Hope you all enjoy, hope this doesn’t put anyone off 😂 I do honestly like the r230 SL it’s a beautiful car and aged very well 👌 as always thanks for the support and all the best everyone. Also Check out the description for more details about this video.

Agree with most comments here. I don't watch this channel for some slick youtuber who has no ability or talent, I watch this out of a fascintation for car repairs and to see someone who has more knowledge and experience in their field than 99% of graduates. The dry humour is a bonus - love the channel

I reckon your presentation style is bob on mate, even if you say you’re out of your comfort zone. These videos are gold for anyone with an interest in the models covered.

At first, I was a bit doubtful about the dead pan delivery. Having seen them all, I love it! Especially when they crack out a superbly funny comment. Keep it up.

I love your videos because you have something a lot of other youtubers don’t have and that’s inner peace💯

I really like this guy, he's got the Popular Upper 6th Gramm'a'r school pupil thing going on. Plus, Zero BS

I just watched Car Wizards video on his wife’s SL500. He fixed the loose baffles with long nosed pliers, he got them into the tank in situ, he just grabbed the loose baffles and twisted them against the tank to essentially spring load them back in place. A quick and free solution to fix. Longevity wise 🤞🤞😂

Great you are reviewing these really great cars Most common fault for some owners is "SL not being used regularly". Water leaks. Commend you reminder to owners to ensure drain holes etc are cleared regularly. Doubt a dealer ever does that. Mine (2006) leaked when I got it and it was 12 years old. Simply luricated all my SL seal's boot roof, doors etc, with what I will call slip jelly (think pool pump seal silicone). MB sell such a recommended lubricant. Thank the MB dealer issue is they don't have lubricating these seal, so if you buy a MB dealer serviced car second or third hand, say 10 years old, it has probably never seen seal lubricant. 😢🎉 In torrential rain shortly afterwards, and there gave been no leaks since lubricating the seals. Understand this is recommended as needing to be done every four years. Also works effectively on car sunroof seal's (not SL's obvously). Part availability s a worry. Tank baffle fail only applies to early R230's Your thoughts about owning one yourself is spot on. They are a Pussycat, or a Tiger, depending on the mindset of your right foot. Thank you for the video and frank discussion.

When I started watching these videos, I thought that with the dead pan presentation, I would soon turn off but now I love them with the drôle sense of humour. One thousand ponds for these parts really cracked me up but imagine when Mercedes says, sorry, these parts are unavailable. I am sure that parts for BMWs of this age are still readily available.

Another great video Sam. I like that CLK55 in the background.😁😁

I like straight talking reviews/guides well done for that. The fact parts are unavailable or factory back order blows my mind. Had to scrap my Mum's late 2007 Volvo S40 because of the brake master cylinder and servo being unavailable. A solid car with no rust and 80k miles. 😮 Do you think manufacturers want older vehicles off the road? It has crossed my mind.

Thanks so much for taking the time to explain the slk gearbox issues. Top man

Great to see you’ve got a KZfaq channel. Known in many car groups as the best indie MB specialist in the north and got my C63 back on the road multiple times. Love the presentation style, very down to earth, the slick production style you see everywhere these days can really take away from the content. This is bang on.

I've had my front ABC Valve block done as my SL was throwing "ABC Visit Workshop" message on the dash. $4,968.37 CAD before VAT; this was done at a Merc Indy Shop in Vancouver, BC using genuine parts. Another potential ABC expense on top of the other common ABC issues.

Super informative! Thank you!

Don't know if it's true but I was told the caliper pistons are made from hard plastic and heat over time causes the outer part to mushroom so when they are pushed back the part of the piston that has enlarged binds inside the caliper. Currently, I have been waiting six months for an SL windscreen on back order. Was initially told six weeks.

Thank you ....very informative !....

You’re very watchable as you tell it how it is in a manner that is easy to understand. Keep em coming mate👍🏻😁

I appreciate your honesty. Pal of mine has one, loves it but had a few problems including the water leak. Not sure if I’d have one with many parts not being available. Makes you wonder why tho.

Thanks for including prices for the parts. Very informative. We defo need more vids on various young timers.

Brilliant walk around you told me everything that I wanted to know about it and I have one mines has a leaking boot haha and no garage John a friend from Glasgow

All joking aside, I own an SL350, more videos on the model please!!!!

Another fantastic review, 🚙👌It’s disappointing to hear that parts for this beautiful car is limited by MB.

Great video guys 👍 Would love to see a buyers guide for the W213 E Class.

Always great videos and keep them coming 👍

The R230 is a beautiful car but I'm glad I've got my W204 saloon. You're doing the right thing by highlighting these potential problems and the (lack of) availability of such problem parts. I did suffer the back order problem when I had to have the rear subframe replaced on my W204. Thankfully, it was covered by the corrosion warranty but the rear subframes were on back order for a while.

The price for parts and labor on all high end cars makes the price of the car the smallest part of long term cost. It is a great thing to have access to people that are well trained, knowledgeable, and honest. Nice to watch true masters at work. After this video, I’ll stick to my invisible Camry and Avalon.

Very informative for those who own the R230 SL , reece made me chuckle lol.

Another brilliant video. Keep them coming they are all very interesting and informative.Well done Sam.

great video your knowledge is amazing on these cars

Tysm always loved this model of sl

Think I will stick with my Honda crv !Great video I love the funny bits appearing keep it up!

I really want one of these but i have to say i think i will leave it one the back burner for now . Mercedes really need to up there game for there parts. Great job on the vid lads

Great video but note struts can be rebuilt with seal kits for much less than £1,500 and fuel tank is a mod with a spring to stop rattle (both done on mine)

We bought our 2003 R230 SL350 (3.7 V6) at 40K miles in 2010 and kept it for eleven years, sold it at 90K miles. Fabulously comfortable, toured all over the U.K. and Europe, happy to cruise at 120mph on the autobahn, such a beautiful car. The cabin leaked, ice on the inside of the windows and pano roof in the winter, never managed to cure it. The boot leaked, despite having the seal replaced by MB. Both rear arches rotted, not covered by MB Warranty and had to be re-built and re-sprayed. Auxiliary battery went flat regularly if you didn’t use the car every day and had to be replaced due to failure several times. Eventually the boot leak did for the charging unit and it was too expensive to repair given the car was nearly nineteen years old. Traded it for a 2014 SL400, Lovely car. Did we regret owning it? Not a bit. Probably one of the best looking SL’s ever, super smooth and comfy ride, turned heads wherever it went, great technology for the time. I do think they’re getting a bit long in the tooth now unless you have very deep pockets, such a shame.

Informative...helpful and useful..👍

I bought a 1 yo SLK in 2006, funnily enough the first thing I did was put seal lubricant on all of the seals! Great video, love your delivery style , straight to it no fluff! Keep up the good work work 👍😎

I think your videos are cracking. Your a chilled laid back guy that gets the work done without any fuss, i want a job with you lol 😆

Great video and is fast becoming one of my favourite channels! The SBC pump recently failed on my W211 and Mercedes quoted me £2425.56 just for the pump itself. They do buy back your old unit for £380 so the net cost would have been just over £2000. I ended up getting a used unit from Prestige Allpart for £450.

You are my favourite mechanic. You should been a stock broker. Emotionless sticking to the facts. Thank you for the review. I’ve been looking at metal roof convertible for a wile as a summer car and as I wanted something more manly I was concidering SL or a Lexus SC 430. Guess your video answered my question. It has to be the Lexus. Thank you.

Mercedes will always be my default choice of car. Nice video with a lot of educative points. As long as people like you exist, these cars will live longer.

Please do a similar video on the 3rd gen CLs , 2007-2014

Why not send your video to MB,it may shake them up....very Honest podcasts keep them coming.

I ran a R230 SL350 ( designed and produced under the guidance of the accountany at Daimler Crysler) ,bought new for 13 years and had most of the "common" problems. You didnt mention brake pedal swich failure which stops the gear selector from moving , the disintegrating catalyst, and the rusting bottom to the rear window and wheel arches. all have DIY fixes. I now have a R231 SL 400 and its a far better build quality Join the MB Club and get all the info. The R230 club captain has run his 2003my car for over 21 years and 250,000 miles! Still going strong😁

Thanks for an informative and useful video. Really enjoy the dry humour - I had a SL55 and the Merc Tech was known as ‘the Grand Man’.. all those years ago.., didn’t stop us buying the r230’s though. Want to buy another.., just need Sam’s humour to laugh when the bills start flowing..!!

Great looking mercedes, great video

Yes, here in the USA we have an extra 25 years warranty on the sbc system. Personally, I love the brake feel.

Parts are a nightmare as you mention. Last abc pump we had to source from abroad like yourself. Tank baffles we have repaired here just using cable ties but I have seen people using the magnet repair online. They are a lovely car but like you say, every repair on these normally starts at a grand 😅

Great vid. Could you make a video on how you learned so much about mercedes cars, im sure its a great story to tell

Would love the same video on the SLK.

Great video..i was looking to purchase a 350 but after watching this you can't get the parts...its like buying a horse and cart but without the horse...so i really do like the look but unfortunately i won't get one...but Great video thank you..

To be honest £7.7k over 10 years with a mercedes specialist on an R230 is not bad at all. I know its low mileage, but a lot of the seals etc are time not mileage dependent. Thanks for the walk around video, am really enjoying the content.

The SBC pump was still under warranty here in The Netherlands for models that were about 10 years old and had x amount of miles, naturally they were all older and had exceeded the mileage. Components like the shifter unit and Gtronic we'd send to ACTronics to get repaired

I had a 2010 S550 that leaked from rear trunk(boot) liner. It shorted out the navigation command module. $5,000 new at Mercedes. Had it rebuilt for $1,800 U.S. dollars here in Florida. Mercedes can do better than this for the money you pay. Great video.

Battery control module is no longer available new from Mercedes. Only used ones and they are 2000 euros. Which is more than the new one from dealer when they were available

There are so many things on ALL CARS that can fail. I have one of these and it does help to be a bit of a DIY owner. You didn't even mention the hydraulic roof valves and leaks. 😂The hard top engineering is quite impressive. The design of this car is a huge sell feature for me. It stands up to current vehicles. Particularly up to the 2009 models.first time seeing your channel. Subbed. ☑️

Great Video mate. 03 SL500 here and yes it's expensive to maintain but it makes up for it in how it drives and looks. A lot of what you have mentioned are wear and tear issues. Parts that aren't meant to live forever. I think also the biggest thing people forget is how expensive these cars were new. In AUS they were over $300k. 20 years on you are still maintaining a $300k car.

Great video, really enjoying the channel. Anything in the pipeline for an R129?

I have a garage, and only take it out on sunny days :-) 2009 SL550 (Canada).

An interesting video, thanks for sharing your expertise. I agree that regular maintenance as ever is the key, and that includes preventative maintenance of the known faults you highlight. But if you do your homework and seek out a good one, they are bargain luxury GT motoring. I bought my 2003 SL500 3 1/2yrs ago for £9500. Full service history with receipts etc with glass panoramic roof and the specs that I wanted with 78,000mls on the clock. I put aside £2000 as a repair fund and top that up with £100 per month and I am still well ahead with money still in the bank. Within my spending though has been preventative spend. Although it had been serviced when I bought it, I had the gearbox fluid changed (it had been done previously at 38,000 although it is not on the service schedule) and I also had the ABC fluid changed with a new updated filter. Whilst there was no evidence of leakage around the boot/rear window seal I’ve had that replaced along with the updated gear selector locking pawl. I have also had the crankshaft TDC sensor replaced as they are another known fault. The only item to have failed in the last 3.5yrs is the brake sensor module (and they are generally expected to last around the 80-100k miles) which cost £1100. As others have said, with such a low purchase price, (which is less than you would lose in depreciation on many cars in 1 year of ownership), so long as you budget for repairs and have money set aside, then you are getting a luxury GT car, which at 20+yrs old still turns heads wherever I go, for less than the price of a new hatchback shipping trolley! What’s not to like 😊

Top take from this video: you either need loads of money or loads of knowledge, preferably both. Safe to set aside 2-3k a year in servicing.

'Is there anything good you can say about it ' ? It has the great M113 engine.

I'm glad that I have a much simpler R170 V6 6sp

Weird flicker on some of the internal shots. Good video thanks. They must hate you in Stuttgart, but keep telling truth. Who would buy one, apart from you?

After watching this excellent no BS vid il stick with my 2001 toyota yaris, so i can sleep at night like a baby 😂😂😂😂

That such a good looking car still !!!! I still love them 20 years on. But, the running maintenance costs have always put me off getting another SL350

I have owned a 1992 300SL-24 for 9 years and driven it for 63k miles. It now has 137k miles on the clock. The total cost of maintenance and repairs is £22,315, which equates to £2,479pa. Recent big ticket items are 2 new front wings, a new S/S exhaust system inc. a catalytic converter. The C/H gasket was changed at 65k miles under a previous ownership by SPR Autos (Steve) and is currently not leaking - well done lads!. The reason for this post is that running a SL is not cheap but I like driving it and hope to get 200k miles on the clock before I pop my clogs. I have a modern B Class and A Class (wife's) but would much rather drive the SL.

The apprentice is keeping his hands warm.

I've got a Reliant Kitten, and they all leak. Top tip: drill a hole in the floor. Two holes if the first doesn't sort it.

The SL is an absolute icon, I would love to own one, 7k over 10 years is not really a big deal, I have a CLS W219 from 2010 and I’m sure I’ve probably spent similar in 2 years of ownership. Great video anyways as always

Great video but it has put me off buying a SL, especially the parts issue. I hope it's not the same case for my CLS63

Matt is always asking why mechanics have the demeanour of an undertaker - I think we've just found the answer!

With your knowledge and Rees sense of humour,are you not amazed at the costs of the vehicles,that what appears to be a desirable car has so many potential issues,could it be lack of use ? Another amazing video,thank you.😅

Great video. why do they leak water though? I mean it's rubber seals - weren't these perfected back in the 1990s?

Way to go! ADHD for the win!!! LOL this was a good episode for sure! Thank you for putting the work into making them for us and wow, I had no idea Mercedes STILL hasn't fixed the leaky boots... I honestly do not know what to say about that! This was a huge deal when it first came to light, if Mercedes would've invested as much into fixing the problem as they had on attorneys then MAYBE they would've fixed it lol. All in all it makes no sense though, the SL's are Mercedes's sort of "Baby" within the company. A lot of love went into designing them decade after decade. To neglect them this bad on an engineering level just boggles me.

Be interested to know what you think about the SL400.

Still think these are one of the prettiest SLs and have aged well. Donking fuel tank used to annoy me but was still a pleasure to own. I like the 210 wearing the SL 18s in the background too.

Great video, loads of very useful information. Hard to find videos like this on KZfaq about Mercedes and Mercedes themselves don't seem to make it easy to problem solve and fix issues. I am having trouble with a eclass 2017 coupe, it has a wiper malfunction message on cluster, i have changed wiper motor and stalks, all relays and fuses good. No wipers no washer, any help would be hugely helpful. Ty

Brilliant

Seems someone I watched mentioning that brake controller that hits a limit of number of brake pumps could be reset. Except tor having to replace my transmission valve body, my 01 e320 was a pretty trouble-free car. Mercedes has cheaped out on their interiors though.

Do you service other makes of cars or is it mercs only? I like your approach and would trust my car in your hands.

£700 a year. Not much to complain about really. It is important to seek out a specialist such as yourself to look after these cars.

1:53 Is that a Larry Grayson reference?

Love the videos mate. Notice you have a 2003 CLK55 too like me - any chance of doing an engine mount replacement video? I’ve started the challenge today (in the pouring rain too) and whilst I’ve got the drivers side in, how the hell do you get to and replace the passenger side?? There’s just no room!! Would love to see you guys so this and learn from you all

Which is the best used Mercedes-Benz and not to low to the ground

Strange how Mercedes warranty in USA is much better than the UK. They cover issues way out of normal warranty. Must be something to do with the legal system in different countries. Many of these steel folding roofs have leaks throughout all manufacturers. The weight of them crush the seals which loose the rubber flexibility and leave water gaps. Great video, so interesting.

Having had several cars from my local Merc dealer I asked him if he could get me an SL. He just said don’t bother, you’ll lose too much money.😊

I've spent that in a years ownership of my W164 ML. Painful now I've thought about it. 😢

Im looking at getting rid off my Bmw E38 728i and getting a 1980s mercedes 230 CE or 280 CE .

Thanks for a wonderful video for a really wonderful car. Such a shame it's so "unreliable" and hard to get fixed because of the many "hard to find" spare parts. Which Mercedes do you think could be considered the most reliable in the around 10.000 pounds category (around 2005-2015)?

I bought a vacuum pump from Florida just to be sure it’s nice and dry

Every part you listed not available I’ve been able to find easily. Some are remanufactured though. All are for a reasonable price. But I’m in America. I wouldn’t think it would be much different for the UK.

Honestly my indy had too many scary stories of R230. Meanwhile a decent R129 has a bigger boot, less foibles and solid engines and gearboxes

Hi how do you go on obtaining parts for the R107 SL? Are they readily available or is it worse than the R230 or other variants of SL'S? Interesting videos by the way👍

I Went with his hiro Coil overs.. Just just replace these struts and have the liquid drain out of it I didn't worry about the rest of that abc system and I'll tell you something it's a little bit faster and it handles much better! .. The difference in the ride I can't remember it it's where the market really small,, Do not get the old man's mode I think you will be disappointed I drive it at the sport mode and the difference is just negligible.. Race cars require sway bars I didn't notice it in my driving time... I wonder whether the cell value will go up I doubt it? Anybody know of an indy mechanic around St Louis

i was expecting about 20k spent with you

Hi mate. Great video. Just a quick question..what merc model would you recomend reliability wise from that period? (00’s). Also, you reckon is better to invest in a R129 rather than R230? Thanks

Why does it seem like all earlier MBs have that “power steering roar” when they start?

I've watched a few videos now... 190E manual it is then 😊😊😊😊

Scared the crap outta me! Been looking at buying one, not a 500, a 350, and specifically a 7speed 2006 to 2008 but not so sure now 😮