as your entire warranty (not just the one claim) can be voided if an unapproved mod is found by the inspector.

The reason Easchef's car was covered with mods was because it was under an MB extended warranty, and the MB dealer did the mods. Since they do the warranty claims/inspections themselves, they had no incentive to void coverage on a car they modded with an extended warranty they sold. So they just kept quiet and submitted to MB for reimbursement. If a zone manager for MB ever came out and saw the car, the coverage would have been voided and they would have gotten in a lot of trouble. But they never made waves or asked for second-level review, so it all went smoothly.

Good luck, and if anyone needs a quite, just email me your VIN# and current odometer reading to brucem105@comcast.net.

Happy new year!

Bruce

DigitalKnight

Thanks for the information Bruce. That would explain why no call backs.

Since I only drive my own vehicle less then 2K a year I am going to just take the $6K that Carchex wanted for coverage and place it in a high interest yield account (if you want to call them high these days) for any repairs that may come along. Hopefully my 2005 will be trouble free and lemon-less.

Becks Imports

Just shoot me the vin# and odometer reading. I am sure I can provide you with a better warranty at a lower price than Carchex.

I agree at 2K per year it's hard to 'earn back' $5K, but with the price of parts and labor at a Benz dealer with these cars, it's not difficult to rack up some bills. And in fact, driving them very little can also cause problems (moisture in coil packs, leaking ABC, etc).

Bruce

DigitalKnight

Thanks Bruce, we actually already chatted via email. I am unfortunetly over your 72K mile limit with 75,700 miles on the car.

Looks like you just gave me an excuse to drive the car more often!!!

Here's hoping for an very mild S.E. PA winter and an early Spring!

-Mark