[bambina]

I recently sold my 6 series and looking for a 03-04 sl55, silver on berry. I found this one on ebay and it seems like a great price. there are a couple things that turn me off about the car. I noticed it doesnt have a factory amg front bumper and the wheels look like cls wheels.

I was hoping you guys could take a look at the ebay auction and give me your opinions. I am trying to get this car for $31000 and have the dealer throw in a 2 year warranty

eBay Motors: Mercedes-Benz : SL-Class (item 290306573795 end time Apr-05-09 19:08:45 PDT)

 

[BklynSL]

I would definitely jump on that if i were you. Seems like a great price, I just paid that for my 2003 sl500 2 months ago, but i have half the mileage and its CPO plus another 3 years from MB. Definitely try to work in a warranty. I'm new to this board but from what I read, the tiniest repair---$$$$$$

Is it me or does the hood look a lighter shade of silver to you?

Love the red interior. and the parkronic is so helpful, especially here in NYC.

 

[Hal Adams]

You are right about the bumper which would make me ask why? Either it has had a front end smash which was the POs fault and to keep the cost down, fitted an aftermarket bumper or he just wanted to be different and throw some cash around the place.

I am not sure what wheels were used for the US market, but I do not recognise those as typical 'SL' wheels. They are certainly AMG style III wheels, (or a very good copy) so I would not worry too much there.

Nice colour combination if you want to be ouitside the herd. I have silver and black which isa bit boring, so I like the red! Mileage at 65k is not huge for a Mercedes and most of that would be on motorway type roads if it is a texas car, so plenty of life in the car.

In the UK this car with its mileage would be priced at the top end at $31, but I think we are almost in a unique situation where used car prices over here on 'gas guzzlers' are lower than the US! It seems a popular car though as there are 8 bids on it...

If you can, try to get the warranty thrown in with the price. If not, certainly worth the money to buy one. Peace of mind. Just in case...

Good luck!

 

[dperras]

Agree with all of the above. The berry interior is great and seems uncommon--the red stiching over black areas looks really rich in person. for a year I looked for brilliant silver metallic/berry in the Northeast US and only came across one. Good call on Hal's point about the front bumper--check carfax but it might not even show up if someone just cracked up the original on a curb and replaced it sans insurance. I personally don't like the one that's on there at all--looks like cheap 1980's aftermarket ground effects to me, but it's totally a personal taste thing--you may like it. Might be short money to find a used OEM standard AMG or even non-AMG bumper...check ebay, etc. If you find one the same color (careful there are many iterations of "silver") you won't even have to paint it.

 

[thelos]

The front bumper is from a 600SL, also the front grill should have chrome accents on a SL55 AMG, the one currently on is from a regular 500SL. It makes me wonder if the car had a frontend damage and replaced? Or maybe the previous owner deliberately replaced these items for personal taste, but I doubt it. You should check the front end for signs of damage before purchasing, and definitely get a warranty for at least three years as a pre-condition to purchase.

 

[DeLorean00]

Looks like a great car!! Its definitely one of the best of the best when it comes to a Mercedes.

But I have noticed a few flaws that would drive me nuts.

First of all the headlights look dull and hazy. Mine started to look this way before I had them replaced (over $4,000). Compare my lights to this cars lights. If this doesn't bother you, its no big deal. But for me it always reminded me how old my car was.

The other flaw was that the "V8 Kompressor" emblem on the drivers side fender is slightly crooked. This is probably a sign of paint work, and possibly body work. This also would drive me nuts and I would have to have it repaired.

Lastly, as stated before the bumper, grill and wheels are not correct for that car. And they painted over the side marker lights as well. These could all be signs of a once damaged car, or signs that someone liked to customize their SL55.

 

[okbarnett]

The front bumper on the car is the new style, 07-08 SL65
Which is for sale on ebay as a fiberglass replica. Dont know what his particular one is. But with the silver painted side markers, its suspiciously a cheap paint over to have instead of the clear ones.

 

[BklynSL]

Didn't even notice the painted over side markers. But a little plastic polish worked wonders on my dull headlights, they look new now. Also why is there no SOS malfunction like mine has i have an 03 too.?

 

[gumsie]

Must be different from the UK spec car then. That bumper is known as part of the performance pack over here, (same as the F1 pace cars), if it is you should have different brakes and wheels too I think. But not those wheels.

You need to go and ask a lot of questions.

 

[Lou K]

Looks like a great car!! Its definitely one of the best of the best when it comes to a Mercedes.

But I have noticed a few flaws that would drive me nuts.

First of all the headlights look dull and hazy. Mine started to look this way before I had them replaced (over $4,000). Compare my lights to this cars lights. If this doesn't bother you, its no big deal. But for me it always reminded me how old my car was.

The other flaw was that the "V8 Kompressor" emblem on the drivers side fender is slightly crooked. This is probably a sign of paint work, and possibly body work. This also would drive me nuts and I would have to have it repaired.

Lastly, as stated before the bumper, grill and wheels are not correct for that car. And they painted over the side marker lights as well. These could all be signs of a once damaged car, or signs that someone liked to customize their SL55.

My car is in the body shop as we speak. I am having the 2008 Performance Package front bumper put on my SL55. I have seen the PP SL55's and personally prefer it over the stock bumper. There was no damage on my bumper---I just wanted to do it . In addition I am having the side marker lights painted to match the color of the car (black). The marker lights on my current SL55 bumper are painted to match the car and they look much better than the clear markers in my opinion.

As far as the grill on that car, it could be the stock grill. The SL55's of that era did not have a chrome strip on them.

 

[hmoult]

I agree with BklynSL, the hood does look to be a different shade of silver in one of the pictures. But, silver is tricky. Also, it looks to me that the gap between the front of the hood and where the top of the bumper come up to meet it are larger than normal. I'm trying to describe the gap where the little legs comes down each side of the grill and meet the top of the bumper.

For a quick comparison look at the picture from DeLorean00.

I have a 600SL and the fit between the hood and bumper are closer than it seems to be on this ebay car.

 

[dperras]

Foggy headlamp covers

Looks like a great car!! Its definitely one of the best of the best when it comes to a Mercedes.

But I have noticed a few flaws that would drive me nuts.

First of all the headlights look dull and hazy. Mine started to look this way before I had them replaced (over $4,000). Compare my lights to this cars lights. If this doesn't bother you, its no big deal. But for me it always reminded me how old my car was.
.

I've had this problem with a bunch of cars in both the headlight covers and the tail lamps. Problem is the plastic is polycarbonate and the UV rays damage it and it appears cloudy, yellow or both. Before you replace them for that issue only, try some of the waxes and polishes on the market and you will be amazed how you can get the clarity back. I've used the Diamondite clear plastic restorer with good results:

Headlight Lens Care: Polish out scratches & haze to restore clear plastic headlight lens covers. Wolfgang, Meguiars, Plexus, lens cleaning system,

 

[Hal Adams]

Well, it is all academic now - it looks like the great tester, the public, thought the asking price too high....highest bid of $27.6k.

 

[skydog500]

Go with your gut. Sounds like there are a couple of things you do not like about the car and the front clip does not look right to me. I took about 3 months on E-bay to find the "right one" don't worry it's out there.

 

[biophase]

Looks decent and the price is pretty good. I got my 03 SL500 for about the same price as BIN with half the miles.

Hood color looks ok to me. I like the red interior.