You have the 7G tronic sport gearbox, manual/comfort/sport modes all relate to the gearbox.
R129 & R230 SL500 experience
- Thread starter swithin
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According to my owners manual sport mode is the standard mode.
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Not that i've really driven mine with the top down (Only bought tail end of last year), but just revving it - the car sounds too refined.....So no chance of drowning out the sound of the kids
I think i'll have to carry out an exhaust modification to make it sound like it should - Don't want anything too boomy though!
I replaced everything cat-back on my 1994 500SL with a single custom-made sports back box; all pipework and the back box in stainless steel. It sounded fabulous - burble at idle, deep boom under power, but not obtrusively so, and no drone.
Was it a local company who carried the work out?
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swithin
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Morning All,
I've found something I truly hate about the R230. In my R129 I could change the Radio to one where i can stream music via bluetooth and take calls for less than £100. Just taken delivery of the dongle for the top of the centre console and it only works with phone calls!! Got an FM transmitter but around the M25 its not great as there are so many FM radio stations. I do not have an aux slot either in the glove box or the centre console nor a 30-pin connector i have been reading about for the last week or so. Does anyone have any ideas that do not include spending £500+?
I've found something I truly hate about the R230. In my R129 I could change the Radio to one where i can stream music via bluetooth and take calls for less than £100. Just taken delivery of the dongle for the top of the centre console and it only works with phone calls!! Got an FM transmitter but around the M25 its not great as there are so many FM radio stations. I do not have an aux slot either in the glove box or the centre console nor a 30-pin connector i have been reading about for the last week or so. Does anyone have any ideas that do not include spending £500+?
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swithin
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Just picked up the R129 from my local trimmer who replaced the plastic rear windows. Haven’t driven the 129 for a while now and it was great. However compared to the R230 it does seem a bit lazy with only 5 gears and overweight in the corners. Just to put the R230 into context it corners better than my wife’s Mini Cooper S which I used to think was glued to the road. That ABC suspension is fantastic.
Next job on the R129 is the small rust on the hardtop then the small rust on the front wings. The roof guy said the hood is in very good condition apart from some slight fraying in a couple of places so decided to save some cash and do the windows only. Gona also get my specialist to look at the suspension bushes and the engine mounts as well after summer. Hopefully the bushes will be all that’s needed to give me a stiffer ride.
I’ll take a shot of the new windows tomorrow and post them.
Next job on the R129 is the small rust on the hardtop then the small rust on the front wings. The roof guy said the hood is in very good condition apart from some slight fraying in a couple of places so decided to save some cash and do the windows only. Gona also get my specialist to look at the suspension bushes and the engine mounts as well after summer. Hopefully the bushes will be all that’s needed to give me a stiffer ride.
I’ll take a shot of the new windows tomorrow and post them.
Yup I had just the windows replaced on my hood. Makes sense if it's in good condition otherwise. I though the hard top was aluminium rather than steel??
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Fitting the box, yes, but the box itself came from a fellow forum member. I suspect it was just a standard stainless performance back box with the connections for an R129 already installed.
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swithin
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Both my 1999 R129 SL500 and my previous 1996 SL320 suffer in the same place, at the bottom of the rear pillar. Only very slight so wont be expensive to fix.
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swithin
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Definitely a good idea to use them regularly as there is the danger of parts seizing or creaking back into life after long periods of inactivity. I find that if i'm looking at a low mileage car it takes far longer to research and check it over than with a higher mileage one as the expensive parts of these cars do not seem to like inactivity.
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swithin
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Just seen where your from Alabbasi, your in a place with lots of sun and non crippling fuel prices, ($1.23 a LITRE here) you have absolutely no excuse not to use these regularly. Love the 928, always wanted one, came close to getting one, but then saw my R129 SL500 up for a great price.
I was right about the hard top being aluminium alloy, so it can't be rust. Maybe galvanic corrosion (like the W215 CL used to get where the rear pillar met the back wing)?
Aluminium doesn't rust, but it can corrode (particularly where it's in contact with steel) which I guess is what's going on there.
I think that you may have made the right decision, I much prefer driving the R129 to the 928 which has probably not been driven in 2 years. Fuel got down to $1.10/US gallon for a brief while, and while it was. I drove some of my bigger gas guzzlers (6.75L & 7.7L)
