rune solem

Hi fellow AMG'ers, just wanted to share a youtube video, where Tavarish bought america's cheapest SL 55 for 8900$.

He's also showing how you can repair different things on the car.

Hope you like it, even if it's not the most beautiful sl out there....



He bought it about a week ago, so check out his channel if you like it.

https://www.youtube.com/user/tavarish/videos

RoundTheBenz

You know, I'd buy this thing as a paperweight for $8900! Hopefully the guy will get away without having to change out the ABC components or he'll be spending more than the real value.

That said, my mate just sent me a link to a 2003 that he's looking at. You can't buy a Yugo for these prices. If you can afford to maintain them, they have to be the best value of any vehicle out there.

Risk7

There is nothing wrong with the ABC system in the SL55 this "tovarish" has. However if you note from his video, he is actually thinking to remove the ABC for straight coilovers. That is a tremendous error, in my estimation.

RoundTheBenz

In total agreement with you Risk7. I think the ABC System is fantastic. That and the ESP have saved my bacon a few times.

LukasBMW

Interesting purchase, but even with 4 leaf clover luck, he will still spend $5k a year maintaining that car if he does it right.

What I find interesting is that he pulled off a 12.5 second 1/4 mile run...yet when he dynoed it, it seemed down on power. His RWTQ was on target but he was missing 50hp.

How the hell did he run a 12.5 with the engine down on power?

rune solem

He said something about the engine wasn't going beyond 5000rpm when testing the dyno, maybe that's the reason he didn't get the right measurement.

MBWorld Editor

Front page news for sure...
https://mbworld.org/articles/cheapes...benz-sl55-amg/

91ser

Even if there is maintenance, if he does his own work (looks like he will), this is one helluva good deal!!

Struts - $550 a pc with lifetime warranty = $2,200

So even with a pump and fluid, the car will still be sub $15k.

Id think about wrapping the car. Which can be $3-4k, and still is a sub $20k car. Do it yourself and its even cheaper.

Where do you get $5k a year in maintenance? Just curious. Id say even a 600 wouldnt be that much year after year. Maybe the first year to get the big ticket items out of the way. Coilpacks and struts. Luckily, the 55 is pretty stout. Im hoping he has little maintenance with it.

Great find!! Want to find me one for <$10k?!?!

BlownV8

My 600 has been $5k plus per year to repair and that doesn't even include fluid and filter changes. The repair bills this month will easily top $6k. Needs new ABC pump, two dampners, and had a coolant leak in the bridge between cylinders banks.

91ser

But are you including labor? That really starts to eat into that 5k per year. As I mentioned in my post, if most of the things he is doing is DIY, I would hope it would be cheaper.

As mentioned, you can get 4 struts for $2,200 with lifetime warranty. However, that doesnt include labor! So again, if he can do some work himself (which I assume you can if you buy an SL for $8,900!!), then I would think he can bring his yearly maintenance down.

BlownV8

Yes, labor included. I don't have the time or desire to do all the work myself.

MBWorld Editor

Here's the dyno results...
https://mbworld.org/articles/how-muc...actually-make/

carguyshu

there is a lot more to the ABC system than just 4 struts and a pump. Need to price out valve blocks, hoses, accumulators, etc. Those aren't cheap. There are many other problems that come up with an r230 that even if you do the labor aren't what one would call cheap parts.

91ser

For sure there is!! That being said, I sure hope (for the OPs sake) that the entire system doesnt need to be replaced. Also, once replaced, the newer system has a MUCH lower failure rate, which should lead to a pretty reliable car after the fact.

Plus, it was stated that he might replace it with coilovers. Which, love it or hate it, might be the cheaper route to go for the long run.

Either way, Im hoping this turns out to be a diamond in the rough, just as I am sure all of us are. I'd take the chance for $8,900

Even if maintenance is higher than an average SL, its going to take a few major systems breaking to turn this into a sour deal. Hope for the best!

carguyshu

The difference between the original abc and abc 2 are very slim. the reason the reported failure rate on abc 2 are so much lower are bc 1) they made hardly any r230s in 07/08 compared to all the previous years and 2) the cars have not aged out as much yet.

The differences in the systems are a different manufacturer of the 2 valve blocks (which visually look different, but function identical and are going to have the same failure rate as the issue with these blocks are oring wear and dirt getting caught in the orings, which no design is really going to fix), the pulsation dampener being located on the pump instead of the pressure valve in the drivers wheel well (which is only going to cause less stress on the hose going from the pump to the pressure valve and also make replacing the pulsation dampener harder), and an ECU that slightly opens and closes the valves when you are idling at a stop. That's it. Over the years a few hoses got slightly redesigned or had minor tweaks to them, but other than that the ABC systems are identical. A well maintained car that is older and has the original ABC will have less problems than a poorly maintained newer one with ABC 2. The reliability difference between ABC and ABC 2 are going to be virtually identical & the reality is that really the only thing an ABC car is going to get upgraded to ABC 2 components with are the valve blocks, which have no higher reliability whatsoever than the old. In fact the new design when used in the rear is actually a pain in the *** to retrofit into the old ABC cars as 2 hose connections are in different places and require replacement.

The hoses and their life expectancy are more a function of time and heat than anything else and how the car was treated will have more to do with their life.

carguyshu

coilpacks are not a problem on the 55 cars at all, only the 600 and 65 that have the v12. struts are also a far less common issue than several other components of the abc system. they are pretty far down the list on common issues, which include:

self close trunk, trunk flaps, trunk hinge cover flaps, front roof latch, crank position sensors, ic pump (on earlier cars prior to the 010), gas tank baffle welds breaking (early cars), abc valve block orings, discoloration of the panels next to the rear windows, shifter, front lower control arm bushings, motor/tranny mounts, plastic idler pulleys, abc hoses leaking/bursting (usually engine compartment pressure hoses), conductor plates, transmission electrical pilot bushing, console latch, sbc unit, and of course tires. i'm sure there might be a few other common issues i'm missing, but i can tell you on my own personal sl55 (which has less than 90k on it) all of these issues have come up (several of them more than once) as well as many others (like keyless go handle, bypass throttle body, flex discs, and more). Even if you are buying all the parts wholesale and do your own labor these cars are not cheap to maintain.

MBWorld Editor

Here's Tavarish getting to work on the "World’s First SL55 Manual Transmission Build"...
https://mbworld.org/articles/the-wor...d-is-underway/

C280 Sport

I usually do not say this because I hate to knock other peoples dreams and goals with their car but I do not see this happening at all. In the video he talks like doing all of that work is easy as pie. I hope I am wrong.

tifosiv122

Agreed - always thought of it, but reality is so much harder.

Erik

BlownV8

Time would be better spent trying to adopt the 7 speed auto.

C280 Sport

Or just fixing the car and bringing it up to par appearance wise and mechanically.

Sulaco

His youtube comments are chock full of people spouting "if you can dream it you can do it" nonsense about his manual swap, with more experienced MB people laughing at him.

This car really is about to be an $8900 paperweight once he chops it up thinking he'll make the "world's first" manual AMG.

If it were relatively doable, there'd be numerous examples floating around Arab oil sheikh collections already. Does he just think that after 20 years of top-notch, legendary AMG cars selling like hotcakes no one ever thought to "just put a manual transmission in it"?

jrgordonsenior

Has anyone tried their replacement products?....

https://www.arnottindustries.com/par...enz_yid18.html

alexanderfoti

They have a hit or miss reputation in the UK for ABC products.

MBWorld Editor

Tavarish attempts to fix a $2,500 SBC problem on the cheap...
https://mbworld.org/articles/the-ult...and-its-cheap/