SL600 'N' Plate

[yeti]

All,

Looking at a 1995 SL600 from a dealer. 80k miles, looks like a lovely car.

Just wondering about the ownership experience, anything alarming about them, do gearboxes fall out at 81k miles or anything like that. Perfectly prepared for high costs associated with it (servicing, fuel, insurance etc) but is there anything unexpected? Do they drive well? I'm not expecting razor sharp (I have a Marcos and a Lotus for that) but I would like a reliable, very fast cruiser - and for this price the car fits the bill on paper.

Thanks for any advice!

[iluvmercs]

The 600 engine is an awesome piece of kit. Quite expensive if things do go wrong, but they shouldn't for hundreds of thousands of miles!

I'd say buy it!

Darren

[yeti]

Would a 1995 model have the 5-speed autobox?

I've also read that power is just under 400bhp - can this be increased cheaply i.e. with induction/exhaust and chipping? Or better left untouched? Not looking for silliness, always nice to have a little more than standard...

Also the hardtop - is a one-man job or a team of people? What does it weigh roughly?

Ta!

[sneijder]

Hardtops for the R129 SL are 67 Kilos. Two man minimum job I'm afraid, when you put the thing back on it gets a little hairy lining everything up. And also the second time because you forgot to plug in the rear screen.

I think the idea at the time was you just take it off once a year. We used to store them for customers, and 30 would descend on us the first sunny Saturday of the summer. Thank the lord for vario roofs.

[Pentoman]

The original 600 engine had 408 bhp (or maybe 408PS which is still over 400bhp). According to the figures and what people say, it was detuned in 1992 or so, for emissions reasons I think. It presumably wouldn't be too hard then (relatively speaking) to get the power back. Perhaps starting at investigating different parts between earlier and later engines? I would guess at different ECUs? Or maybe different/more restrictive catalysts or something?

Oh I thought there was a fantastic web page with info on the 600 (1995 model as it happens) here, but it seems that it's for the 500. Some of it may be relevant though.

http://pages.prodigy.net/jforgione/MB_S500.html

[GregE240]

Not that well versed in the V12 (V8 man myself - see profile).

But...I do know that at some point the V12 lost its twin distributors and went to individual coil packs per cylinder. Initially these were a little fragile.

Theres a user on here called "bloodyniceben" who works at an MB dealer. You may wish to drop him a line for his thoughts.

Alternatively, take a look at the SL forum on www.mercedesshop.com - a wealth of information on there.

As for the car itself, built like no other MB and pretty quick. The V12 is a big old lump and does make it a little front heavy. But hey...I've never driven one.

Hope this gives you a good starter for 10.

Cheers

[paoloh]

Hardtop is a 2 man job!

Power is awesome and sound is even better.

Of course it's going to be expensive if it goes wrong but the older ones are better built and have less toys than new ones, you should be ok.

I have a great number plate for it if you want???