The Life & Times of an SL500

[Cole@MBS]

I showed you at work how to remove the lock cover Malc, undo the grub screw under there, knock the handle towards the rear of the car to release!!

 

[orb the Impaler]

I used to be able to take part in these SL500 threads

Ive still got mine but it's in the garage and I'll never drive it again on the road (up for sale and the tax is out), so I'll be joining you soon, Malcolm. Sad, as it's a fantastic car, despite the running costs it was just so special to climb into.

On the upside my new diesel! SLK is waiting for me and I am very much looking forwards to seeing how that drives - the statistics (500nm torque!) suggest it'll go like stink.

 

[Gkinghorn]

I used to be able to take part in these SL500 threads

You seem to manage though

Consider me your proxy Malcolm since i have 'our' car

 

[television]

I showed you at work how to remove the lock cover Malc, undo the grub screw under there, knock the handle towards the rear of the car to release!!

I cant find any grub screw Cole, I wonder if my eyes are getting that bad

If it stops raining I will take a magnifying glass out there

 

[television]

You seem to manage though

Consider me your proxy Malcolm since i have 'our' car

You are a kind man Gordon I do have some lovely memories of it

 

[dml]

Consider me your proxy Malcolm since i have 'our' car

Are you two sharing a room at the Jamaica Inn?

 

[television]

Are you two sharing a room at the Jamaica Inn?

You wait till you part with yours, I had that car for 6 years, I have never kept a wife that long

 

[dml]

Part with it? I couldn't sleep last night because I knew it wasn't sitting outside my house!

 

[Gkinghorn]

The Warranty Direct assesor came by today .... Seeing someone tinker with the SL and checking it over , took 45 minutes , i got quite agitated.....

However at the end of the day it passed with flying colours... So we are now all warranted up ...

I had to take it for a drive to celebrate...

 

[Alex M Grieve]

You wait till you part with yours, I had that car for 6 years, I have never kept a wife that long

were they on an annual or a two yearly servicing schedule Malcolm?

 

[television]

The Warranty Direct assesor came by today .... Seeing someone tinker with the SL and checking it over , took 45 minutes , i got quite agitated.....

However at the end of the day it passed with flying colours... So we are not all warranted up ...

I had to take it for a drive to celebrate...

The guy that came to me took 6 mins and did not even start it up

 

[Gkinghorn]

My guy had all sorts of things plugged in to the engine ..went to the boot , checked the battery etc there... All he didnt do was ask the car to 'cough'

 

[television]

My guy had all sorts of things plugged in to the engine ..went to the boot , checked the battery etc there... All he didnt do was ask the car to 'cough'

Amazing that, my guy looked at the dip stick and that was it

 

[dml]

Hmm nobody came out to see mine - they said someone would call but nobody did and I forgot all about it :/

 

[Gkinghorn]

Not sure u r covered without their report ...i would check

 

[Mic]

Amazing that, my guy looked at the dip stick and that was it

Looked at you???????????????

Mic

 

[television]

Thats 2 members on my ignore list

 

[Nemo20]

So last week, she had her first trip to a garage. Planned I hasten to add, so it's still all good.

Decided to try a main dealer in case I continue that route for warranty purposes. Booked a waiting appointment at the dealer who gave her a check prior to my purchase from a private dealer. They had replaced some seals, which so far, touch wood, have kept the water out of the boot since.

Hoped the drive over would be an hour or so in the sunshine, but no, it continued to rain cats and dogs, as it has done for most of my ownership.

New wipers required & replacement gas struts so that I can lift the boot without needing a weight lifting qualification. :lol: As an afterthought, I asked them to replace the screws in the number plate, as they were rusty, expecting yellow and white ones to blend accordingly. Two on each plate but there should be four.

Planned work done, the service guy wanders over for a chat. Some of the screws had been broken off in the thread (prior to my purchase - and I had forgotten this), so if I wanted four screws in, they needed to replace them, as they'd tried drilling them out but couldn't. How long would it take says I? Only 5 to 10 mins more, was the reply.

Well sadly that was not actually the case. My total wait was 2 and a half hours, of which 1 hour was spent on the screws, despite the estimation. My simple screw replacement, resulted in me being presented with a bill for £116. White screws up front but chrome screws at the back, so she doesn't even look great from behind.

Ah well, you live and learn. Main dealers are for those with deep pockets and I'm not sure mine are that deep. Moral - never ask a dealer to do something that you haven't got a fixed quote for.

The upside, is the wipers are fab and I now have a functioning rain sensitive system, which wasn't working properly before. Struts are good, easy to lift the boot now, (although it's still a solid, heavy bit of kit) and any thieves will have to take some time & a screwdriver to nick my plate.

 

[fozzymandeus]

The rear screws should be star drive type screws and the reason they don't have plastic caps on them is that the heads are too big for them.

The bore of the holes is too large for regular screws.

When I took my numberplates off last year there were only three holes for the screws in the back of the bootlid as someone had pulled one out!

Even more strangely, my local dealer had one in stock so I araldited it in!

 

[television]

Once the captive pillars are broken off its best to use the foam sticky pads, if you use enough of them the plate will not come off without a heat gun.

I have never had screws showing on any of me MB's, I just hate them