2013 Mercedes-Benz SL63 AMG (R231)

[KillerHERTZ]

This is my 2013 SL63 AMG (R231), a replacement of my G55 AMG G-Wagen. I have just realised I never created a gallery thread on this car so here goes.

Purchased in June 2023, the cars specs are as follows:

-2013 SL63 AMG (R231)
-5.5l M157 Bi-Turbo V8 - 537hp with 800nm torque
-64k miles

Exterior
-Desinio Graphite 041
-AMG Forged Staggered Alloys, 19" Fronts, 20" Rears
-Carbon Fibre Bootlid
-Panoramic Glass roof

Interior
-Black Leather/Anthracite 501a
-Ash Tree wood interior trim
-AMG Performance Alcantara Steering Wheel
-Heated & Cooled, Dynamic seats
-Massaging seats
-Distronic Plus Active Cruise control with lane keeping assist and blind spot assist.
-AMG Illuminated door sills

When I first picked her up, G-Wagen in the background which I part ex'd:


A couple of days after I first picked her up, after a full machine polish which took me 3 hours:



























Luckly the engine is the revised version with the stronger chain guides, earlier M157s can suffer from stretched chains:


One of the very first things I always do, get the floor matts into the washing machine:


Starting with very basic modifications:

AMG Private Lounge Sticker, I rarely visit the site apart from the free AMG calender they give each yeah, but I like the AMG crest with its hologram sticker on my windscreen


Next up, post 2014 SL63 AMG models featured an AMG badge on the front grill, a quick search on eBay and I have my very own. I made sure it was in OEM location:


The rear brake calipers had a large amount of surface rust on them, as well as the rear hub. A quick coating of Black Hammerite on the rear Hubs and Sliver Hammerite on the rear calipers got the rear wheels respectable once again:

[KillerHERTZ]

Next up, one of the front wheel arch liner sections (the front) was ripped and part missing, replaced with an OEM part from my Local Mercedes. A total pig of a job resulting in swearing and cut knuckles:






The bottom side sections of the front bumper were cracked and totally stone chipped to hell, I thought id have a go at repairing this section myself. It will never be perfect but as its right at the bottom of the car its barely noticible + ill get the front bumper resprayed in time:






The car rewarded me with a flat tyre fairly early on, with a nail inside the side wall. No option but to source a rear replacement


After 2 months of ownership, I took my car to a certain racetrack in Germany, you may have heard of it



















My SL is the 3rd car I have taken to the ring, previously I have gone in my CLS55 AMG and my CLS63 AMG, didnt take the G55 AMG for obvious reasons



A full Video of my Nurburgring lap here:
https://youtu.be/AtzMxv01SHg



30.3 Mpg for the entire 'ring trip, not bad eh?:



Next up, as winter is finally over, started on some exterior mods. The facelift R231 models feature rear light clusters which are completely red and do not feature the white sections.
With some high quality red tint film, I facelifted the rear lights:

Before:

After:





They look far better IMO, as the original section was white there are no issues with the colour of the Indicators when flashing. Nice & orange! As this is just film, I can remove them within 2 mins if I ever change my mind.

Edited by KillerHERTZ on Monday 29th April 19:32

[KillerHERTZ]

Sticking with wrapping, I have wrapped the front brushed chrome lower bumper trim with a gloss black wrap. After not touching any wrapping products for a couple of years, im amazed at the quality of vinyl these days:


New plate, subtle enough to look original:



Oh, and another basic mod before I forget, Nurburgring plate surround (with the red strip painted black as I think it looks better), and also Nurburgring Sticker:




Last up, on the sunroof a collection of stickers representing all the car related places I have been in the SL, they are located in a sutble enough place so that you can barely see them:


So whats next?
-Exhaust system: In 2 weeks time I will be getting the rear/centre resonators removed. The car sounds amazing already but a tad quiet compared to my previous CLS63 AMG. So watch this space.
-Spacers: The wheels need pulling out towards the arches, so they fit flush
-Wheels, I want to get the edges painted sliver, like the new style AMG wheels.

Edited by KillerHERTZ on Sunday 6th October 20:04

[paulw123]

Don't see many of these around. Stunning car, the grey really suits it.

[d_a_n1979]

Wow! That's hell of a car and hell of a lot of work on your initial machine polish; the paintwork looked like glass

I'd say it sounds well on full chat too

[8bit]

Very nice indeed! Always liked these, possible successor for my W204 C63 when (if?) the time comes...

[KillerHERTZ]

Thanks for the positive comments guys

The R231 is the Ugly Duckling of the SL family, mainly due to the headlight design IMO. But I love it + its rarity!

[CornedBeef]

I love these too, I never got the ugly duckling comments. But then I've got a bangle 6 series, and used to have a 996 and they're both meant to be ugly!

My dad's got one of these, a 2014 SL350 so not as spicy as this. In the times I've used it, it's been lovely - the cabin feels very plush. His only issue has been LED failure on each of the lights, he's had to replace both fronts and both rears in the last few years at a fair cost.

[Its Just Adz]

Very nice!

That 5.5 is a great engine.
I drove straight E63 wagon at an old job with the 5.5 and the noise was just hilarious.

[KillerHERTZ]

Another annual trip to the Nurburgring, this time horrific weather!

The video of my wet laps can be found on my YouTube channel 'KillerHERTZ Mercedes' - im not allowed to post the link on here...

I managed to get overtaken by 'Seen Through Glass', however I also managed to overtake another Porsche GT3 so all good

[Kevin-y9fs3]

You're a brave man driving an SL63 enthusiastically in wet weather!

Lovely car. I had one for a short while but bottled it when all the early-COVID predictions were saying car values would plummet. I sold it on and made a loss, only for values to skyrocket as we all know.

I've missed it since and regularly scour the classifieds for a performance pack model.

I also never understood the ugly duckling reputation, they are very striking cars in the flesh and a very 'economical' way to get up towards supercar performance for a reasonable outlay.

Mine was £129k new, but with 40k-ish miles and one previous owner, I paid just over £30k.

I remember a discussion on PH with some defensive M-car owners who said that an F8X M4 was in a similar league of performance, based on the numbers. Having driven both, they aren't even close!

Keep the updates coming. Any plans for a trip to MSL? I don't think they need more power tbh.