Palmball
MB Enthusiast
After Simon's post about selling his C63, I too am declaring myself now AMG-less again 
But take note fellow Mercedes people.....I'm not Mercedes-less though as we still have our E350 CDi coupe (still going strong 6 months into ownership....heading for a record that!). I also think the AMG-less'ness will be temporarily as I feel an A45 AMG urge coming on to replace the E-Class with shortly
I hinted in another thread that SLS ownership could be under threat and in all honesty, I'd been thinking about selling it a good few weeks ago following some, lets call them 'challenges' I've had using my SLS as a daily drive - without wishing to go into detail, mainly surrounding the 'appropriateness' of using it.
Most of which I couldn't legitimately disagree with so I knew that I essentially had the following choice's to make:
- keep the SLS and car share with the other half
- keep the SLS for weekends and buy something else for daily use
- sell the SLS and buy something else nice, but deemed more appropriate
I'd actually tried the first option for a few weeks and it was a PITA, especially when we both needed to be 150 miles apart on the same day. It was never a real option.
I also came ever so close to going for the second option, from considering a decent new car to a more shed-like option (yes DM, a Citroen XM 24v was nearly my daily drive...oh the horror!). In the end, I decided that we really didn't need or want a 3rd car for two of us, especially when one of them was just going to continue depreciating in my garage - hell, if something's going to cost me that much money, I want to get my full use out of it!
I have to admit too that the almost consistent niggles have chipped away at my enthusiasm for the car - really, some aspects of the car should have been better. You'll have noticed this by my lack of regular updates compared to previous AMG's - simply because I spent so much time p!ssed off with it or without it whilst it was in the dealer!
Gearbox Upgrade
Despite the potential sale of the SLS, I still progressed with taking it to Germany to have the gearbox upgrade done because I was a) curious as to what it would do......b) liked the road trip and......c) knew it would make my car unique, so, given the reasonable cost of the upgrade, I'd in all likelihood get my money back come sale time. And so it proved, because when I traded it in, the dealer found a trader who appeared to be interested in it as a result of (not in spite of) the gearbox and bid accordingly (certainly much better than what was being achieved from Mercedes dealers who had little interest in any aspect of it...they're just not interested in the SLS are they!).
The gearbox upgrade itself proved to be very effective, nearly fixing all the wrongs of the original software. Changes were smoother in C, faster in S+ and much improved in manual, with most of the delay between paddle shift and gear change eradicated. It was a monumental improvement and whilst still a little short of all other DCT's I've used (multiple gear changes still weren't quite as good as in other applications), had I been keeping the car I'd have been happy with the improvements.
Whats Next?
Anyway, last week I finally agreed a deal on a new car which is similarly crazy in terms of performance (probably more so if I'm honest) but is a lot more, lets say, subtle!
I was initially quite disturbed about my decision as the SLS was a dream car. In hindsight though, I feel sort of relieved - the constant issues I had with it (admittedly some as a result of my relentless pursuit of perfection as most owners would probably find no fault with it) meant I was always quite anxious at having something so expensive that I wasn't totally happy with. They say never meet your hero's and I think that applies here! It also may seem a short-stint in the SLS but it was nearly 6 months which for me is about average - the car just seemed to spend so much of that time in the dealer!
I do also often question whether my expetations are reasonable and if I'm ever really happy with how a car is made. Well, the E350 we have has been faultless since we've had it and the SLS's replacement is also almost a relief to drive for it's total lack of niggles. This is despite me having similarly high expectations of it because it's not that much cheaper than what the SLS cost me (albeit for a new car vs. the SLS used)
I narrowed my choice down to 3 or 4 options and one of which was a new SL63 AMG which I seriously considered - but I just can't gel with the looks and I'm not really a cabriolet person. Indeed, I was that unsure of my decision that I very nearly pulled out of the deal when I got to the dealer to collect the new car....not helped by the fact that I bought it totally blind, having never even seen one in the UK (it only entered my radar after seeing one in LA a few weeks ago and it looked very sharp out there!).
Anyway, the new car will win no prizes or fans on a Mercedes forum but for the record....it's a new BMW M6
I'm frankly shocked that it's had a more positive response that I could've imagined from everyone that's seen it in the last week, which did soften the blow of selling the SLS somewhat. Indeed, I think nearly everyone prefers it to the SLS which to me is utter madness - sure, it's no doubt a better overall 'car' in many respects but I always deemed the SLS as a proper 'supercar', and
So, I do now have a much more 'ordinary' car, but one that's still got 560bhp, is an über-modern technical tour de force, it looks great, it's probably the nicest finished car I've had (the interior really is lush, and totally rattle free
) and it's DCT gearbox really is a demonstration of how these 'boxes should operate. Saying all that, it's certainly no SLS for presence or noise or sheer drama but I'm a sucker for a big refined GT so this is probably about as good as it gets currently. It'll do for the next few months anyway 
I won't expose you to the full Palmball review a BMW on a Mercedes forum unless you want it but heres a few pics for you guys to throw darts at
But take note fellow Mercedes people.....I'm not Mercedes-less though as we still have our E350 CDi coupe (still going strong 6 months into ownership....heading for a record that!). I also think the AMG-less'ness will be temporarily as I feel an A45 AMG urge coming on to replace the E-Class with shortly
I hinted in another thread that SLS ownership could be under threat and in all honesty, I'd been thinking about selling it a good few weeks ago following some, lets call them 'challenges' I've had using my SLS as a daily drive - without wishing to go into detail, mainly surrounding the 'appropriateness' of using it.
Most of which I couldn't legitimately disagree with so I knew that I essentially had the following choice's to make:
- keep the SLS and car share with the other half
- keep the SLS for weekends and buy something else for daily use
- sell the SLS and buy something else nice, but deemed more appropriate
I'd actually tried the first option for a few weeks and it was a PITA, especially when we both needed to be 150 miles apart on the same day. It was never a real option.
I also came ever so close to going for the second option, from considering a decent new car to a more shed-like option (yes DM, a Citroen XM 24v was nearly my daily drive...oh the horror!). In the end, I decided that we really didn't need or want a 3rd car for two of us, especially when one of them was just going to continue depreciating in my garage - hell, if something's going to cost me that much money, I want to get my full use out of it!
I have to admit too that the almost consistent niggles have chipped away at my enthusiasm for the car - really, some aspects of the car should have been better. You'll have noticed this by my lack of regular updates compared to previous AMG's - simply because I spent so much time p!ssed off with it or without it whilst it was in the dealer!
Gearbox Upgrade
Despite the potential sale of the SLS, I still progressed with taking it to Germany to have the gearbox upgrade done because I was a) curious as to what it would do......b) liked the road trip and......c) knew it would make my car unique, so, given the reasonable cost of the upgrade, I'd in all likelihood get my money back come sale time. And so it proved, because when I traded it in, the dealer found a trader who appeared to be interested in it as a result of (not in spite of) the gearbox and bid accordingly (certainly much better than what was being achieved from Mercedes dealers who had little interest in any aspect of it...they're just not interested in the SLS are they!).
The gearbox upgrade itself proved to be very effective, nearly fixing all the wrongs of the original software. Changes were smoother in C, faster in S+ and much improved in manual, with most of the delay between paddle shift and gear change eradicated. It was a monumental improvement and whilst still a little short of all other DCT's I've used (multiple gear changes still weren't quite as good as in other applications), had I been keeping the car I'd have been happy with the improvements.
Whats Next?
Anyway, last week I finally agreed a deal on a new car which is similarly crazy in terms of performance (probably more so if I'm honest) but is a lot more, lets say, subtle!
I was initially quite disturbed about my decision as the SLS was a dream car. In hindsight though, I feel sort of relieved - the constant issues I had with it (admittedly some as a result of my relentless pursuit of perfection as most owners would probably find no fault with it) meant I was always quite anxious at having something so expensive that I wasn't totally happy with. They say never meet your hero's and I think that applies here! It also may seem a short-stint in the SLS but it was nearly 6 months which for me is about average - the car just seemed to spend so much of that time in the dealer!
I do also often question whether my expetations are reasonable and if I'm ever really happy with how a car is made. Well, the E350 we have has been faultless since we've had it and the SLS's replacement is also almost a relief to drive for it's total lack of niggles. This is despite me having similarly high expectations of it because it's not that much cheaper than what the SLS cost me (albeit for a new car vs. the SLS used)
I narrowed my choice down to 3 or 4 options and one of which was a new SL63 AMG which I seriously considered - but I just can't gel with the looks and I'm not really a cabriolet person. Indeed, I was that unsure of my decision that I very nearly pulled out of the deal when I got to the dealer to collect the new car....not helped by the fact that I bought it totally blind, having never even seen one in the UK (it only entered my radar after seeing one in LA a few weeks ago and it looked very sharp out there!).
Anyway, the new car will win no prizes or fans on a Mercedes forum but for the record....it's a new BMW M6
I'm frankly shocked that it's had a more positive response that I could've imagined from everyone that's seen it in the last week, which did soften the blow of selling the SLS somewhat. Indeed, I think nearly everyone prefers it to the SLS which to me is utter madness - sure, it's no doubt a better overall 'car' in many respects but I always deemed the SLS as a proper 'supercar', and
So, I do now have a much more 'ordinary' car, but one that's still got 560bhp, is an über-modern technical tour de force, it looks great, it's probably the nicest finished car I've had (the interior really is lush, and totally rattle free
) and it's DCT gearbox really is a demonstration of how these 'boxes should operate. Saying all that, it's certainly no SLS for presence or noise or sheer drama but I'm a sucker for a big refined GT so this is probably about as good as it gets currently. It'll do for the next few months anyway I won't expose you to the full Palmball review a BMW on a Mercedes forum unless you want it but heres a few pics for you guys to throw darts at
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