[DeLorean00]

Ok so I am not new to high end cars. Almost every car I have ever owned has been one. I have had BMWs, Mercedes, Porsches, Ferraris, etc. even other SL's (129). But I seem to be completely obsessed with my R230. For example when I come home from a drive I spend the next 15 minutes with a spray bottle and a micro fiber towel cleaning all the bugs off the front. I find myself going to the garage over and over again just to look at it (not even noticing the Ferrari F355 and DeLorean next to it.) Now two weeks ago I bought a KIA just to drive to work so my SL doesn't have to endure the long hot summer days in a parking lot.

So am I completely insane? Are any of you as nuts as me?

My "new" driver so the SL can stay pretty.

And a unnecessary photo of my SL.

 

[Copper]

Nope.......you are pretty much certifiable................jk

 

[DeLorean00]

Nope.......you are pretty much certifiable................jk

Thanks mate, I feel much better.

 

[Markinct]

Nope

Not at all ... I have an 05 desert silver w/14K on it sitting in the garage waiting to come out after the Connecticut winter is finally over. Every once in a while we have a warm-ish day, and I go out to the garage and put another coat of wax on her. She has five coats on her now, and given that the weather is getting warmer now, who knows how many coats she'll have on her come June 1 when she goes on the road! You are definitely not insane.

 

[akoch]

yup, you are nuts But the next owner of your SL will thank you.

On the other hand, it is easy to fix - just go test drive the other cars: germans, japanese. Good few will have something that an SL can't even remotely touch. You should start feeling better after all.

 

[Fehmarn]

certifiable, without a doubt, welcome to the club.

Still, I like the idea.

I've sorted the problem a little differently: My office and work appt. are in Frankfurt, Germany, but my home is some 390 mls away on an island in the Baltic.

I take the (superb) Germany ICE train between the two and have put an SLK 350 on the Island. Now I save on Autobahn-kilometres, and I get to alternate between two equally wonderful cars, while being served cold draft beer on the dull stretch between them.
Weathering the crisis CAN be fun

 

[tfire]

I'm so glad to hear I'm not the only one who removes bug guts after almost every outing...

I've been driving the ML63 till the weather warms. (I have snuck the SL out several times on those rare warm days) By May I'll probably pull it out of storage for the summer.

I think you're perfectly normal...

 

[Rook3001]

*cough*

*cough*

weirdo

*cough*

*cough*

LOL

I just drive mine every day and wash it when I can. I need to get around to waxing it very soon before the actual hot days hit hard. The silver can hide a lot of little defects... and dirt.

Don't get me wrong, I think my SL is absolutely gorgeous. I love to look at it when I walk away and when I walk towards it in a parking lot. I also like to look out the windows at it in my driveway (temporarily... I have a project sitting in the garage until the end of the week). Like several others here, I bought my SL to drive it and drive it I do -- a lot.

Rook

 

[Sg5845]

Ok, so I am finishing a week vacation in the Bahamas at a marina where guys are pulling there $1 million to $3 million yachts in and out all week. It makes my obsession with my '07 SL550 seem pretty silly. (BTW: these boats are considered small - the REAL yachts (100+ Feet ($5 million plus) can't fit in these slips).

So net/net is - if you are in to it, go for it!

 

[bmadden72]

Add me to the list of "fanatics" who wipes down his car after almost every drive. I've always been that way with my other cars and I'm certainly no different with the SL. In fact, I'm probably even more obsessive with it.

 

[Eagerquest]

(BTW: these boats are considered small - the REAL yachts (100+ Feet ($5 million plus) can't fit in these slips).

BTW....100+ feet on any Yacht is WAY MORE then $5 million.....

 

[CorAegean]

I had a 1978 450SL (or as I like to say, SL450) silver with blue leather and top. It was beautiful and I loved it and kept it pristine and then sold it to a lucky person. I actually traded it in 1994 for a Lexus--was almost immediately sorry--and the USED CAR MGR at the Lexus dealer bought it from the dealership!

BUT---the r230 is in my opinion the most beautiful car ever designed and built, bar-none--even the exquisite Ferrari California and the always gorgeous Carrera Cabriolet. These are of course my own personal standards and you may all have your own image to hold up to elevate the SL higher by comparision.

So Del you're not crazy at all...the sirens are calling and you are only doing what guys have done since at least the time of Ulysses!

Cor-
"Look at it go, Homer--this one's gonna go for miles"

 

[spilok]

The wisest comment on this whole thread was "you are nuts...and the next owner of the SL will thank you!"
Enjoy your car (is the Kia really a car?). I just heard about a guy that I knew who at age 26 had a massive heart attack. He is dead. "Eat, Drink and be Merry, for tomorrow may never come". The SL was meant to drive and enjoy.

Stan

 

[Rook3001]

IBUT---the r230 is in my opinion the most beautiful car ever designed and built, bar-none...

Whoa, hey now. If you're including the Aston Martin DB9 Volante or the V8 Vantage in that list, we may have to have a little chat! The SL is quite handsome, but it is no Aston. That is my only dream car beyond the SL and I do hope to own one someday!

I just heard about a guy that I knew who at age 26 had a massive heart attack.

I went to college with a guy who several years later had a heart attack at the bar where he worked serving drinks. He was only 24 when he died from a previously unknown congenital heart defect! Now I don't quite live every day like it's my last, but it does make me think about my goals in life. It's why I'm only 31 and own an SL.

Rook