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  #1  
Old 02-17-2004, 05:01 PM
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Would you update your SL body?

I've got the chance to cheaply upgrade the 3 slot plank on the side of my R129 to a 2 slot, thus making my '93 look like a '96 and onwards.

But I think doing this is faking it, and make the car a bit of a mongrel, and I'm reluctant to do that.

Only a small number of diehards (SL enthusiasts, other owners, MB salesmen) will know. And they probably won't be impressed once they find out. It certainly won't add value to the car on resale.

But I ask because my only hesitation in this decision is seeing a magnificent example on the Benzworld forum of a maroon 93 SL500 changed up to a 2002 Silver Arrow. The guy spent US$25,000 on the upgrade alone, which changed everything from Silver Arrow AMG body kit and full repaint to seats, wheel, instrument panel, lights... you name it.

It looks stunning. Somehow just changing out my plank holes doesn't seem to be the same by comparison.

Yet I've seen one owner change just the rear light lenses to all red to get an upgrade look.

My SL came with clear corners on the front light assembly, and I like it. I'm going to upgrade the wheels soon, but I consider this is quite different to style changes that purport to make the SL look younger than it is.

How far would you go to change the look of your R129, and what would you change?

Ken Silver
--------------
~1993 SL500, glistening triple black, xenons: http://www.kensilver.com/SL
~1991 Daimler, shiny grey / grey leather, best in country!
~1992 Miata MX5, sparkling BRG / tan leather, wife's (soon to be replaced with a silver SLK)
~ex 350SL, 230E, 280E (and a lot of other makes not nearly as nice)

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Last edited by KenSilver; 02-17-2004 at 05:10 PM.
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  #2  
Old 02-17-2004, 05:04 PM
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I'm not excluding R107 owners here, it's just that there's very little apart from the rims you can do to change the look.

Well, maybe a boot spoiler

Ken Silver
--------------
~1993 SL500, glistening triple black, xenons: http://www.kensilver.com/SL
~1991 Daimler, shiny grey / grey leather, best in country!
~1992 Miata MX5, sparkling BRG / tan leather, wife's (soon to be replaced with a silver SLK)
~ex 350SL, 230E, 280E (and a lot of other makes not nearly as nice)
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  #3  
Old 02-17-2004, 05:57 PM
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I painted all the lower cladding to match the car and put a set of staggered AMG lookalikes on it and that's as far as I'm going to go. I just like the mono color treatment and the look of the wheels.
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  #4  
Old 02-17-2004, 07:47 PM
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PJG56,

I forgot about the color matching - I did that too.

Add that to the list of things I've done - but it makes such a huge difference, more than anything else doesn't it!

Got a picture of yours?

Ken Silver
--------------
~1993 SL500, glistening triple black, xenons: http://www.kensilver.com/SL
~1991 Daimler, shiny grey / grey leather, best in country!
~1992 Miata MX5, sparkling BRG / tan leather, wife's (soon to be replaced with a silver SLK)
~ex 350SL, 230E, 280E (and a lot of other makes not nearly as nice)
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  #5  
Old 02-17-2004, 10:38 PM
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It's not about what others will think. It's all about you. If you like the look of an upgraded or "enhanced" car, do it. The only time "original" is an issue is if you show the car in compitition. Then points are deducted for anything which is not original or has been modified.
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  #6  
Old 02-18-2004, 12:12 AM
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Quote:
Originally posted by tecqboy
...If you like the look of an upgraded or "enhanced" car, do it.
So true. But while, say, red tail lights enhance the SL, a change to 2 slots - in my opinion - doesn't. I'm just curious to see how far everyone else thinks we can go in the upgrade business.

It's good that our R129's can be upgraded anyway... ususally most of the changes made from 1991 on have improved the look in a subtle way.

Ken Silver
--------------
~1993 SL500, glistening triple black, xenons: http://www.kensilver.com/SL
~1991 Daimler, shiny grey / grey leather, best in country!
~1992 Miata MX5, sparkling BRG / tan leather, wife's (soon to be replaced with a silver SLK)
~ex 350SL, 230E, 280E (and a lot of other makes not nearly as nice)
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  #7  
Old 02-18-2004, 12:39 AM
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The previous owner of my '91 updated the lights, front and rear. To be honest however I haven't paid much attention to yearly updates so I'm not sure where my ride stands yearwise....

He also updated it to an SL500....

I plan on going mono colour this summer and will be updating rims but not to AMG's....too cliche for me.
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  #8  
Old 02-18-2004, 03:58 AM
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well in my opinion, i think the biggest cosmetic upgrades on the SL are the magwheels and the single body color. Mine came with 18in spoke AMG's and the body was re-colored black by the previous owner from the original two tone blue grey which makes the car look radically younger and lower than it really is.

I plan to change the orange turn signal lamps to clear ones though and MAYBE the rear lights and headlights as well but i have not decided yet. and am only changing them since they are worn out already not just for cosmetic reasons but for safety as well.

but thats as far as i would ever want to go. I literally cannot afford to waste too much money on a car thats 12 years old. Since i have to take more practical things into consideration.

I love your car Kensilver, it looks good already and i dont think anything else it worth changing.

besides, we own a Mercedes Benz SL! not a Honda Civic, etc so we dont have to "soup up" our cars like what the rest of the world does. It is already nice and performs well out of the factory and out car wasnt produced in the millions so either way, our cars stick out anywhere regardless of model year

well thats my 2 pence
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  #9  
Old 02-18-2004, 04:20 AM
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KenSilver, I think your SL looks pretty great now it is colour matched. A girl who works near me has one in blue black metallic with mushroom leather. She too has had the bumpers painted. She has a set of (subtle) 17" Lorinser wheels on it which are a lot like the AMG 18"ers. I wouldn't go further than that. (Aside: This girl is both gorgeous and single. What am I doing here?)

The 1995 body mods are more than just the change from three vents to two. They are quite difficult to do. As well as the panel on the front fender/wing with the vents in it, you would have to change the door panels and the rear wing panel because they are a different profile. The bumpers are different, too. The rear bumper can be swapped out, but the front bumper has different mounting points. The car can be adapted, but it requires welding. Yikes!

A guy who used to post here a lot called Steve or MBenzNL did the changes to his car. His website (largely concerned with his C250 diesel) contains details as do some of his posts here: www.mbenz.nl
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  #10  
Old 02-18-2004, 08:19 AM
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Quote:
It's not about what others will think. It's all about you. If you like the look of an upgraded or "enhanced" car, do it.
I agree
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  #11  
Old 02-18-2004, 02:01 PM
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Considering what a depreciation hit the R129 has taken, I wouldn't worry much about its resale value.

A forum member here (MBenz, who doesn't frequent this site much these days) did the upgrade to his 300SL to the 97 look, including rims. He posted pics of the reconstruction process and the efforts turned out great!

I'm not much of a purist, as my ML is body-colored, which was not standard in 99, and I will put the Euro lights on my W124. I plan to body color the lower cladding on my wife's SL eventually, and possibly a rim upgrade.
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  #12  
Old 02-18-2004, 02:02 PM
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Quote:
Originally posted by KenSilver
PJG56,


Got a picture of yours?

Ken Silver
--------------
~1993 SL500, glistening triple black, xenons: http://www.kensilver.com/SL
~1991 Daimler, shiny grey / grey leather, best in country!
~1992 Miata MX5, sparkling BRG / tan leather, wife's (soon to be replaced with a silver SLK)
~ex 350SL, 230E, 280E (and a lot of other makes not nearly as nice)
Have plenty of pics, but I haven't figured how to get them up to a nice viewable size with the restrictions on this site. I know it can be done, but I need some help. Pete
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95 SL500 Smoke Silver, Parchment 64K
07 E350 4matic Station Wagon White 34K
02 E320 4Matic Silver/grey 80K
05 F150 Silver 44K
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  #13  
Old 02-18-2004, 10:41 PM
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I am not much into upgrading any car's body, but would not mind to upgrade the wheels. One of these days I will replace my OEM wheels to stack AMG or Brabus 19". But I need to hit the lotto first
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  #14  
Old 02-20-2004, 04:24 PM
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Quote:
Originally posted by PJG56
Have plenty of pics, but I haven't figured how to get them up to a nice viewable size with the restrictions on this site. I know it can be done, but I need some help. Pete
Pete, use http://www.jpegwizard.com/

It's a free and easy online JPG sizing service. I last used it a couple of years ago and it worked great.

Ken Silver
--------------
~1993 SL500, glistening triple black, xenons: http://www.kensilver.com/SL
~1991 Daimler, shiny grey / grey leather, best in country!
~1992 Miata MX5, sparkling BRG / tan leather, wife's (soon to be replaced with a silver SLK)
~ex 350SL, 230E, 280E (and a lot of other makes not nearly as nice)
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  #15  
Old 02-20-2004, 07:45 PM
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Ken, Whooo Boy,,, the site looks pretty daunting, but will give it a shot. Thanks a lot. Pete

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07 E350 4matic Station Wagon White 34K
02 E320 4Matic Silver/grey 80K
05 F150 Silver 44K
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