SL500 & SL55

[davidn]

Apart from the supercharger and extra 439cc are there any other differences between the 2 engines?
Thanks
David

[Pete 55]

davidn said:

Apart from the supercharger and extra 439cc are there any other differences between the 2 engines?
Thanks
David

I think the oil reservoir in the AMG M113 engine is slightly smaller (7.5 litres, but I may be wrong, vs. 8 litres in the standard M113 in the 500). The transmission is significantly uprated as well - there is a list somewhere of the different torque handling transmissions (the AMG SL produces almsot 200 more BHP than the 500).

One is assembled by hand? Does that count

[davidn]

Thanks for that Pete, didn't realise the 500 only produced 300bhp must do some research don't know much about the Benz I must confess. Don't know about the built by hand bit, my TVR engine was built by hand and .... no it's been fine.
The 55 sounds like a hoot but I'm wondering if I'm going to need the extra 200 bhp especially as I am at long last considering a more sensible approach to my transport needs.
Should probably try a 500 and see if it fits the bill and save the £10K premium over the 55, super sensible, you see I am trying.
Yours sounds like fun though.
Thanks again.
David

[BoFox]

With the fairly recent facelift the SL500 got the newer 5.5l V8. 388hp now, so much closer to the the 55's 517hp.

SL350 was uprated to 272hp at the same time, felt pretty quick when I drove one.

[davidn]

Thanks, yes I noticed that when checking specs, but I fear the newer cars are out of my price range. Will be checking out a few 500's in the next week or so.

Can anyone point me to a list of the standard equipment list for an 03 to 04 500 sl? I'm interested to learn if the gizmos involved in the suspension system were all standard or specable (is that a word?) options. I have noticed some are described as having adjustable suspension height with an adjustment of 6", I wondered because I've seen a few around which seem to ride quite high compared with others.

Thanks

David