SL 500 R129 Suspension & Hood info

[lez]

Hi to all new to the club,would be grateful for some advise! Been looking to buy a SL 500 R129 97/98,the ones i`ve been to see have either had the hard top stuck on & unable to release or they have after a bit of effort removed the hardtop,but the hood would not raise i could hear the motors working! is this all to common or have i just been unlucky! could this be due to the hardtop being on for a long time & the components not being worked? or is this very common.Also one of the cars is fitted the adaptive hydraulic suspension & herd these are really costly if anything goes wrong & would i be wise to shy away from them due to the age of the car & possible future failure.Both cars have a fsh.
Many Thanks Regards Les

 

[Russf123]

Lez,
have just put a deposit on a '97 SL500 and the advice I got during my searches was to ensure that the roof works correctly as can be very expensive to fix.
Ref the adaptive suspension (ARDS), was also recommended to avoid as it can be very problematic. If you do a search on this and other MB forums you will get loads of good advice on these cars. There is a R129 sub forum on Benzworld (R129 SL Class - Benzworld.org - Mercedes-Benz Discussion Forum) which is very informative about these cars

Enjoy your research and quest for a SL500!

Russ

 

[BTB 500]

Yup I would personally walk away from anything with hood problems.

IMO ADS is not as bad as made out, provided a car has been properly maintained and the suspension is working AOK when purchased. The later ABC suspension on the R230 SL and CL is less reliable and more problematic - valve & strut failures are almost normal on cars from about 5 years old onwards, whereas there are 20 year old R129s with ADS that's never been touched. IIRC ABC struts are over £1000 each as well, whereas my main dealer quoted me £700 all-in to replace an ADS strut when I asked (out of curiousity).