Hello ladies and gents!

Been reading this sub-forum a bit lately because i'm looking to gift my father an SL55 or SL65 R230.

I'm in Maryland and have been looking locally. There aren't a lot to chose from, that's for sure.

What are the major issues to look out for? How would you go about finding the car. I've been using cars.com and autotrader mostly. Is there a better option than these tools? I'm hoping this can be a reliable cruiser for my father on the weekends.

Cheers and thanks for any advice!

 

Hello from a fellow marylander, Frederick area here. An SL would be one hell of a gift!

AMG SLs are definitely hard to find locally, I'd suggest you broaden your search radius as much as you are comfortable with. Craigslist is another option for local cars, though it seems only the same few have been showing up for the past several months...

Keep in mind the sl55 and sl65 deliver their power much differently. The 65 is much faster than the 55, power is amazing and incredibly smooth. I had never felt anything quite like it before. Same for the sl600, which although doesn't get the slightly firmer AMG suspension tuning (strut spring rate/programming) uses the same big brakes year for year as the 55. With the AMG style pack option it gets the same exterior look as the 55 save for the tips.
The 55 is a bit more raw and visceral than the v12s, though still incredibly comfortable, refined and easy to drive. I personally found the 55 more fun to drive and suitable to my taste, so limited my search to that. Plenty quick enough for me!

The sl55 is also less expensive to maintain than a v12 r230. For example, the ignition coils are broken up individually vs cylinder bank packs on the v12 - so if one cylinder develops an ignition misfire you are replacing a $1k coil pack vs <$100 aftermarket. The engine bay is much tighter so labor times and consequently costs are higher for the same repairs or service.
The 65 also uses better, but substantially more expensive rotors/brakes than a 55 or 600.

ABC suspension would be the most common, significant, and expensive source of trouble with any year or model R230. The higher the mileage and older the car, the more likely an issue is or soon will appear. If you won't be doing your own work, any single failure related to this system will probably set you back at least a grand. If multiple problems occur at once as is common, it will be a hefty repair bill.

There are other common quirks or issues that can develop, such as; trunk leaks, especially on earlier years, PSE issues due to unnoticed or unattended trunk leaks, battery drain issues, cracked third brake lamp/chmsl, transmission connector leaking, faulty trunk flap brackets keeping the top from operating (corrected with later r230s), fuel tank baffle clanking on 03s, intercooler pump failures in the 55 65 and 600 limiting performance, crank sensor failure causing no starts, valve cover leaks on the 500 and 55, SRS errors/codes from faulty underseat connectors (up to 06? I believe), idler pulley squeaks leading to failures and tossed belt, injection pump and/or relay failure, shifter getting stuck in park due to busted interlock lever, etc. etc. besides the usual used car stuff to look out for

Some searches within this sub forum and the non-AMG r230 SL sub forum will provide plenty of not-so-encouraging reading material, but look at it objectively and try not to just get scared off. All cars have some issues, these cars happen to be incredibly complex so of course there is simply more to go wrong.

This is a great write up covering all sorts or purchasing and maintenance/ownership tips for an sl55, most of which applies to any SL r230
http://www3.sympatico.ca/gmacgruer/_MB_SL55_AMG.pdf

A pre purchase inspection would be the single best thing you can do with any SL you look at, and a warranty the single best thing you can do with any SL you actually buy!

 

I also live in MD (Potomac) From my experience with my SL65, if you don't have a warranty parts/labor adds up quick


These are unique to the V12s:
4k engine mount job
1k per ignition coils

SL65 and P030 Package
1k per brake rotor

All R230s
ABC Problems such as Struts, Valve Blocks, ABC Pumps

Idk if these wear due to mileage or age, but in my 2 years / 30k miles of ownership I had 15k repair bill not including my brakes which warranty didnt pay, stuff like 4k engine mount job, 3k coils pack job, 1k vaccum pump, 3k for another misc bill, you can see this is adding up quick and its all basic stuff, If you don't get a full plat warranty, pay the repair bills when they come or you or your dad doesn't know how to wrench, then the V12s R230 will be more of a headache, there for get the warranty full plat and get the right amount of years and mileage for coverage

But I'm glad I got a warranty on my car, it was well worth it

 

Why wouldn't your warranty cover those items? I just paid 4K for a warranty from a Mercedes dealer and the only thing it doesn't cover is tires, brakes and oil.

 

Maybe I didn't write my comment clear, but my Warranty paid for everything but the brakes, that's why I'm glad I got it lol, best 3900 I spent lol considering. I claimed 15k, I still got another 2 yrs/20k miles to go

 

Besides warranty you should take it to Mercedes for a health check, they
should pick up big stuff like engine mounts and leaking rams or noisy
pumps. If the dealer wont let it go to Mercedes walk away.

 

That's the way I read your post.

 

"I had 15k repair bill not including my brakes which warranty didnt pay"

That confused me.

 

Thank you so much for the feedback. Especially drock and V12TT!

Wow much to think about as far as what could go wrong.

Any work being done on the car would be done by myself and my father, so good to know about all of these potential issues!

ABC is ruled out, and I am looking for a car without it. My father wouldn't enjoy using it, and he also is not going to drive this car aggressively. In fact, I doubt the car will ever see more than 3.5k RPM .

Given some of the significant part cost differences (just browsing parts on the internet) the SL55 seems to be a better target for him.

As far as increasing the search range, the problem with that is how much time can potentially be wasted. Several times I've gone out of state for a car to find that the car has a quarter panel or fender painted. My experience with every dealer is that they will lie to get you in to see the car regardless of the distance. As an example I recently went to see a 997 which had a clean carfax in PA; however the car clearly had significant hail damage even though the dealer had assured me there were no cosmetic issues.

I will just keep search on craigslist, ebay, cars.com, and autotrader.com. Any other advice would be greatly appreciated, and again thanks so much for the information that was posted above!

 

yeah good luck with that.........me thinks a little more research is required.......

 

Only R230 that doesn't have hydraulic ABC I is SL65 Black Series which still goes for 170-200k and SL350 which is a European model

 

Good luck finding a non ABC car.

 

Wow, i did not realize that! Even the SL500/550 all come standard with ABC?

Not something i'm interested in having at all.

 

As far as I know all 230's except the 350's and the Black's are ABC.

 

Well I've spent the last 30 minutes just reading about ABC issues here on MBworld. There are SO MANY people with ABC problems. This really scares me.

That said most of the issues seem to be leaking valves in the struts. Why wouldn't you just remove the suspension and then replace the strut with a new one. Is there something complicated about replacing the suspension on R230s?

 

Depends on your mechanical skill. I own a shop and while we don't really work on MB's as a rule we do work on mine. That being said ABC components can be expensive.

 

Is it different than changing out the suspension on any other independent suspension?

I've changed suspension on cars ranging from 996 911 to my old honda s2k and audi S4.

Not afraid of mechanical work, just if it's a problem of electronics it really becomes hard to deal with. For example on the w203 there is an issue with oil leaking into the cpu harness ... this becomes a bear to replace. doable just takes a lot of time.

Where can i find replacement suspension for the r230s? I just checked autohausaz and pelicanparts. I can find the ABC sensors, filter, etc... but I can't actually seem to find replacement shocks. The ones listed at pelicanparts (http://www.pelicanparts.com/catalog/..._pg1.htm#item0) are bilstein's for non-ABC cars.

Thanks again for everyone's help and expertise.

 

I've haven't needed to replace the struts on either 230 I've owned but I've read that Arnott makes a good rebuilt shock.

 

Will check them out. So if the struts aren't the problem, what is the problem with the ABC system?

I just spoke with some mercedes dealers in the area. It seems that struts are 1500-1800 depending on if the car has a performance package or not.

That is quite pricey for shocks.

There are also front and rear axle control valves for the suspension. these two run about 1500-1800 USD each as well. Where are these control valves located?

Are there usually issues with the shocks or with the control valves? Or both?

Mechanically the job looks like any other suspension work. While the parts cost is high, I think it wouldn't be terrible to re do the entire suspension on the car. Something like 6-8k if it came down to it.

 

I usually rodeo the car whenever I do suspension work such as replacing any part

 

Sorry didn't understand. Rodeo?

 

Since you are concerned about the ABC system, I suggest you go to the other Mercedes forum, go to the R230 SL class page, and read EVERYTHING in the sticky titled "ABC Intelligence etc.". This system is great when functioning well, and needs some maintenance to stay that way. Not expensive to do the maintenance yourself, and the system has long life capability if maintained.

 

If you think about it there are thousands of MB's with ABC so you are bound
to hear about failures. I have had 5 SL AMG and had only 1 strut replaced.
However on my 600 I have had all the ABC lines replaced and one pump,
but no struts. All cars parts wear out, so ABC is going to.
I do like the SL ride, but not with lowering links.

 

Will do and thanks for the advice.

 

There are coil over kits available for the non AMG SL's. I bet your father would be plenty happy with an '07 - '08 SL550 with the Sport pkg and it would end up costing both of you a lot less.