2005 sl 500 reviews?

I think 90% of the modern MB owners would all tell you the same thing: "great car, would never buy one without warranty"

+ a million. German cars are 'ok' with the warranty and eternal headaches without them.

The funny thing about them is, that you have to drive them regularly. If you let it stand, it may/will get electronic problems.

They are great cars, even used, but if you buy used, do your homework.

If that includes "let it stand in the parking lot for an hour" then yes. An 2005 S500 owned by a relative used to have those electrical gremlins that would happen at the most inappropriate times.

Like the old BMW adage: It's will embarrass you in front of your friend.

I always cringe when I read shit like this. So just because your relative (who's most likely a moron if he's anything like you) had problems with his car, this means ALL SL500's have problems?


Funny, my M3 has never had a problem in the +/- 1 year that it's been outside the warranty period.

Actually no dude, I never said they all have those problems. But there were serious quality control problems at MB earlier this decade, especially with certain models. I would rather buy a 1996 s-class (or sl for that matter) than a 2006. It's not just me either, you can easily verify this with numerous reliability studies and articles. Most of it has been fixed up recently, and the new generation cars are much better. BMW had its own issues over the years but the problems have been much more specific which helps when you know what to look for.

Just picked up my MB (E420) from the shop. Ignition coil went bad. That's 3 that have gone since we bought it. Not that big a deal (1 day turn around, $75 for part, $100 for labor). But we've also had to replace the radiator, a window motor ($500??), oil lines, recently the transmission had some sort of shit wrong with it and it wouldn't shift out of first, another $800. Had the key snap off in the ignition last fall, which isn't necessarily a mechanical problem, until you consider that we had to pay the dealer $1100 to drill out the entire ignition key assembly and put a new one in because of the way it was designed. Currently one of the fog lights doesn't work due to an electrical problem that neither myself nor my father can fix--my father is an electrical engineer.

All said and done, this is a car with almost 160,000 miles and still drives basically like it did 160,000 miles ago. Superb handling, very smooth ride, very strong performance (mid 14's 1/4 mile) while getting 27mpg on the highway. Interior doesn't look like it did new, but it still looks excellent and I would believe the car had less than 30k miles on it.

My parents have owned several MB's over the years, and my take is this:

In all likelihood, they will be more expensive to maintain than other cars, but are extremely well engineered vehicles that will last a long time if you take care of them correctly.

Buy an SL500 and you will be buying an excellent car that will be a lot of fun. You're also likely signing up for more mechanical problems (than the average car) which will cost more to fix (than the average car).

I've driven an '04 SL500 and will say that the steering could have been a little tighter, but overall very, very cool car. Economy should be better, but overall strong performance. It's a very flashy car--make sure you have the persona to go with it.

A few weeks ago I got the chance to drive an '02 Jaguar XKR; I would recommend taking a look at one of these for sure. You can get a stronger performer that's a little less common for a good bit cheaper if you go back a couple of years. Less money upfront = more money to put aside for maintenance.

It certainly isn't that extreme, but when a friend's father tried to drive it again after a 3 week holiday it refused to work. This happened again after the next holiday and from then on they always had someone to drive the car at least once a week.

The previous generation (2000-2006) MB S-Class was indeed a finicky car.

But when they put the V-12 Biturbo in it, it became a true monster.

Those problems with the E420 you listed are pretty common for a Bimmer or Benz, in fact barely anything.

I have an E46 3 with 114K on it. It hasn't had any problems, but be advised; regular maintenance is expensive.

The key is finding a good indie shop who you can trust. I had been going to the stealership and was paying way too much.

I have a very weak spot for that engine. One day I am going to pick up a V12TT (don't even care if it's an s or an sl) and I don't care how much its gonna cost to maintain it.