New owner of SL 500

[BlimeyCharlie]

Evening all.

Just picked up this lovely machine today and drove her back home, around 5 hours of bliss. Great cars for the money. I did a wee bit of research but not tons, a few things I'm working on:

1) Alloy refurb
2) New stereo head unit (New Head Kenwood)
3) Full valet
4) Machine polished and ceramic coated

I am handing her into my trusted mechanic in a couple of weeks, I am utterly mechanically dyslexic but did hope some of you might give me a "check list" of things I should ask him to look over? I note suspension and seals for letting in water as well as wheel arch liners. He's a great mechanic I've used him for donkeys years so anything you can advise would be appreciated.


Many thanks in advance.
BC.

PS My daughter has a cracking wee A Class, she's had it for ages. And the blue SL in this photo I had a loan of for a few days and made my decision to buy one for myself, but a little newer.

 

[Blobcat]

Hello and welcome

 

[00slk]

Hello and welcome
I see you must be a Mercedes family
Excellent choice Sir

 

[A.J.]

Hi and welcome to the forum from another MB family. Son-in-Law and Daughter both have MB's

 

[Denis O]

Welcome. I'd be interested in your experience of the new HU. I’ve been looking at the same unit for mine.

 

[flowrider]

We all love an SL. Does your car have BOSE? If it does then I don't think the Kenwood HU will work unless you replace the amp and speakers.

 

[BlimeyCharlie]

We all love an SL. Does your car have BOSE? If it does then I don't think the Kenwood HU will work unless you replace the amp and speakers.

No, it has Harmon Kandon system.

 

[BlimeyCharlie]

Welcome. I'd be interested in your experience of the new HU. I’ve been looking at the same unit for mine.

I’ll report back with photos, getting it installed re my mechanical dyslexia.

 

[BlimeyCharlie]

Phase 1 done with the wheels done in a darker more chromed finish, also pimped with some MB dust caps. It's the little things.... (Top pic is new finish)

Phase 2 is Thursday with the new head unit being fitted to make the stereo look more in this millennium and phase 3 Friday with a remap to make her a little more responsive.

Took her on a 600 mile jaunt around Scotland last week, what a fabulous thing it is. Very pleased with her so far.




BC.

 

[A.J.]

Looks great. The dust caps, make sure they are lubricated, preferably with copper grease or they stick solid to your valve stems. I had a real sod of a job getting my old ones off. I only used 3 in 1 oil but at least I can get them off easily

 

[BlimeyCharlie]

Looks great. The dust caps, make sure they are lubricated, preferably with copper grease or they stick solid to your valve stems. I had a real sod of a job getting my old ones off. I only used 3 in 1 oil but at least I can get them off easily

Good shout, they were not easy to put on - will get some grease and lube them up.

Oooer matron.

BC.

 

[Wighty]

Stunning buddy , absolutely stunning .

 

[SL63 Mark]

Nice Car Ken, congratulations

 

[BlimeyCharlie]

Since getting the alloys done I keep getting this message: I've YouTube'd how to clear this but with no luck, can anyone advise a step by step please? Is a 2010 btw.


Thanks in advance,
BC.

 

[Wighty]

Maybe a leaky valve or a leak when they put the tyres back on the rim . Try setting the pressures on all tyres when they are cool and check if one is losing .

 

[BlimeyCharlie]

So, long story short with fitting of the new head unit. It was expensive. It was time consuming. And the vendor of the actual unit was useless. Other than that, I'm really happy with the end result but my auto-electrician guy had a bit of a mare with this "kit" that doesn't actually do what it is advertised to do. When I called the supplier to ask for help, I'd have been as well asking for the instructions in Chinese. Could not have cared less about the issues I was facing, asked me to call back - I suggested it would be easier if my spark spoke to him as it was all tech stuff I knew nothing about, my spark calls him back and he's "unavailable" and all in all, complete omnishambles and now I have the unit working, their (Dynamic Sound) Trustpilot and Google Reviews are next on my agenda.

Turns out my car has a separate amp and as such the kit supplied by Dynamic Sounds doesn't do what it says it'll do. When I called, I got the impression this was somehow my fault for ordering the kit THEY advertise as being suitable for my car / year. So, a £750.00 bill later (£300 odds for parts / £400 odds labour) my super-duper-expensive head unit works - with NO steering controls. I'm over it as main criteria for me was to modern up the cabin as the original unit IMO is very old fashioned looking.

Would I recommend it? If your auto-spark is good (and patient) absolutely, but get the kit from him and not from Dynamic Sounds.
Before n After shot....looks great IMO and brings the cabin bang up to date.


If you are thinking of doing it, this is what my fella had to do, might save your sparky some time and you some money.



So, that's that saga over, next is looking at a decat exhaust solution to beef up the sound.

Rgds,
BC.

 

[mioba]

Nothing like making a car your own. lovely car. Sure you are smiling like a cheshire cat each time you look at it.

 

[morgluis]

Great looking car! The dust caps are a nice add-on.

 

[Denis O]

Sounds like the same problems they had fitting the HU to mine. Fibre optic and downstream amp meant it needs someone with experience to fit it. The first retailer couldn't but 2nd one could, and did.
In the end it's a great HU and brings the car into the 21st century.
Only minor issue is Spotify goes into standby after about 6 tracks. It's a known issue according to Google so should be sorted soon.

 

[Frontstep]

Were living out the last hurrahs of the internal combustion engine.

So much for the money.