SL 350 buying advice

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smillion

Active Member
Joined
May 8, 2006
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Car
CLS350 CDI sport
My sons have grown up and have their own cars and so the need for a 4 door car is now less. As a HUGE Merc advocate I'm now looking at the SL. Needing fuel economy (and so a 350 for me) and a panoramic roof, is there anything else I should consider when buying one if these.

I'm looking at dealer supplied second hand, despite having last 2 CLSs brand new. Maybe that's a reflection of getting older wiser and cynical.

Any useful tips , and were there any facelifts? Is airscarf a good option or a waste of space.

Budget £35k

Thoughts welcome.....


Marc
 
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My sons have grown up and have their own cars and so the need for a 4 door car is now less. As a HUGE Merc advocate I'm now looking at the SL. Needing fuel economy (and so a 350 for me) and a panoramic roof, is there anything else I should consider when buying one if these.

I'm looking at dealer supplied second hand, despite having last 2 CLSs brand new. Maybe that's a reflection of getting older wiser and cynical.

Any useful tips , and were there any facelifts? Is airscarf a good option or a waste of space.

Budget £35k

Thoughts welcome.....


Marc



Have Airscarf on my SL63. It's a nice to have. You get a bit of warm air on the back of your neck. Wouldn't pay for it as an option new.


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Airscarf is a must if you intend to use the car roof down on anything other than sunny summer days.

Electric wind deflector is also a must plus the reverse Camera.

All other things are personal preference.

SL400's are now dropping into the high £30K's and are a vast improvement mechanically over the 350, to a degree that they made the SL500 almost entirely redundant.

Real world mpg in my sig below at circa 6000 miles in 13 months since we took delivery.

Here's a useful thread to read:-

http://www.mbclub.co.uk/forums/general-discussion/175380-r231-sl350-24-hour-test-drive.html
 
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I have had my SL400 for a few months and around 1600 miles. I have loved driving it, luxurious yet reasonably sporty; and with a retractable roof.

The average mpg for the 1600 miles is 29; which is not bad. I do mostly out of town driving. Am still only at 2600 miles so I think mpg might improve as engine runs in fully.

http://www.mbclub.co.uk/forums/general-discussion/215959-r231-sl-400-a.html
 
BTW, air scarf is ACE.

my godson and nieces love it, probably their favourite feature
 
My only issue really was the electronic brake system pump , which apparently is a serviceable item , and a cost of around £2000 if replaced by an Mercedes dealer , which happened to myself , but thankfully they did it under an good will gesture as every case is decided in its situation , my car had done less than 10000 miles when it failed ,,,
Other minor issues is the water leaking into the boot , common fault apparently ,
As someone else stated , airscarfs are a must imo , also the auxiliary battery can be troublesome if your not using your car much as I wasn't !!
As for fuel economy imo if your looking at an SL the fuel economy shouldn't be an issue ,
Happy hunting
 
Mpg economy

Just out of curiosity, how much money in fuel do you think you'll actually save, over the course of a year, as a result of owning an SL350, rather than an SL400?

A tenth? Not much in the whole cost of ownership thing.
 
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My only issue really was the electronic brake system pump , which apparently is a serviceable item , and a cost of around £2000 if replaced by an Mercedes dealer , which happened to myself , but thankfully they did it under an good will gesture as every case is decided in its situation , my car had done less than 10000 miles when it failed ,,,
Other minor issues is the water leaking into the boot , common fault apparently ,
As someone else stated , airscarfs are a must imo , also the auxiliary battery can be troublesome if your not using your car much as I wasn't !!
As for fuel economy imo if your looking at an SL the fuel economy shouldn't be an issue ,
Happy hunting

are you referring to the R230 (the previous generation SL)?
 
C240Sport97 said:
are you referring to the R230 (the previous generation SL)?
I think so it was a 2011 350
 

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