The thread got lost in the recent down time. Is there any interest in starting such a thread up again?

I was following with interest the feedback from various SL55 owners.

I would imagine MB generally improves the glitches year over year. And fixes glitches where they can when cars are in for regular maintenance.

Thanks Chris. For those of you who missed it, I drove the SL55 for 700 miles one weekend on all kinds of different roads and the SBC brakes were a consistent disappointment. Sure, they stop the car brilliantly but the combination of artiifical feel and non-linear response at low braking levels diminishes the level of driving pleasure. If you then factor in the adaptive throttle which has a mind of its own, the two are not a happy combination.

All the driver interfaces in the SL55 are messed about with - steering, throttle, gear shift and brakes. I can understand this may be what SL500 owners want but for a more overtly sporting machine, the SL55 could be better. Mercedes and AMG have to learn that, actually, less is more.

So for those of you planning to buy the SL55, it's certainly an awesome machine. But is it a sports car? Not in my book.

The SL55 is basically an SL500 with heavier power steering, tauter/harsher ride, and of course, 500bhp. No less, on more. Am I right BlueSL?

The essentials of an AMG car SHOULD be... and feel free to agree/disagree add.


1). Lightweight, with only ESP, and SOME luxury features.

2). Instantaneous throttle response, with full manual control when required, or auto when not...Audi's DSG is one complete solution.

3). very light power steering at 1-10mph, but after that very accurate and no power assistance at all.


And thats it, keep the luxury for all other Mercedes-Benz's but an AMG car is an AMG car!

Does anyone agree?

BlueSL, just for the sake of it....drive a 93-98 Nissan Micra manual 1.3, with no power steering, now thats a FUN car!

Your joking right, the only AMG car I can think of that is anything like that is the CLK GTR and that had a hair trigger throttle and a gearbox set in concrete. The hair trigger throttle is a real sign of a true sports car its also the sign of a car thats impossible to drive. Something that can dawdle along town at low speeds is not a true sports car its a street tuned racer.

Ideally any sports cars should be lightweight have instant throttle response and NO artificial aids whatsoever , ie stupid things like power steering and power assisted brakes ala McLaren F1.

MB on the other hand makes nice GTs as such they are not sports cars neither are BMWs........

My complaint is not so much the SL55 is not a true sports car, it's the pointless cost and complexity of SBC which seems to confer little benefit while robbing the driver of the braking sensitivity the car would have with a more conventional set up. Even after 14 months of ownership, I still find it difficult to bring the car to a halt without a lurch.

If you believe the press, the 4 cars with it in (E, SL, SLR and Maybach) will be the last with this generation of SBC. It's too expensive, makes no profit for Bosch and Mercedes and has met with lukewarm response from customers (or open hostility if you include blueSL). Somewhere in Stuttgart, there's a geek who thinks electronics can always be better than mechanics. For ABC, I agree, for SBC, no way, and I say this as a former electronics engineer.

Then there's the simple matter of the SBC control unit costing $3400 + fitting + tax. There isn't a single car out there yet with SBC which is out of warranty. Boy are people going to start complaining when it fails out of warranty.

How can I be joking?

How can a company shake off its comfy image and make a true hardened sportcar? You gotta start somewhere.

Making a car that is challenging is part of the whole thrill of driving. Its a challenge to drive and thats why everyone loves it. You can't make an SL or any another "sporty mercedes" into a sportscar just by sticking in a manual gearbox.

Glad to hear that I am not the only one who can't come to a stop smoothly. At least it is not over electrically engineered as badly as BMWs I Drive

Although I only have approx. 250 miles on my 2004 SL55 and still breaking the car in, I have not experienced a problem with smooth stopping. The breaks have started to squeal ever so slightly.

seems some people complain about every little thing. the brakes are fine once you get used to them. just like trying to learn to use an automatic after having a clutch for years. once you master the pressure the car is fine. drive it more!

seems some people complain about every little thing. the brakes are fine once you get used to them. just like trying to learn to use an automatic after having a clutch for years. once you master the pressure the car is fine. drive it more!