SL55 Engine Life

[Supracat]

Hi, just wondering if anyone knows the expected engine life of the SL55, assuming it's had regular services and oil changes. i.e I'd read somewhere that due to these engines being hand built and running well within max potential tolerances then they are typically good for 250k miles+ - is that true?, thanks,.

 

[Larkone]

Depends how they have been driven - any engine can make 250K miles if treated considerately

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

Hi, just wondering if anyone knows the expected engine life of the SL55, assuming it's had regular services and oil changes. i.e I'd read somewhere that due to these engines being hand built and running well within max potential tolerances then they are typically good for 250k miles+ - is that true?, thanks,.

I suspect they’ll cover much further than that with the right servicing, repairs and maintenance. The bits that connect to the engine are more likely to wear out or break before the engine itself.

 

[KillerHERTZ]

Keep it regularly serviced and use recommended parts & fluids, it will outlive the rest of the car.

Id be more worried about the bodywork, suspension and the roof mech than the engine.

 

[E55BOF]

Don't be too impressed by the 'hand built' label; that's more a marketing puff than reality - production AMG engines are assembled by a single individual, but on a production line just like all the others.

That said, though, the M113 engine in all its variants is one of the most reliable petrol engines Mercedes has ever made; nobody really knows the expected engine life, because given a decent service history they just keep going. If it ran well, and didn't smoke, bang, rattle or knock, I'd quite happily buy an M113-engined car with 150K miles on the clock and expect no problems.

If only I could say that about the rest of the car...

 

[Will]

I would say out of all the potential problems you could have with an SL55, the engine would be amongst the least of my concerns.

Obviously you would do your regular checks as you would with any used car, but aside from that just keep it well maintained and you shouldn’t have anything to worry about.

Fortunately the M113K engine was widely used for a fair few years in several different ‘55 AMG models, so in the unlikely scenario of needing an engine or any parts it shouldn’t be too difficult to source replacements either.

 

[AMGeed]

As above, the car components will fail before the engine, provided its correctly serviced and maintained.
It can't be emphasised how good this engine really is almost 20 years after production started.

 

[SpoonJar]

My car has 141k miles and in the 7 years I've owned it, apart from services, it's had a alternator, oil leak fixed, one of the serpentine belt pulleys broke apart, so new pulley and belt, and a crank position sensor.

 

[stealth.]

All comes down down to maintenance

 

[Uky]

You probably know this but it is worth mentioning...

Apart from the reliable engine, one thing to look out for is to have the ABC system serviced at regular intervalls.
Mercedes did not specify anything for my CL but the ABC oil was grey, watery and had a rotten smell when
I baught the car second hand. Apart from changing the oil, the filter and after some 100,000 kms most likely
the pulsation damper will have to be replaced. (Easily determined if reving the engine at Neutral.
There is a very specific sound that goes away at 1800 RPMs and up.)

 

[amazighman]

Americans run cars to very high mileage... 1million miles is not unheard of
Sadly here people condemn a perfectly good car to the scrappy just because it has done 150k miles.
Like said above , engines will go on for a long time with proper servicing and care... however The ancillaries will fail at some point