Buyer’s guide Mercedes R129 SL
The SL for the ’90s is complex, but buy well and it makes for a rewarding modern classic
Mercedes brought the SL bang up to date in 1989, with sharp Bruno Sacco styling and a technology overload. Built over 12 years with straight-six, V6, V8 and V12 engine options ranging from 2.8 to 7.3 litres, the R129 came in many forms, all of which have their fans. The car was based on a shortened W124 platform, which provided multi-link rear suspension and optional electronic adaptive damping. A built-in, automatically-raised rollover bar was a distinctive safety feature. The smart hardtop was heavy – a two-man job to remove, especially in later Panoramic (glass-top) form – difficult to store and easily scratched, but it looked great: make sure it’s still with the car. Rear-seat space is limited; front-seat occupants will have to sacrifice legroom to squeeze adults in the back.
During production, Mercedes changed from the 24-valve, twin-cam M104 straight-six and 32-valve quad-cam M119 V8 to the 18-valve single-cam-per-bank V6 and 24-valve quad-cam M113 in ’98. Some power outputs were marginally down, making the 1995-’98 five-speed auto SL500S the most sought-after of the standard cars. The ultimate cruiser is the 6-litre V12 600 with 389bhp, while the top sporting models are the AMGS: all are rare, but you may find a bored-out 6-litre V8 AMG SL60. AMG chose the V8 because it was lighter and could be made to handle better. The V12 600SL was more tuned to US motoring, though a sports-car character shone through when it was pushed hard.
Unusually, though corrosion is not a big problem on these SLS, later cars are more prone; there are dark mutterings that, after merging with Chrysler, Mercedes was cutting costs…
All are laden with electric and electronic trickery, increasingly so on later and higher-spec models. It’s all wonderful when it works, but inevitably age and damp wreak havoc with rarely-used contacts – and when those are inside sealed units, rectification gets costly; 1993-’95 cars also suffer from degradation of the wiring harness in the engine bay. Try to find a car with a sheaf of bills for keeping the details working, as well as regular servicing: there’s a big variation in prices between cars with dubious vs impeccable history, because of the huge potential cost of bringing a neglected car up to standard. If you fancy an AMG, be prepared to pay double or more than the price of an equivalent SL500.