1996 Mercedes SL 600
Discussion
I have always hankered after one of these and am very happy to have acquired this one last weekend. It has covered just over 80,000 miles.
I had been searching in earnest for less than a fortnight. I was fortunate enough to hit Refresh on the Car and Classic website just a few minutes after the advert went live. The pictures looked good and the private vendor lived 40 minutes away. I arranged to view the car that evening and agreed on the deal at the owner's house.
The car was built in 1996 and registered in 1997. I think it was purchased via a dealer in Holland before being imported in to the UK.
I am a Mercedes novice but what I do know so far is:
- The engine is a 6-litre V12 with a 5-speed gearbox. Just under 400bhp.
- The paint is Mercedes paint code 189, called something along the lines of Emerald Black. It's essentially a very dark greenish/blue, the precise colour changing according to the light.
- The interior condition is incredible. It has extended leather everywhere, all beautifully stitched. It looks new.
- The canvas hood and plastic windows are in excellent condition, too. The hood works perfectly.
- The hard top likewise is in excellent condition. I would like a panoramic hardtop one day, which is basically one enormous sunroof.
- The hydraulic suspension works beautifully and control and ride and impressive.
- No squeaks or rattles whatsoever.
The bad bits:
- The engine has an oil leak/leaks. It seems that any remedial work will require huge amounts of labour and eye-watering bills. The engine bay is so tightly packed one needs to pull everything apart, or even engine out, for access.
- The rear differential is leaking.
- The air-conditioning does not work. I am told it needs a new condensor
- The cassette deck head unit LCD display has failed and the cassette slot flap has broken off.
- There a quite a few stone chips.
- All tyres need replacing. However, it rides on tiny (in this day and age) 225 55 16 tyres, so these will be relatively cheap.
- The front indicator lenses need renewing.
- One foglight lense is broken.
- The under-bonnet insulation is sagging a bit.
- It doesn't have xenon lights! I will upgrade the current halogens and see if I can live with them.
- Rear view mirror is wobbly.
- Centre brake light has been disabled. Apparently one of the multiple bulbs in the strip has failed and this would cause an MOT fail.
- There is a slight dent in the side of the bootlid. Looks a fairly easy fix, though.
I currently have the car up on my scissor lift to inspect the underside. I will upload those pics later in the week.
I had been searching in earnest for less than a fortnight. I was fortunate enough to hit Refresh on the Car and Classic website just a few minutes after the advert went live. The pictures looked good and the private vendor lived 40 minutes away. I arranged to view the car that evening and agreed on the deal at the owner's house.
The car was built in 1996 and registered in 1997. I think it was purchased via a dealer in Holland before being imported in to the UK.
I am a Mercedes novice but what I do know so far is:
- The engine is a 6-litre V12 with a 5-speed gearbox. Just under 400bhp.
- The paint is Mercedes paint code 189, called something along the lines of Emerald Black. It's essentially a very dark greenish/blue, the precise colour changing according to the light.
- The interior condition is incredible. It has extended leather everywhere, all beautifully stitched. It looks new.
- The canvas hood and plastic windows are in excellent condition, too. The hood works perfectly.
- The hard top likewise is in excellent condition. I would like a panoramic hardtop one day, which is basically one enormous sunroof.
- The hydraulic suspension works beautifully and control and ride and impressive.
- No squeaks or rattles whatsoever.
The bad bits:
- The engine has an oil leak/leaks. It seems that any remedial work will require huge amounts of labour and eye-watering bills. The engine bay is so tightly packed one needs to pull everything apart, or even engine out, for access.
- The rear differential is leaking.
- The air-conditioning does not work. I am told it needs a new condensor
- The cassette deck head unit LCD display has failed and the cassette slot flap has broken off.
- There a quite a few stone chips.
- All tyres need replacing. However, it rides on tiny (in this day and age) 225 55 16 tyres, so these will be relatively cheap.
- The front indicator lenses need renewing.
- One foglight lense is broken.
- The under-bonnet insulation is sagging a bit.
- It doesn't have xenon lights! I will upgrade the current halogens and see if I can live with them.
- Rear view mirror is wobbly.
- Centre brake light has been disabled. Apparently one of the multiple bulbs in the strip has failed and this would cause an MOT fail.
- There is a slight dent in the side of the bootlid. Looks a fairly easy fix, though.
I currently have the car up on my scissor lift to inspect the underside. I will upload those pics later in the week.
Edited by Hereward on Tuesday 26th July 22:05
Beautiful stitching on the dashboard! I had a little chuckle at it being fitted with an MPG guage and it being calibrated up to 40mpg! I'd say a bit over half that would be realistic in day to day use.
Seems like you've got a schedule of works to complete but it looks like you've gone in with your eyes wide open! Upon completion you'll have a fabulously relaxed cruiser that will outlive us all given appropriate TLC!
Enjoy
Seems like you've got a schedule of works to complete but it looks like you've gone in with your eyes wide open! Upon completion you'll have a fabulously relaxed cruiser that will outlive us all given appropriate TLC!
Enjoy
MJK 24 said:
What's the big red button to the left of the gear lever?
That's the button to operate the convertible hood. It will flash if there's a problem with the fearfully complicated hydraulic mechanism, or myriad of electronic limit switches haha! Ask me how I know 
Anyway, to the OP - congratulations on taking the plunge on an R129, and especially the 600 - you're a brave man! But this being PH - we need people like you to keep these classics on the road.
I had a 1990 R129 300SL - straight six, for about four years back in the 2000's. Well actually, it was mostly my girlfriend's car, but of course yours truly copped all the servicing, repairs and maintenance!
Good points - an overall lovely vehicle, rare, beautiful to waft along in on a summer's day with the top down, engine purring and autobox shifting lazily beneath, to enhance the 'magic carpet' driving experience. And on the occasions when one has to command a bit of power - foot down, box downshifts and she can lift up her skirt and go, despite the enormous weight. And as you say, interior is a lovely place to be, nicely finished - although, strangely, for such a big car, there's not what I would call an excess of space and room inside! But nice to look at the leather, wood cappings, and appreciate the build quality - bereft of squeaks and rattles.
On the downside - Mercedes seemed to be hell-bent on deploying some fearfully complicated and unusual technology to do the simplest of jobs on these cars....much of which I was unfortunate enough to become involved with on a familiar basis!
The roof mechanism, as said, uses a hydraulic system with a reservoir and pump unit in the boot, with many limit switches everywhere. The smallest fault in the system renders the roof mechanism to fail....requiring a huge degree of fault finding to rectify. Why they couldn't use a normal electric system is beyond me.
Also many of the other features are controlled by a vacuum system, with a vacuum pump and distribution unit in the boot. Probably great when it's new - however the unit is in such a place as to be subject to water ingress, causing all sorts of problems. Also, there are a myriad of small vacuum pipes running all around the car - doing central locking etc.....there are even vacuum pipes leading into both the doors, using a vacuum to lock the door pocket lids when you lock the car. You can only imagine how much fun these are once they get old!
The 300 straight six engine wasn't too bad, although I did have to replace all the hydraulic lifters, but at least I could get round the engine to do so. I couldn't imagine how horrific it's gonna be to get round the 600 V12 engine to work on it - so good luck with that!
I did enjoy the car though despite that - and despite the appetite for fuel too! I hope that you enjoy yours as well. Keep us updated won't you?
Thanks for the comments. I will learn a lot from those of you with experience of these and will keep this thread updated with all the highs and lows of ownership.
A few more interior pics in the meantime, just so you can get an idea of how well it has stood the test of time over 20 years, 80k miles and 7 owners.
And the source of much pleasure (and probably some sleepless nights in the future):
A few more interior pics in the meantime, just so you can get an idea of how well it has stood the test of time over 20 years, 80k miles and 7 owners.
And the source of much pleasure (and probably some sleepless nights in the future):
mattwhite709 said:
I'm don't normally like Mercedes although there are some I make an exception for and I will had this onto my list of exceptions. A stunning car, I can only imagine that she makes a nice burble when you press the go pedal.
All of that. It's lovely - good luck with it.A wonderful car. Really it represents the zenith of the Mercedes-Benz marque and I am sure it will be recognised as such.
None of the problems should cause you any concern. The engine oil leak is an unknown quantity (i.e. how serious an issue it is rather depends on where it is leaking from) but everything else is tens or low hundreds of pounds to remedy. Keep on top of it and enjoy it. The exclusiv leather interior is beautiful (and cost over £2,800 when new).
None of the problems should cause you any concern. The engine oil leak is an unknown quantity (i.e. how serious an issue it is rather depends on where it is leaking from) but everything else is tens or low hundreds of pounds to remedy. Keep on top of it and enjoy it. The exclusiv leather interior is beautiful (and cost over £2,800 when new).
They don't build them like that anymore!.... it was definitely built during the period when longevity was probably more important than how much it cost to build. My dad had C220 Cabriolet from that period and whilst it wasn't the most dynamic of cars on the road, it never creaked or rattled though his car did have a the roof lining 'sag' although I think he might have had a trimmer put an extra seam in the material to eliminate it.
I put the car up on my scissor lift and nervously prepared myself for horrors beneath.
As expected there was a quite a lot of oil (and still dripping a teaspoon or so a day). I have wiped it down and positioned tissue paper in various places to try and establish the source.
My immediate concern is the oil in the alternator. The copper stators are coated. It must be on borrowed time if the oil leaks persist.
The condition of the underbody is pretty decent considering the age. No serious corrosion apparent yet, but I will refrain from properly inspecting under the covers and liners until the engine leak is sorted first.
On another forum I read that a well respected Merc specialist took 48 hours to replace the head gaskets on this type of engine! Enough to make a grown man weep...
As expected there was a quite a lot of oil (and still dripping a teaspoon or so a day). I have wiped it down and positioned tissue paper in various places to try and establish the source.
My immediate concern is the oil in the alternator. The copper stators are coated. It must be on borrowed time if the oil leaks persist.
The condition of the underbody is pretty decent considering the age. No serious corrosion apparent yet, but I will refrain from properly inspecting under the covers and liners until the engine leak is sorted first.
On another forum I read that a well respected Merc specialist took 48 hours to replace the head gaskets on this type of engine! Enough to make a grown man weep...
Exhaust system has seen better days
Heat wrap peeling off exhaust as it exits the nearside headers
Exhaust should sound pretty interesting if this silencer develops a hole!
So, a full exhaust system replacement is also required. May get something to give it a little bit more character, but that will have to wait.
Rear diff leaking
Heat wrap peeling off exhaust as it exits the nearside headers
Exhaust should sound pretty interesting if this silencer develops a hole!
So, a full exhaust system replacement is also required. May get something to give it a little bit more character, but that will have to wait.
Rear diff leaking
Edited by Hereward on Tuesday 26th July 22:18
I was surprised at the poor tyres the car came with. I think some people really do regard them as simply black circular things. The rears were a matching pair of 2004 Winter tyres! The front nearside tyre is a Chinese "Autogrip F107" and the front offside a 2006 Dunlop with cracking on the sidewall. All in all, totally unacceptable on any car, let alone this one.
At the weekend I am having 4x 225/55/16 Continental PremiumContact2 99Y fitted at home...by Kwikfit. Wish me luck. They are only £100 each fully fitted so I have no idea why the previous owner was driving around on such rubbish, especially as he was happy to pay Merc main dealers to service the car.
A bland, no-nonsense 16 inch alloy, just the way I like it. Shame about the tyre.
For Heaven's sake.
Front discs and pads are brand new, fitted a few weeks before I purchased the car.
Hang on, has that disc been mounted the right way round? This is the front nearside...
At the weekend I am having 4x 225/55/16 Continental PremiumContact2 99Y fitted at home...by Kwikfit. Wish me luck. They are only £100 each fully fitted so I have no idea why the previous owner was driving around on such rubbish, especially as he was happy to pay Merc main dealers to service the car.
A bland, no-nonsense 16 inch alloy, just the way I like it. Shame about the tyre.
For Heaven's sake.
Front discs and pads are brand new, fitted a few weeks before I purchased the car.
Hang on, has that disc been mounted the right way round? This is the front nearside...
Edited by Hereward on Tuesday 26th July 22:30
Hereward with regards to the exhaust I would recommend going OEM. I had to replace the exhaust on my 500 and went for a fabricated one - a mistake that I will correct by going back to what Mercedes built some time soon. A well balanced exhaust system is particularly apparent with an open top car that really is a long distance cruiser, in my opinion.
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