R230 SL500 preventative maintenance jobs

[MikeInWimbledon]

I had the same car for a couple of years. Beautiful car. Fantastic value. Key things:

Sort out the boot seals and make sure no water is getting in - look for it when you go to the boot and if the car is wet when you open the boot, try not to drop yet more water inside. It's £2000+ if you don't.

Use the car twice a month. Most older R230 owners don't. Keep the bits turning and they'll keep turning - leave something unused for an age and it'll seize or work badly. Personally, I make a point of occasionally fiddling with the bits I don't normally use. Bored and stuck at some traffic queue? Just open and close the passenger window, lift or drop the car on its aromatic suspension. Once every three months: just adjust the seats back and forward / up and down - silly stuff like that.

If batteries (there are 2) fail repeatedly, just get a replacement from a battery specialist. It's not worth the faff. Don't go to main dealer, nor Halfords. Go to a battery specialist.

And finally, it's winter. Give it a good clean and wax. It'll save you time washing it and it'll keep damp crap for harming the paintwork.

Enjoy it - they're fantastic cars. I regret getting rid of mine but I got distracted by a younger prettier model.

 

[MikeInWimbledon]

I had the same car for a couple of years. Beautiful car. Fantastic value. Key things:

Sort out the boot seals and make sure no water is getting in - look for it when you go to the boot and if the car is wet when you open the boot, try not to drop yet more water inside. It's £2000+ if you don't.

Use the car twice a month. Most older R230 owners don't. Keep the bits turning and they'll keep turning - leave something unused for an age and it'll seize or work badly. Personally, I make a point of occasionally fiddling with the bits I don't normally use. Bored and stuck at some traffic queue? Just open and close the passenger window, lift or drop the car on its airmatic suspension. Once every three months: just adjust the seats back and forward / up and down - silly stuff like that.

If batteries (there are 2) fail repeatedly, just get a replacement from a battery specialist. It's not worth the faff. Don't go to main dealer, nor Halfords. Go to a battery specialist.

Run the car into a decent tyre specialist and ask them to do a free safety check on their ramps. Then scuttle across when it's up in the air and have a look at what's going on with the underside. the tyre thing isn't a bad idea - if you look at Mot history, you'll be amazed at the number of high performance, heavy cars that fail their MoT's on faulty tyres. https://www.gov.uk/check-mot-history

And finally, it's winter. Give it a good clean and wax. It'll save you time washing it and it'll keep damp crap from harming the paintwork.

Enjoy it - they're fantastic cars. I regret getting rid of mine but I got distracted by a younger prettier model.

 

[bassist]

Charge and condition connected directly to main battery in boot.
This also maintains the starter battery in the engine compartment.

I have just changed the starter battery which I believe is the original 2002 vintage.
It started to be very temperamental, strangely when the car was hot. If I waited long enough (about an hour) it restarted. Still after 14 years you can't complain. Incidentally I found that the main dealer price for the battery was very competitive, now there's something you don't hear very often.