That car is almost 10 years old yet is still bad ass to today's standards!

I don't know, I wouldn't say that the new SL's are hideous. They're not the best looking, but they're acceptable looking. Not ugly for sure

It does not have an air suspension. It has a oil based hydraulic suspension.

I have a CLK55 and my mom has an SL55. They have the same transmissions and the reason you think they're slow is the electronically induced shift trigger. That little dip in power between shifts, is actually triggering the next gear. Since God was in preschool, Mercedes has had a "shift-hold" system. Stab the throttle, it downshifts, and holds that gear until you lift off slightly. By the time you stand on it again, it is in the next gear, and will hold that gear all the way to redline. When you bump the lever or pull the paddle to upshift, it won't do that until it senses a slight lift off the throttle, or it waits until it monitors a couple of milliseconds of no throttle change, and it electronically dips the throttle for you. Next time you drive an AMG, try it. Lift off slightly when you want it to shift, and then get back on it. It's quite a rewarding experience.

Such a friendly talkative guy! Makes the videos a lot more entertaining when you dont have to interrogate information out of the owner. I still wanna know why he kept saying 'we'.

He seemed like one of the more entertaining guys you've had on this series, made for a much more enjoyable video haha. The SL55 is totally a underrated car too.

55 AMG platform came with 479HP and 500 something TRQ out the box and 400+WHP. Absolute monsters but they are notorious for heat soak. All you need is ECU, TCU, and pulley and you have a daily driven mid to low 11sec 1/4 car

I totally forgot mid 2000's Benz' used those weird tiny buttons instead of actual paddles.

The guy has a real passion there for his car, you can tell! Those SL55's are brilliant cars! My friend used to have one and would always play with bikes, from 100 upwards he said the 600s would be easy but the 1000s were 200mph jobs.

This was a great one-take. It`s always more fun when the owners are knowledgeable and talkative about their cars. More episodes like this please!

Best sounding and performing AMG-engine.

I'm glad the owner actually talked and participated in this One Take. he really knows his mechanics/techs and car well. so many interesting things to say! great build so far, hopefully he can find a good transmission tune and better brakes. ignore all the commenters talking about his speech. that's a dignified way to talk in Orange County. if you don't like it, shut up and dont watch the video. he's a smart, articulate gearhead and this was a great One Take!

Awesome car, great luxury long distance cruiser, plenty of power to beat 90% of cars in a drag, and amazing Mercedes coupe looks. Thanks for another great vid Matt.

My grandfather just bought one of these. I was able to drive it last weekend and really enjoyed it. Car makes a great sound.

When you put the ABC into sport mode two things happen. Ride is firmed up and gearbox holds the revs for slightly longer so you get max rpm. That's why you thought the gear change was a bit slow. It wasn't slow to change, just expecting you to keep the pedal down for longer 😉

I love how you do this shit on the side and it continues to be much more fun to watch than the ones who only do these type of quick "other people's car reviews". Please keep it up, maybe one day I bring you my Sc430. You don't see alot of those lowered on coilovers with RPF1's I'm pretty sure. Cheers :)

Matt: that was funny!!! I think it shifts faster in your head lmao!!! Good one!! Nice video man keep up the good work!

Not only do we have an unknowledgeable host, but the owner knows jack shit about his own car too lmfao

Pop Yo Hood, Matt Farah.

They may be cheap now, but those cars are going to skyrocket in value one day because they're so damn beautiful.

one of the best guys you got. well played

uuuh I see an E34 in the background :D cant wait for that video!

This guy uses the "royal we". "WE put a monster intercooler and upgraded exhaust". Pet peeve of mine.

haha dat look he gives right at the start of the vid. gotta love it

Very true with the paddles and gears, my mom drives a w211 e350 and sometimes the paddles don't even register shifts or delay very long, but the gear shift on sequential is instant but still shifts slow.

a friend of my dad had a black stock one. the m113 is one of the best amg engines ever, in real life it sounds so deep and muscular. i rode in it when i was 13 and thought it was the coolest thing ever.

@bob marley i think it's actually quite humble for the guy to use the word "we", like how do you know if he carried out the upgrade work without anybody else's help? his wheelwell points out his Merc dealer recommended tuning it ... maybe they're also a big part of the work?

Definitely one of my favorite generations of SL.

New SL looks brilliant!

Hey Scottie.. Jesus man.

Friend of mine several years back had an E55 with some Renntech goodies on it, and that car was stupid fast. I forgot how many pairs of rear tires he had to put on the car, but if you're gonna play, you're gonna pay. LoL

great car!

Fun car, good dude. Keep em comming.

AMG should have stuck to blowers, especially considering the downsizing. Turbo just ruins the sound.

It's Landon Donovan

thats offensive..lol well, it shift faster in your head...

LOOK UP HOW TO RESET THE 722 transmission. It will fix the lazy shifting issues. Since these transmissions remember how you drive. If you reset it and drive it hard for a few miles it will remember that and maintain that. I do the reset monthly and every time I service the car. If i remember correctly sit in the car with everything off Insert the key turn key to position 3 Do not start the car. Depress the accelerator pedal to the floor.for 15 seconds turn the key off but DO NOT let up on the throttle pedal until the key is off. Once key is off let up on the pedal. DO NOT touch or do anything for 3 min. Once the 3 min is up pull the key out. Start the car and haul ass.

Tomorow I will buy 2003 sl55 for 11k$ it have only 50k miles

I put the Cruise on instead of the blinker quite often in my Merc as well.

all comments bang on except one. i had an 07 purchased with 22k miles. the engine was bulletproof. trans was a complete let down. command was useless as the electronics would just go and would require reset to simply play music. the 07 removed the aux jack so i had to cut CDs. the big miss on this vid is the ABC suspension. it shares the power steering pump and is a weak link. mine went after 5k miles. reman cost $2k for the part and another $1k for labor. after another few k miles the bearings were on their way out again. really expensive car to maintain. sold it.

Ahhh, these videos are awesome! I remember when they came out! and No, he's right actually. For some reason, the transmission can shift faster using the shifter. Sometimes it is as slow as the paddle buttons but it depends on the circumstance. The computers in these cars are ridiculously complex.

Please try to find W124 500E for your upcoming review :)

Matt, you should do exhaust clips/revs too and take offs. that kinda like the cherry on top of the cake. Not saying do 360s on the middle of the road but my suggestion would make your vids perfect

Mate, if you ever come back to New Zealand. Make sure you come to the South Island, I'll you give you a drive of my XR8 Falcon Ute. It's pushing just over 450kw at the rear wheels, you'd love it.

Hey Matt, I don't know if you're going to read this but if you do, I would just like to know if you drove that E34 that is seen in the beginning of the video. Love your videos by the way.

Blue tip solenoids for that trans and a tcu tune will fix the shift time problem significantly.

the SL was a dream car of mine, I came across one a customer had traded in, took the sl550 with abc out for a spin, and the car literally almost spun. I think you are right about the sketchy handling, the car is simply too heavy and designed for the highways and not sharp cornering.

looks great

nice ride, still has those SLR looks, Merc hasn't been able match since.

TheSmokingTire Matt, I have a CL65 same year as this car that you may find interesting. The 65 v12 biturbo cars are a whole different animal to any current 63 or 55 of the past. 740ftlbs of torque in a 5,000lb package is for sure an experience that you will probably find pretty unique...

Hey Matt & The Smoking Tire team. Any change of listing a a menu of the cards you'll be testing over the next month...or several months.

I'm in the UK so I was wondering how the payment would work for the t- shirts if I ordered one, would it just be a case of the dollar value of the te shirt being transferred into pound value?

It's pricey but they have multiple reputable tuners that have custom maps and actual tcu/TCM's for these that drastically improve the shift times. The ecu tunes are also well worth the money. For around $1200 it will transform a 55 series Amg. Also if it comes with the ipod adapter you can add a streaming bluetooth adapter for $50 :)

always fun and great ty

The classic GT car dilemma. Pick up the trophy wife in it, have it valeted downtown, parking lot pimp it, blow ppl a new one on the highway. But when it gets to the twisties, It's like bringing a diamond encrusted sledge hammer to a fencing match.

Legendary SL

This is one of the best sports cars ever made!

did you guys switched to 60fps? looks silky smooth now :D

Can a shift kit and/or flash do anything for the lazy transmission?

These mountains are beautiful Is this Nevada ? Arizona maybe ..?

Excited for this one! I have an sl600 and all the sl55’s around here that mess with me are owned by drug dealers that can barely afford them.. I know who fixes them they fix one thing it stresses another thing and they bring it back when they can too fix that next thing 😂 never ending cycle if you don’t have the money too make it right and the respect for a dollar too treat it right. My mechanic isn’t complaining.

55amg platform is amazing. The only bad thing is that you can't really manually shift it. There's such a delay, you can get a tcu upgrade as well which makes it a night and day difference

Is this the sl last gen b4 the current one because the last gen sl has an awesome black series

If you let off the throttle for split second after you push a paddle and(or) the lever, it'll shift quicker.

I hope to see more benz on this channel

Just passing through reminiscing on old one takes

MATT.. Please do that Old school e34 5series I saw in front of the SL55!

Lmao @Baller on a budget with this car. I have a CL55 and have these exact same mods. Love the 55k motor. Still a powerhouse!

Nice!

What a great car , but aren't these the once with the trouble ABC suspension ?? Or is it not that bad ??

Would be cool if you could compare this to the SL600 of the same vintage

one take is amazing i would like too see more camera angles and you push the cars a bit more at hear them read line :)

This is the car that I think of when I compare the engine and speed of the cars I see today. This is probably the fastest definitely the best sounding car I've been in. How do the new C63s E63s etc.. sound compared to this? Also I remember this car felt and sounded like a rocket, do the new Amgs and M cars still have that sound and feeling?

cool video

Which road/highway is this? Does anyone know?

parents just got this. theyre loving it

Did he drink energy drink before the shoot?

I like it.

"Its not like putting 600HP in a honda" Was that a nod to when you were in NZ and drove the EG6 with stock brakes?

This is one of my dream cars. I would rather buy a high mileage one and have it as a weekend car.

600 hp, nice.

You should never remove the resonator. It regulates pulses and flow to keep torque linear. Instead, remove the cans (mufflers) first, but always leave the resonators there.

new slk 55 seems good on the other hand and isnt hideous :)

Excuse me Mr. Farah, why are you not wearing the AB's jacket.

is that a buick grand national in the background?

Tell me why I can't purchase that T-shirt subscription you put your info in and it doesnt have a button to continue little sketchy

I was surprised with the lack of Bluetooth.. My moms 2006 TL has it standard.

t is not a bmw 4 on his shirt, it is the z3, the tennis shoe version.

I am sure that the leaver shift so much faster than the paddles the paddles is so slow sometimes it won’t even shift

I wonder, does the engine have hemispherical combustion chambers?

Best car evah

AMG = All Money Gone xD

When are you going to do a Focus ST

Wish there were more camera angles, maybe stick a few near the rear bumpers

I like how Matt is dead honest

Matt you should try to get an Rx7 for a one take. It would be interesting to hear what you think about them because I don't think you have reviewed one yet. Are there any Rx7s in that long list of cars to be reviewed in a one take?

Baller

that airbag is huge

Is the fox mustang ready yet? It has been 3 months since the last update about it.

If you can tune the engine, why not tune the transmission too? Get it to wake up and shift when you tell it to