2002 Mercedes-Benz SL 55 AMG 5.5 Kompressor from Lebanon

Summary:

It's a great car, just make a yearly budget for maintenance

Faults:

ABC valve blocks.

Accumulator.

Roof.

IC pump.

Otherwise normal wear and tear.

General Comments:

If you want to own a 55, you've got to do your homework well. Choose the best car on the market that has been well looked after. A neglected AMG car is big money to fix. The main culprits are the ABC system and roof system. Once these are properly sorted, there's nothing much else to go wrong. Just keep checking oils, coolant, etc... all the time. I do it before every drive.

On the plus side, there's still nothing like it on the road. It's hard to believe this car is almost 16 years old. Even the old Bose still sounds good. Take the TC off and enjoy 500+ hp. I removed the cats and dropped in a pair of K&Ns... The sound alone is pure AMG/NASCAR... I wait for tunnels to drop down to second gear.

Will I keep it? I think so, since MB is stopping the SL range (so I heard). As long as I can keep it on the road, it will stay. For the money, there's nothing you can buy that has this exclusivity.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 8th March, 2018

2002 Mercedes-Benz SL SL500 5.0 litre from UK and Ireland

Summary:

Desirable and beautiful when it is working, but astonishingly, disgustingly unreliable

Faults:

Brakes failed at speed (turned out to be an electronic problem).

Steering stuck at the dead-ahead position whilst driving (hydraulic problem).

Hydraulic suspension failed whilst driving (clouds of smoke, and the car dropped down onto its bushes).

Electric seat movement stuck in complete forward position.

Seat-belt mechanism failed (warning light came on, took 10 days for the garage to get parts & fix).

Phone software failed (no longer able to answer calls).

Parktronic incorrectly installed.

Fuel flap failed (stuck open).

Regular brake warning lights when starting on cold mornings.

Frequent shut-off of non-essential electric systems (e.g. heated seats).

General Comments:

When this car is working, it is a joy to drive - comfortable, fast, turns heads (still) and the roof is magnificent.

However it is horribly unreliable - in three years it has been back to Mercedes more times than I can count, and I have had too many scary experiences (like the brakes failing while I was driving on the motorway).

Systems testing seems to have been very poor at Mercedes design. The car systems are complicated, but they don't seem to have cross-tested functions or thought about practicalities.

For example, if you press the button that moves the seat fully forwards, and then press the seat UP button, you can crash the computer, which means a trip to a dealer to reset it.

Similarly updating the software for the phone required the dealer to remove the passenger seat.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 12th March, 2006

29th Oct 2007, 16:33

The review seems to be of the 2003 SL500?

18th Nov 2007, 01:28

I can agree 100% with this review. My wife's 2003 SL500 has been the worst lemon we have ever owned. My only surprise in this review is that the submitter gave the car a 1 out of 10 for reliability. I would give ours a zero. Our SL500 has dropped all its suspension oil on our garage floor 3 times. In just 35,000Kms it has needed a new $2100 power steering pump, a new power steering box, a new $4200 hydraulic pump motor for the hardtop, 2 x $3600 catalytic converters, various seals etc for the suspension, and thousands of dollars of repair bills. Besides these problems are the numerous other smaller problems that make us wish we had never bought it. This car is pure JUNK.

2nd Jul 2009, 01:32

Well bought my 2003 with 30000km on the meter. Now it's at 90000 and the only failure was one MAF-sensor and the starter, then normal service done changing tires, brake pads, changed starter-battery last year, trunk-battery still original and works fine...

This car has been a real joyride all the time, I will say the best and most beautiful car ever made... It's a wonder that so many electronic features can work with little failure...