Well I've been toying with the idea of an SL for some time now. We were considering selling the E Class and buying a Range Rover Sport which we like a lot. However for the same money we could keep the E class and also get an SL400 - which appealed to us more.
The intention is the E Class is the daily and the SL is a weekend and fun car that will be a keeper. With the discounts discussed in this thread this is realistic.
So we'd arranged for an extended test drive which happened this morning, with fine sunny weather to boot. The main aim of today was not only to test drive the car to see if we liked it but also the practicality of living with one of these with someone who has mobility issues and needs a wheelchair.
There's no point having a lovely car if you drive somewhere but can't carry enough kit in it to actually do anything once you reach the other end.
This was our test car, it had delivery miles only so was brand new.
We removed the boot floor, which is not much more than a upholstered plastic board. This then allows us to use the space below as part of the boot (which is still lined) and we were delighted to find we could fit our wheelchair and open the roof. It was snug though, but ultimately it fits.
What was the car like?
Well remember I'm used to an E220 CDI so this felt fast, I was considering the SL500, but the SL400 is fast, faster than I'm ever really going to use so it's just fine.
The noise is great and with the gearbox in S mode it pops and bangs on overrun.
There was a vast difference between S and E on the gearbox settings.
Driving in town or rolling around you need to be in E, it makes the car a luxury cruiser but things were a bit slow to respond if you wanted to get a move on.
Change it to S and it was a different car, very responsive and ready to pull at any time. However when pulling out of junctions in S mode the gearbox was quite jerky as though it was expecting you to floor it all the time.
Being so new it may also need to "learn" changes... are these gearboxes intelligent to that degree?
This car had airscarf and the electric wind deflector and was a joy to drive with the roof down. In fact we had less buffeting with the roof off the SL than we do in our E Class with the Panoramic roof open.
Did we like it enough to order one?
Yup, we placed an order today and paid a deposit. The only question was the colour.
Mrs Red wanted a white one like the one we had today, but our E is white and I didn't want another white car, plus I wanted the porcelain interior. White and Porcelain is a bit Miami Vice for me. Plus I don't like the wheels on this car we've gone with the standard 5 spokes.
So in the end we went with Cavansite and Porcelain but I'm not a big fan of any of the colours on offer really. So we've asked the dealer what it would cost to paint the car Designo Mystic Blue.
He's going to email Germany on Monday and find out. As far as I can tell, it's not a flat no, it's just case of if it's going to be a bit steep, downright expensive, or simply absurd.
I can deal with a bit steep but not the others. This is all down to if they have the facility at the factory at which the SL is built to take it off the production line and paint it there, or it if has to be removed from production and sent to another factory. We'll find out next week.
When we originally ordered the E class we could have had this colour for an extra £5K with a three month extension on lead time - that was too much for an E220CDI. However I'd pay that for an SL to be Mystic Blue that will be a keeper, but that's my maximum limit.
