jcb928

What do you guys think of the 90's Mercedes 500SL's? Has anyone owned one?

Positives,

5.0 V8 like the 928
Longer life timing chain
Convertible
Free road side assistance (http://www.mbusa.com/care/client-car...-assistance.do)

Negatives,

Looks more dated compared to the 928
Electric tops can be a problem
soft suspension (can buy Bilstein shocks and H&R springs)

If you change the suspension I think you might have a nice set up. Here are some pics of the car I am looking at,

hacker-pschorr

I keep thinking about a DD convertible for the wife - these are on the top of my list. I disagree about them looking "more dated" than the 928. Some of the newer versions without the two tone body look much newer.

IMO wheels make a huge difference in appearance on these (and 928's) to help them look newer. A set of 5-spoke AMG wheels goes a long way:

bd0nalds0n

I haven't driven them, but I do like the SLs. Wheels do a lot for updating the look. I think they have a simple, classic design that has been pretty faithfully retained over the years, similar to the 928 and the Jaguar XJ series. The ability to add a hardtop is another plus, IMO, because I hate the wind noise in a ragtop.

Marine Blue

Awesome V8 which is very reliable if maintained. Sounds like a turbine spooling up when you step on the go pedal! Had the same V8 in my 500E and miss it dearly.

fabric

Wow, that's pretty cool. I'm usually leery of stuff like that, but they do put it in black and white:

Bill Ball

Light? I owned a '73 450SL in the 70s and a 560SL very briefly in the late 80s. They were nice cars. The problem I had with them is they had an ambiguous personality. They were not really a sports car and not really a luxury car - well more the latter than the former. They were not great performers although the 560 had a surprisingly nice snarl when you jumped on it. The much earlier 230-280SL were more impressive to drive. If you pushed them hard they handled well. The later cars are more of a boat to drive, and I think the 500 carried that forward. I haven't owned one but I've been in them. I just don't find them very interesting. Maybe this doesn't help you.

FotoVeloce

Sold my 500E 2 days ago.

This is now it's its place. Down 50HP but a more fun car to 'drive'. The 5.0 32V V8 is a beastie though.. a really good engine. 320+ HP with a smooth idle at 500RPM. If I recall MBZ also used variable cam timing in that engine to get such a fat torque curve.

Bill51sdr

I may be wrong, but I seem to recall a thread posted somewhere in which someone owned one of these and had some kind of catastrophic rear suspension failure. May have been in relation to some kind of hydraulic system therein. Anyone else recall this?

jheis

Buddy of mine has the 600SL version (V12) which I've driven several times. Pulls like a locomotive, but definitely NOT a sports car. The physical dimensions are almost the same as the 928, but the Benz weighs 1,100 lbs more.
James

928ntslow

I have driven them a bit...enough to know I wouldn't own one. Very uncomfortable for anyone over 6 foot. you feel cramped. You don't feel like you are a part of the car. Very out of touch with the road, ridiculously far from being a sports or GT car and they now look dated. Aside from that...they are great!

ShawnSmith

I'd have to agree that "light" would be the wrong modifier, unless you're just talking about steering effort

The mercedes v8 is rated at around 300 hp, just under what an S4 produces, but on the road they feel tons different. The S4 comes across as beefier and much more aggressive, while the SL500 has good power and a pleasant sound, but never feels terribly urgent - probably because of the many-hundreds-of-pounds that it carries as opposed to any lack of torque.

Driving wise, the MB is friendly, the controls are much lighter, it's quieter and softer.

Amusingly, the S4 is vastly more practical with the rear hatch and small rear seatlets.

Both are nice, but with a very different flavor.

Jim bailey - 928 International

Weight really is the enemy of performance you just can not escape the laws of physics.

ShawnSmith

It's interesting to note that the SL500 actually lost about 100 pounds between the ~MY 2001 soft-top model being discussed here (~4150 lbs), and the ~MY 2003 folding-hardtop SL500 (~4050 lbs).

Jim bailey - 928 International

Anything which weighs more than two TONS should have room for more than two people

perrys4

Lady at work has a really nice 94 and loves it. Not a lick of trouble with it. I love the design and think it has held up well.