R230 SL - Does my logic stack up?

[DickiPhitt]

Thanks for the offer Rosso, would have been ideal but I'm in Yorkshire :-(

Seems the car is one lady owner with full MB service history which is unusual for a 2002/3. Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be anything more than the digital history printout (whatever that means but certainly not reams of nice invoices showing what work has been done, like baffles and ABC).

I'm preferring low(er) mileage in the expectation the interior is hopefully less worn.

As for the Comand the main disadvantage seem to be due to it pre-dating bluetooth. I'm quite happy to do without the technology on my main cars.

Anyway I'm going to take a look once the weather turns dry.

 

[Rosso1]

You should be able to get the car service history from the Mercedes garage who has serviced the car.
Don't worry about the blue tooth as if the car still got the mobile that was fitted to the car in the arm rest you can purchase a blue tooth unit that fits over the current phone that is blue tooth, (looks like its always been there). The only unit i believe that works with this is the Viseeo 3000. And if there is no phone in the car you can buy a cheaper blue tooth unit that works as well but this has to be plugged in the cigarette lighter.



What colour and speck do you want?

 

[DickiPhitt]

Had discovered the Viseeo 3000 on other posts but it looks to be out of stock everywhere so maybe its discontinued. Maybe just switching phone off would not be a bad thing anyway.
Colour wise basically anything other than black or white. Interior not black. Quite like the idea of ventilated / cooled seats and would be pleased for extended leather. I can't make my mind up about whether or not I like the wood trim and steering wheel.

 

[Rosso1]

I have the hot and cold seats with wood same leather seats as the amg plus the massage seats, but the only thing i really wanted was the pano roof and the Bose Command system.
There are plenty of Silvers out there i have a blue silver looks really nice in the sun. There are places to get the Viseeo 3000 still.

 

[DSB SL AMG]

SL500 all day...make sure the ABC struts are checked on a ramp for leaks and excessive ball joint 'play', also raise and lower the suspension a few times...check the boot is dry, wet boot means potentially damaged PSE unit and electrical woes...R230 seals (Boot/c-post) as your probably aware leak by design, if its dry its had the DIY repair already

Do note Arnott remanufactured ABC struts can be bought for around £800 delivered, lifetime guarantee, offering big savings over MB...there is also a resin fix for the lower ball joint (a few companies do this now).

Thanks for the offer Rosso, would have been ideal but I'm in Yorkshire :-(

Seems the car is one lady owner with full MB service history which is unusual for a 2002/3. Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be anything more than the digital history printout (whatever that means but certainly not reams of nice invoices showing what work has been done, like baffles and ABC).

I'm preferring low(er) mileage in the expectation the interior is hopefully less worn.

As for the Comand the main disadvantage seem to be due to it pre-dating bluetooth. I'm quite happy to do without the technology on my main cars.

Anyway I'm going to take a look once the weather turns dry.

 

[DickiPhitt]

Well today I learnt something - don't assume a well specced 500SL has a glass panoramic roof! Deal breaker straight away for me.
On the other hand the help and advice from this forum helped me uncover several points where this low mileage 1 owner car was not up to what it should and could have been, so a good learning experience, thanks.

 

[Rosso1]

This may save you a trip or two ask for the VIN number from the saler and post it here. VIN decoder is the best online tool to check vin number | VinDecoderz.com this will show you all the extra's the car has.

 

[DickiPhitt]

For some reason I'd got the impression I'd be asking a favour of a forum member every time I'd got VIN to check. Thanks for the link Rosso.
Clearly I need to spend (even) more time on this forum!

 

[DSB SL AMG]

A panoramic roof surely is a nice to have feature...if I was you I would focus on the below (courtesy of the other side), no point having a nice pan roof then quickly encounter this to do list

Recon pump from MB: £480
Pump fitting labour £350
New strut from MB: £900 ea
Short pipe on strut: £80
Strut fitting labour £200
Accumulators from eBay: £300 ea
Main HP line (flexi) to rear axle: £350
Pentosin fluid to flush through: £350 (£16/ litre on eBay)
3 micron filter from MB: £23
Valve block rebuild inc seal kit (per axle) £250

Well today I learnt something - don't assume a well specced 500SL has a glass panoramic roof! Deal breaker straight away for me.
On the other hand the help and advice from this forum helped me uncover several points where this low mileage 1 owner car was not up to what it should and could have been, so a good learning experience, thanks.

 

[MikeInWimbledon]

Panoramic roof is definitely not standard on the SL500. Maybe 1 in 5 have it. Ditto Bose Amplification and speakers.

The boys have listed the main issues: drainage, ABC, baffles, and wing rust. Most cars over eight years or 50,000 miles will have had the work done already - if not, be cautious.

Baffles baffle me as a problem on a low mileage car - I would have thought it was mileage related from being driven. But maybe someone can clarify?

It's a one in five Mercedes that's still being serviced by a main dealer after five years old.

Understand your fussiness on ticking all the boxes but I'm reminded of a 38 year old friend who is holding out for a rich husband, who is tall, dark, good looking, sporty, holds down a proper professional career and has a great sense of humour. "She's still waiting."

Don't forget that you'll have MoT history as well - every MoT the car has ever had immediately accessible through the Web:

https://www.gov.uk/check-mot-history.

The original Comand unit is fine for music duties but is rubbish for SatNav and bluetooth telephone. When I bought my SL500 (which I'm selling) I thought I would simply replace it with an all singing all dancing Alpine or Kenwood unit for not much money, but in the end, I just carried on using my excellent Iphone. (In reality, I barely use SatNav)

Hope this helps

 

[MikeInWimbledon]

Ps

To illustrate the value of the online MoT look up

There's a lovely £12,995 39,000 mile Jasper blue SL500 being offered on Autotrader.

It had 68,106 on its odometer in 2012, but only 38,058 on its clock in Jan 2015. Look it up

"Just saying...."

 

[DickiPhitt]

My fussiness is in large part to (a) being at the very start of my search so not going for the first car I see (b) being a MB virgin and wanting to get up to speed but mainly (c) have builders ripping the house and garage apart currently so have nowhere covered to put the car!
Its going to be an indulgence and a keeper so I'm happy to take my time, learn from those who are more experienced than I and enjoy the process.

 

[DickiPhitt]

Ps

To illustrate the value of the online MoT look up

There's a lovely £12,995 39,000 mile Jasper blue SL500 being offered on Autotrader.

It had 68,106 on its odometer in 2012, but only 38,058 on its clock in Jan 2015. Look it up

"Just saying...."

This forum just keeps giving...

I'd exchanged emails already with the owner - doesn't have pano roof so its no-go anyway for me.

That Online MOT tool is a cracker as it gives fails and advisories too.. I do wonder whether that Jasper Blue one really did 32k miles in a single year (2012) or whether its a typo!

 

[Mercator]

I bought my 2007 sl500 5.5 just over a year ago on 43,000 and absolutely nothing has gone wrong with it over the 10,000 miles I have done.
I have two other cars and bought it as weekend vehicle but like driving it so much I have put on more miles than expected.
I have the glass roof but no other extras. The standard sound is fine.
My car is silver with black leather. There are a lot of cars with grey/cream leather that look very grubby/undesirable at this age.
Although I have enjoyed the car I am thinking of swapping it for a latest generation 911 which may give a more engaging performance on the corners and better acceleration.
Until you own one of these things you don't realize every Tom **** and Harriet in a 2 litre diesel will try to 'take you on'. You can blow them away but it gets rather boring.
Hopefully in a 911 turbo they won't bother.

 

[DickiPhitt]

Although I have enjoyed the car I am thinking of swapping it for a latest generation 911 which may give a more engaging performance on the corners and better acceleration.
Hopefully in a 911 turbo they won't bother.

Not so sure, Mercator, you'll just get a better class of idiot trying to take you on in Golf Rs

Save​

 

[Rosso1]

I am too thinking of Selling mine even though it took me a age to find, as i have a offer of another toy and something will have to go. Lucky the other toy won't be around for a month or so so i can enjoy the car for a wee bit longer.

 

[mat8n]

Ive had an sl with and without panoramic roof, and to be honest it doesn't make any difference at all.
In my opinion a complete waste in such a car.

 

[DSB SL AMG]

Yes, I often thought about the benefits of a pan roof in a convertible but to be fair UK crappie weather means maybe not so many days with the roof down...bit different on the R129 SL pan roof as stuck on hard top and good for winter use maybe.

Ive had an sl with and without panoramic roof, and to be honest it doesn't make any difference at all.
In my opinion a complete waste in such a car.

 

[Rosso1]

The pano Roof for me is the best option available due to you getting that bit more light in your cabin space.

 

[BTB 500]

It depends how much you use the car, I did vaguely consider a pan top for my R129 at one point, but being garaged and only used in nice weather now there would be little point. It hasn't had the hard top on for 5 or 6 years I think.

As they get older R230s are going the same way i.e. much less likely to be used as daily drivers.