Hello, R129...The car I didn't know I needed
 

Well, I am now rid of my 6spd G37 sedan...rid of my E66 BMW. I retain the L322 Rover which is my work whor...horse.

I have recently(Last Saturday morning) acquired a 2000 R129 SL500 with only 116k miles on the clock. Beautiful CarFax. Amazing car.

I have not had time to tinker because of life/work. But so far am simply creating a list of small need to do items. Full detail including carpet shampoo, clay, correct, seal etc. ALL fluids. Small brittle plastic bits here and there. First thing was tires and that is done so do not judge the old cracked Michelins in the pics.

Future plans: Exhaust, drop, tint, MAINTAIN.

Edit: As for how the car drives. It is a heavy fast tank. Everything THUNKS with a perfect feedback of sound and tactile sensation. No gripes with it yet. Absolutely cruises and just begs you to fly. The brakes are the only odd ball. My foot/leg have yet to figure out the smooth braking input so I downshift and assist with foot brake. But I hear this is common in these. Matt Farrah briefly touches on this in his review of his daily driver SL500.

*NO COIN OPERATED CARWASH BRUSHES WERE USED DURING THE WASH* Strictly a prerinse, foam down, high pressure soap, soft rinse, hand dry.

PICS:
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.clu...611f076e19.jpg
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.clu...1ae1e9f2c8.jpg
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.clu...0c1379c95c.jpg
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.clu...4c639bcc49.jpg
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.clu...5d46fe8e87.jpg
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.clu...6cf2d3800c.jpg

What a beauty

Thank you. Every time I'm walking to it I smile and just get so effing stoked to turn it on and hear the 5.0 breath.

This car was a dream to look at growing up. Was the first time I paid attention to anything Mercedes. Need video of exhaust when you get it please

Love it. You can’t deny the good looks of the R129 and the M113 is a gem. Enjoy!

Will do when done.
I think you meant GREAT* looks and Diamond*. I kid. But yes thank you. My intent is to slowly restore the small items and I'm aiming for a record high milage example on this one. I intend to hit 300k miles on it.

Looks really nice! Is it a manual?

I've not had a chance to drive one of those yet but everyone says they are really nice

I completely forgot about these, they seem pretty affordable still too. Love the Bruno Sacco influenced styling.

if i were still single, i would own one in a heartbeat. love this era SLs. have you pulled off the hard top yet?

No the manual option was only offered on the 320 or 6 cylinder model. This is the 5.0 V8.

Yup Bruno Sacco knocked it out of the park with this one.

I have not. Barely owned it for a week this Saturday. Will likely mess around with it once the weather gets better. Just now starting to get cold so don't really need the top off.

Was curious if AMG did their own version of these and found out they did. Don't know anything about it, but the name SL70 implies a pretty big engine.
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.clu...e35a6e3b24.png

There were numerous AMG R129 SL variants, the SL70 being the second most common. Interestingly enough there were only ~300 AMG-modified R129 SL's produced. AMG SL's didn't become the norm until the following generation.

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.clu...1beb1195d.jpeg

That is a nice pic shows off the lines really well :agreed:

Beautiful car, congrats!

One of my first dream cars. Congrats!