I've decided to sell my NSX and get an SL55. '03 to '06-ish should be fine...

Thought about the SL55 a lot beforeI went for the NSX, but now the six speed keeps me from driving as much as I'd like - I now live where there is more traffic to deal with.

Is there a place to find all the avail factory options listed? I want to see what all was avail before getting serious...
Any opinions as to what to get / what to avoid would be welcomed...

Does that seat-massager thing really work...?

 

Hello and welcome! Saw a NSX just the other day and thought damn that is one fine looking car! I forgot how beautiful they were (are).

Seems SL55's were very similar to SL500's in terms of available options. This surprised me a bit when I first set out to learn about the differences between SL500's and SL55's. I assumed SL55's would come well equipped with many options that are optional on the SL500 but that is not the case.

Many sellers of both SL500's and SL55's will advertise their cars as "fully loaded" but this is rarely the case. There are many options above a "base" SL. Here are the more popular options one had to order and pay extra for:

Keyless Go (hands free entry/push button ignition)
Panoramic Roof (glass roof panel w/sunshade as opposed to the standard solid aluminum roof)
Distronic (optional adaptive cruise control. All SL's have regular cruise control)
Parktronic (parking distance sensors in the bumpers)
Cooled seats
voice control for the COMAND (radio) unit
Hands free phone
bluetooth
sirius radio
massaging seats (most have it but it's a total gimmick)
bi-xenon headlights (most seem to have these)
Tire pressure monitoring system - this was actually optional in '03 through '05 (at least).


all the above were additional options on the SL500 and SL55 in the year range you stated you are looking at.

Interestingly, on the SL55 aluminum interior trim was standard and the SL500 wood trim was a (I believe) no cost option. I have the aluminum trim. It's not brushed aluminum it's rough and looks like a pork pie pan. Most SL55's I looked at had wood trim. I'm going to carbon fiber at some point.

There were also Graphite editions, Espresso editions, performance package (this was the "030" performance package there is much talk about it on the forum. It's very rare and adds SL65 brakes to the SL55. The SL55 brakes are more than adequate and the SL65 brakes are big money when replacement time comes).

My SL55 has SL65 wheels which I was told were an option. I bought from the original owner

It can be quite frustrating to find the perfect SL for you - I searched for months for a clean SL55 with (most) of the options I wanted which wasn't much. I really wanted keyless go, heated seats and a panoramic roof in silver, charcoal or pewter. I gave up finding both on and bought a Sliver SL55 with keyless go as panoramic roof I can add without much effort (it just bolts on).

I am not 100% certain if heated seats were standard on all SL's I believe so as I've never seen (a US car) without them and I looked at many, many SL's in my search.

Here is a link to the 2004 brochure:

http://www.ragtop.org/mbbrochures/2004.html

Just click the "SL" and this should bring you to a .pdf of the brochure for 2004 which is very similar to both '03 and '05.

 

Oh, and to answer your question there are really no options to avoid but some are just not worth paying extra for.

Keyless Go seems to be a popular as well as a panoramic roof. After that maybe parktronic and distronic then maybe cooled seats (I've heard they are marginal at best). Sirius is nice but all the cars have the button some just don't have the module which can be pricey to add. I'm swapping out my entire COMAND unit with a Kenwood head unit. There are now interface modules that will allow you to swap the head unit in the R230 SL's plug and play. The R230 uses fiber optic's for the COMAND unit so this was not always possible. A modern head unit would of course provide many of the features that were options on the stock SL plus a much more advanced GPS.

 

Awesome!
This was very helpful. Thank you for writing this up.

One thing I forgot to ask... What kinda of "real world" MPG - city and Hwy (steady 75 mph) do SL55 drivers see..?

 

I thought I would add a few impressions and less known details to this ...

the 2003 and 2004 sl55 are very similar, but the 2004 was more sorted out in terms of integral equipment. The 2003 uses a card for keyless go (separate thick credit card you carry in your wallet) as opposed to this feature being built into the key on 2004 and later, Additionally, the 2003 used a diferent (oddball) rear diff for which there is no "wavetrak" (but an expencive quaife locking dif does exist fpr this year). 2003 had its "central gateway" built into the N73 (ingition switch) as opposed to being a separate unit (2004 and later) making some changes in Star das more difficult. The 2003 also used a different TCU (transmission control computer) and different (pre-blue top solinoid) valve body in the transmission that must be upgraded as a pair if you want the steering wheel shift buttons to work in any mode other than manual ... this too was sorted out for 2004.

on the topic of options (now these are personal impressions)

cooled seats, I have them and NEVER use them
pano roof ... I have it could take it or leave it (seems coolest on a black car)
park-tronic .... I have it .... it is useless and irritating
dis-tronic ... I don't have it and like the idea ... but I probably would rarely use it .
Keyless go .... I have it and would consider it ESSENTIAL (to the sl55 experience : ) mine, however uses the car ... but I bought a 2004 module and will someday get around to changing it to 2004 spec using a key instead

other options...
folding mirrors and interior motion sensor were available in other markets
I think the folding mirrors are a silly expence .... BUT I love the interior motion sensor and have added this to my 2003 sl55.

hope that helps,
Chris

 

I would strongly recommend park tronic!

It is so much easier whenever you're parking the car, because it's difficult to know exactly where you are.

You sit so low that you hardly know where both the front and back is positioned.

I have a 2003 keyless go WITHOUT the card, maybe it was an european difference compared to the US?

I haven't got tire pressure monitor, maybe someone can chime in to say if it's good or bad?

Good luck with your hunt for an sl 55, these are fabulous cars!

 

I am glad to hear that parktronic works well for you. Perhaps it is just an issue with my car, all I know is it is useless for telling me I am about run into parking curbs (as high as 10 inches) creating a false sense of security (right up until the front bumper gets damaged)

as far as keyless go using the key instead of "the card" in the case of your 2003, that does not surprise me too much as the European model year is not entirely in sync with the us model year (ie ... R230 SL55s were available in europe in 2002 but not until 2003 for the US market. I would suspect that your car is more comparable to a US spec 2004 SL55.

Cheers,
Chris