My Silver Arrow, Mercedes 350SL R231
Discussion
Just like any self respecting youtuber (I am not one!) I bought this car sight unseen! However I was not expecting any problems, and there hasn't been any!
We like to have a roadster in the fleet, up until about 3 years ago we had a succession of MGFs one after the other, good fun but too old now and I am afraid MX5s do nothing for me, I have been looking at R230s for a while, it all started when I spotted a 2006 SL500 on Facebook market place for £5000, very local to me here in Lancashire, looked fair in the pics except the ride height looked all wrong, it was cheap as the seller said the roof did not go down I made an appointment to view but chickened out and cancelled at the last minute, but I liked the look of the early models rather than the face lift, but again they are all getting a bit old, there are some right scruffy horror stories out there for sale for under £5000.
The SL500 appealed espcially as it is a V8 and 300+hp, later 5.5 litre cars are fairly rare, road tax and fuel consumption are a bit costly, not that I was too bothered for the mileage we do, but I was not keen on the 2008 onwards face lift. I was also slightly nervous about the ABC suspension.
I did find a really nice 2008 pre face lift car for sale in South Manchester with a very low mileage, expensive but I was sorely tempted. But then I stumbled on the R231, once I discovered that the R231 had an aluminum body and a 3.5 litre V6 with 306hp, 0-60 in under 6 seconds I forgot all about V8s!
So I could have a newer car reasonable road tax and fair fuel consumption, the search was on and I quickly found this one 177 miles away in distant Lincolnshire.
This one was a £1000 cheaper than the 2008 5.5 litre car in Manchester, more miles but hey ho, it was advertised with ABC suspension as a factory fitted option but I thought that would be unlikely on a base model, the seller gave me the chassis no. and I did a check with LastVIN.com, as I suspected no ABC but it did have over £10000 worth of factory options including the AMG Sports pack plus a load of other stuff, Airscarf, Pan roof, soft close etc. I calculated the the total retail price in 2013 would have been £83115......
Anyway we picked the car up about 2 weeks ago, it was presented to us in as pristine condition as a car of this age and mileage could be so delighted would be an understatement, on the way home, not sparing the horses, it managed about 42mpg, motorway nearly all the way of course.
Everything works as far as I can tell including the roof
The soft close is a bit iffy though, works Ok on the boot lid, sometimes on the passenger door but hardly ever on the drivers door, but really it does not bother me as the doors close easily without any effort, I may fiddle with it out of curiosity, the boot lid is more important as the soft close mechanism make sure it is closed snug with no warnings on the dash.
It has nice comfy seats which are part of the AMG sports pack
So in summary I am highly delighted with a bargain SL, the weather here in the North West has taken a turn for the better, what a pleasure it is bumbling around with the top down, I have not seen another on the road since I took delivery.
We like to have a roadster in the fleet, up until about 3 years ago we had a succession of MGFs one after the other, good fun but too old now and I am afraid MX5s do nothing for me, I have been looking at R230s for a while, it all started when I spotted a 2006 SL500 on Facebook market place for £5000, very local to me here in Lancashire, looked fair in the pics except the ride height looked all wrong, it was cheap as the seller said the roof did not go down I made an appointment to view but chickened out and cancelled at the last minute, but I liked the look of the early models rather than the face lift, but again they are all getting a bit old, there are some right scruffy horror stories out there for sale for under £5000.
The SL500 appealed espcially as it is a V8 and 300+hp, later 5.5 litre cars are fairly rare, road tax and fuel consumption are a bit costly, not that I was too bothered for the mileage we do, but I was not keen on the 2008 onwards face lift. I was also slightly nervous about the ABC suspension.
I did find a really nice 2008 pre face lift car for sale in South Manchester with a very low mileage, expensive but I was sorely tempted. But then I stumbled on the R231, once I discovered that the R231 had an aluminum body and a 3.5 litre V6 with 306hp, 0-60 in under 6 seconds I forgot all about V8s!
So I could have a newer car reasonable road tax and fair fuel consumption, the search was on and I quickly found this one 177 miles away in distant Lincolnshire.
This one was a £1000 cheaper than the 2008 5.5 litre car in Manchester, more miles but hey ho, it was advertised with ABC suspension as a factory fitted option but I thought that would be unlikely on a base model, the seller gave me the chassis no. and I did a check with LastVIN.com, as I suspected no ABC but it did have over £10000 worth of factory options including the AMG Sports pack plus a load of other stuff, Airscarf, Pan roof, soft close etc. I calculated the the total retail price in 2013 would have been £83115......
Anyway we picked the car up about 2 weeks ago, it was presented to us in as pristine condition as a car of this age and mileage could be so delighted would be an understatement, on the way home, not sparing the horses, it managed about 42mpg, motorway nearly all the way of course.
Everything works as far as I can tell including the roof
The soft close is a bit iffy though, works Ok on the boot lid, sometimes on the passenger door but hardly ever on the drivers door, but really it does not bother me as the doors close easily without any effort, I may fiddle with it out of curiosity, the boot lid is more important as the soft close mechanism make sure it is closed snug with no warnings on the dash.
It has nice comfy seats which are part of the AMG sports pack
So in summary I am highly delighted with a bargain SL, the weather here in the North West has taken a turn for the better, what a pleasure it is bumbling around with the top down, I have not seen another on the road since I took delivery.
Congrats - looks good! Will follow with interest as am also intrigued by this model. I came to pretty much the same conclusion - as good as the early 5 litre engines are, it's all the other electrical/suspension gubbins which lets them down. I'm no good with the spanners so could easily fund a house in the Bahamas for my local indy if i got a 230.
Concluded this model may not be as pretty but hopefully more reliable. Hope that's true! Enjoy
Concluded this model may not be as pretty but hopefully more reliable. Hope that's true! Enjoy
I meant to mention in my opening post, re the aluminum body that first attracted me to this version of the SL that there is a downside.
On the previous R230 model the rear subframe was constructed from aluminum but for some reason, probably financial (why on a £80K + Car!) the designers thought it reasonable to make the subframe from steel, so nice lightweight body shell heavy steel and corrosion prone steel subframe, no sense in that!
Of course I checked the MOT history as per normal pre buying any car (I did not know about the steel subframe at this point), at the beginning of last year the poor old thing failed comprehensively, the fail notice went like this
Nearside Rear Lower Suspension component mounting prescribed area damaged to the extent that control of the vehicle is likely to be adversely affected Suspension arm detached from badly corroded subframe (5.3.6 (a) (ii))
Blimey, I was somewhat shocked at reading that, obviously I contacted the selling dealer to enquire if he knew of this fail and was the car repaired correctly by a Mercedes Benz dealer, (if I had a negative response, of course I would have walked away), anyhow he sent me an invoice from Mercedes Benz of Worcester showing a subframe replacement under goodwill was fitted on 27/02/2024 so all is good.
So the upshot is, if you are considering an R231 check the subframe!
As soon as I am able I will raise the car up and give the subframe a good coat of Dinitrol as I have a spare can in the garage.
On the previous R230 model the rear subframe was constructed from aluminum but for some reason, probably financial (why on a £80K + Car!) the designers thought it reasonable to make the subframe from steel, so nice lightweight body shell heavy steel and corrosion prone steel subframe, no sense in that!
Of course I checked the MOT history as per normal pre buying any car (I did not know about the steel subframe at this point), at the beginning of last year the poor old thing failed comprehensively, the fail notice went like this
Nearside Rear Lower Suspension component mounting prescribed area damaged to the extent that control of the vehicle is likely to be adversely affected Suspension arm detached from badly corroded subframe (5.3.6 (a) (ii))
Blimey, I was somewhat shocked at reading that, obviously I contacted the selling dealer to enquire if he knew of this fail and was the car repaired correctly by a Mercedes Benz dealer, (if I had a negative response, of course I would have walked away), anyhow he sent me an invoice from Mercedes Benz of Worcester showing a subframe replacement under goodwill was fitted on 27/02/2024 so all is good.
So the upshot is, if you are considering an R231 check the subframe!
As soon as I am able I will raise the car up and give the subframe a good coat of Dinitrol as I have a spare can in the garage.
Lovely things OP, my dad's had one for years (a 2014 SL350 - no ABC) which I've borrowed a few times in the past. The engine sounds great and does surprisingly well on fuel doesn't it!
His main issues over long term ownership was LEDs failing in the lights (front and back) which were silly, but meant light unit replacement for MOT passing at points. And then I think it's eaten a few NoX sensors which I think is a general Merc thing. Other than that it's been gravy!
Edit - his had the subframe done FOC by Merc too.
His main issues over long term ownership was LEDs failing in the lights (front and back) which were silly, but meant light unit replacement for MOT passing at points. And then I think it's eaten a few NoX sensors which I think is a general Merc thing. Other than that it's been gravy!
Edit - his had the subframe done FOC by Merc too.
I've noticed these getting very very reasonable in the last 9 months, especially the NASP 3.5. It's a much better car than the R230, and as you say it's light enough that you don't feel short changed with 300bhp. The later turbocharged SL400 really does go well.
40mpg on a run is good but does it plummet around town? The lighter R171 SLK350 with that engine books at nearly 40mpg, which is impressive in itself for a 300bhp petrol automatic.
I'm currently commuting in a 5.0 XKR and have considered one of these as a more frugal alternative.
40mpg on a run is good but does it plummet around town? The lighter R171 SLK350 with that engine books at nearly 40mpg, which is impressive in itself for a 300bhp petrol automatic.
I'm currently commuting in a 5.0 XKR and have considered one of these as a more frugal alternative.
CornedBeef said:
Lovely things OP, my dad's had one for years (a 2014 SL350 - no ABC) which I've borrowed a few times in the past. The engine sounds great and does surprisingly well on fuel doesn't it!
His main issues over long term ownership was LEDs failing in the lights (front and back) which were silly, but meant light unit replacement for MOT passing at points. And then I think it's eaten a few NoX sensors which I think is a general Merc thing. Other than that it's been gravy!
Edit - his had the subframe done FOC by Merc too.
This car has a history of lamp failures, according to the MOT history it is mentioned a couple of times, before I took delivery the selling dealer had to have a new headlamp fitted for the MOT as the LEDs had failed, he was crying in his beer as the bill was about £1200 inc vat just for the part, I saw the invoice so I know it to be true, at least it should be good for a while, I shall keep my fingers and toes crossed for the rear lamps.His main issues over long term ownership was LEDs failing in the lights (front and back) which were silly, but meant light unit replacement for MOT passing at points. And then I think it's eaten a few NoX sensors which I think is a general Merc thing. Other than that it's been gravy!
Edit - his had the subframe done FOC by Merc too.
It also needed two new wiper blades, they are £98.99 each so I wont need those for a while!
As for fuel consumption I was fiddling with the trip computer this afternoon and found the stats since last reset, so for the last 8600 miles the average has been 35.7 mpg at an average speed of 34mph, so probably used for mostly non motorway journeys, our old Mini Cooper R52 averaged about 38mpg so I find that result perfectly acceptable.
Today I was out in the remarkable sunshine we are currently having and found myself on an empty slip road, so suspension and 7g transmission in to sport and I put my foot down for the first time, all I can say is WOW!
Yeah it's a case of a few cheap LEDs failing and taking out the whole unit! Dad's one has had all 4 lights replaced now, the worst was during the chip shortage when he had to wait a number of months to get one, and the MOT lapsed.
The wipers are expensive but I think they're quite nifty aren't they? Do the washer jets go through the wipers like with an S class?
The wipers are expensive but I think they're quite nifty aren't they? Do the washer jets go through the wipers like with an S class?
CornedBeef said:
Yeah it's a case of a few cheap LEDs failing and taking out the whole unit! Dad's one has had all 4 lights replaced now, the worst was during the chip shortage when he had to wait a number of months to get one, and the MOT lapsed.
The wipers are expensive but I think they're quite nifty aren't they? Do the washer jets go through the wipers like with an S class?
Not sure about the S class, but the washer system sends heated water through little holes in the blades, I thought that maybe the designers had come up with a way the washers could be operated with the top down without spraying the occupants, but then again if road condition were so bad the washers are needed the top would be up anyway, so you are probably correct it just uses the same system as a S class, best washers I have ever had on a car.The wipers are expensive but I think they're quite nifty aren't they? Do the washer jets go through the wipers like with an S class?
The ones on my E Class are just standard washers but with a spray rather than a jet, one got blocked this year, I couldn't clear it so had to get new one, Mercedes wanted about £70...... for one!
I will be following this thread with interest. For 13 years I’d been pootling round in an early R129 500sl, but as I had latterly started to use it for the commute to work found the thirst for fuel to make it a costly trip. I had also run out of volunteers to help take the hard top off, and so it was hardly ever driven as a convertible.
For some reason I came over all sensible and started to look at R 230 350’s but as the car would live outside, I was put off by stories of leaking boots and various electric foibles
I then started to see R231’s for sale at not a lot more money than decent R230’s.
Saw a nice 350 on an online auction, and was lucky enough to secure it
I’ve had it for around 18 months now, and average mpg is 33 since I acquired it, which is a massive improvement over the old 500sl. It’s not been without its issues, but I’d expected a few of them from the auction description. It needed new wipers, which although expensive are really good, and it needed a new compressor and condensor for the aircon.
I’ve also put new Michelin PS4s on the rear to replace the elderly Pirelli’s and they are such an improvement. Fronts will be done shortly
I’m just keeping fingers crossed that my lights hold out for as long as possible
Finally, the ability to finally have a convertible at the touch of a button is a revelation. Have made the most of it when weather permits.
Hope you continue to enjoy your recent purchase.
For some reason I came over all sensible and started to look at R 230 350’s but as the car would live outside, I was put off by stories of leaking boots and various electric foibles
I then started to see R231’s for sale at not a lot more money than decent R230’s.
Saw a nice 350 on an online auction, and was lucky enough to secure it
I’ve had it for around 18 months now, and average mpg is 33 since I acquired it, which is a massive improvement over the old 500sl. It’s not been without its issues, but I’d expected a few of them from the auction description. It needed new wipers, which although expensive are really good, and it needed a new compressor and condensor for the aircon.
I’ve also put new Michelin PS4s on the rear to replace the elderly Pirelli’s and they are such an improvement. Fronts will be done shortly
I’m just keeping fingers crossed that my lights hold out for as long as possible
Finally, the ability to finally have a convertible at the touch of a button is a revelation. Have made the most of it when weather permits.
Hope you continue to enjoy your recent purchase.
My R231 SL 350 was £1000 cheaper than the nicest 230 SL500 5.5 that I could find, but at 5 years newer and aluminium body, sensible road tax plus far better fuel consumption then for me it was a no brainer, I think 230s need a price adjustment in light of that.
Of course there is the snag of Mercedes parts prices, I am used to that now as I have had an E Class for a number of years (shortly to go now though) there is often a get round by using quality after market parts, Lemforder, Febi and the like, but some stuff unique to the cars, like wiper blades and lamps there is little alternative. I am sure it not quite as bad as say Porsche or Aston Martin.
I have found Autodoc a good supplier.
Of course there is the snag of Mercedes parts prices, I am used to that now as I have had an E Class for a number of years (shortly to go now though) there is often a get round by using quality after market parts, Lemforder, Febi and the like, but some stuff unique to the cars, like wiper blades and lamps there is little alternative. I am sure it not quite as bad as say Porsche or Aston Martin.
I have found Autodoc a good supplier.
Lovely bit of kit! These look great in Silver colour. There are so many in Black for sale right now and they seem to have the hardest time selling.
I spot the HK speaker, nice upgrade over basic stereo. Surprisingly it is not as common as one would think!
Looks like a great buy OP. Enjoy!
I spot the HK speaker, nice upgrade over basic stereo. Surprisingly it is not as common as one would think!
Looks like a great buy OP. Enjoy!
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