Advice regarding R129

[iwrock]

Imagine this in your driveway...



(thats my pops driving!)

[BENZ-LGB]

i HATE YOU!!!

(J/K)

BTW, you blocked the license plate in one pic but not in the next.

My daughters think I am suffering from early mid-life crisis.

My youngest daughter is totally cool with the idea of trading the E320 for an SL. She may have an ulterior motive, however.

She "innocently" said: "well, you can always get a convertible, and if you ever need more room for anything, you can always borrow my wagon and I'll drive the SL..."

She is one smart cookie, she is going to be the next lawyer in the family.

[iwrock]

Thats cool. I know about the plates. The one where it was blocked, I took the time to block it.

But now my stance is that if you want to come and steal it, good luck. There is a baseball bat, shotgun, and golfclub standing inbetween you and my car.

Not only that, but my garage is alarmed. Good luck finding the keys too. They are kept upstairs. Good luck getting past my two 175 lb. Great Danes....

[Jim B.]

Oh Man Justin, what a ride . lYou are really rubbing our noses in it!!
(First the poetry, now this!!!!)

Not that I can blame you. The wheels on it look perfect for the car and the car in that color.

I think for free, you could source a nice metal Mercedes license plate frame from the dealer which sold the car new. If you care to advertise the provenance of the car....

Or a plain silver license plate frame or, ....best of all, no license on the front at all, but of course that is unfortunately illegal in California!! The previous owner of my car (he lived in Trabuco Canyon, Orange County) removed the front plate of the SEC when he owned, the servicerecords for the Starmark process included "Install front plate holder" He traded in the 560SEC I drive for a brand new '96 Black 500SL and removed the front plate form that SL (I saw the car much later)...

Treasure it! It's one to keep forever!! Impossible to become bored with it

[iwrock]

I pulled the front plate off before I left for the weekend. Those pics are a few months old, so I need to just go out and take some nice pictures of the car to show her real beauty.

I kind of like the wheels, as they flow with the lines of the car. They are magnesium rims. I can lift up the whole tire and rim with one hand. they are fairly light, but they need to be repainted because the previous owner happened to graze a curb. I like the look, as they fill in the fenders nicely. Plus, they dont look all blingy and stuff.

Plus, the black just makes it look awesome. It really complements the lines of the car. And also, it makes the chrome emblems stand out, giving it a very nice look. I think that black looks the best on these cars. Oh, white and red look really good too. Oh and theres silver. That looks really good too. Oh, and the blue and green look good too.

Oh, I give up. They all look REALLY GOOD!!! In any color...

[Jim B.]

Originally Posted by BENZ-LGB

i HATE YOU!!!

(J/K)

BTW, you blocked the license plate in one pic but not in the next.

My daughters think I am suffering from early mid-life crisis.

My youngest daughter is totally cool with the idea of trading the E320 for an SL. She may have an ulterior motive, however.

She "innocently" said: "well, you can always get a convertible, and if you ever need more room for anything, you can always borrow my wagon and I'll drive the SL..."

She is one smart cookie, she is going to be the next lawyer in the family.

Hmmmm. mid life crisis? How old ARE you? Hmmm, RED sports car? (To your credit at least you haven't mentioned a Corvette so you have class anyway....) or worse, mendtioned the accessory that usually comes with those 'Vettes, a pretty, gum smacking blonde -has to be blonde- 21 year old airhead!!! j/k

Yikes another lawyer, you spawned a MONSTER Use your age and guile to overcome (her youth & zeal) any arguments, it's for YOU to decide to buy or not. Maybe she needs a quick impersonal lecture on the joys of insurance premiums on a near new SL (you wanna play you gotta pay)

I think also you could remind her that you DON'T need to borrow her wagon, she forgot you already own a big-a$$ Yukon, (didn't you just come back from NM with her STUFF in it?) and I think your old sig showed an interloping Volvo wagon "ademas".

TRUE STORY: Elderly lady driving a huge Cadillac, in San Francisco, about to back into an impossible to find legal parking spot in the financial district, when a young yuppie girl driving a new MB SL comes up from behind, and zips neatly into the parking space, stealing it away from her. The old lady says, HEY, I was trying to get that space to park.

The yuppie girls laughs at her, and says "You got beat by youth and agility"

The old lady slams her Caddy into reverse and floors it, smashing the parked Mercedes horribly, tosses the business card of her insurance company onto the front seat of the open SL sports car and says, "Age and wealth beats youth and agility every time" puts her Caddy in gear and roars off,
while the yuppie girl sits there screaming hysterically.

Reported by the late Herb Caen in the SF Chronicle.

LEARN FROM THIS, chiquito


Jim

[Jim B.]

Originally Posted by BENZ-LGB

Jim:

A. The only thing I don't like about the Almandine Red is that the lower body cladding is aof a different, contrasting shade. In the SL, whihc is a smaller car, the contrast does not work as well. I prefer one solid color.

B. I wish I could get the SL and not trade in the E320, but with one more kid entering college this Fall (and one statig that she would like to go to grad school oy vey!!!) that is not a logical (or even possible) possibility.

C. Whatever happened to the good old days when a girl grew up, got married and left her parents home to move in with her husband. And the parents did not have to worrry anymore?

A. F O C U S !!!! Everyone knows you can simply paint the lower body panels, mirror backs and bumpers the same matching color. That's a flimsy excuse to quit looking for a car. OBJECTION OVERRULED.

B. A nice car loan will make it happen. OBJECTION OVERRULED

C. Sea lo que sea, THAT'S IRRELEVANT.

MATTER SUBMITTED, COUNSEL?? The FORUM rules you are ordered to find yourself a mint SL forthwith. Next case.

[jjrodger]

I've run my 1999 SL500 for over 3 years and 70k miles. It presently shows 112k miles.

Reliability is very good. It has never let me down. It drives like a new car. I have had to fix a few things along the way, but I am obsessive about maintenance and I suppose any other car would have been the same. Everything I have had to fix has been minor. If there is a word of caution, it its that aprts prices are quite high; but no higher than any other MB.

I6 or V8? There is next to no difference in price, fuel economy, or insurance premiums; maintenance on the I6 will be a bit cheaper. The I6 is the classic SL motor; but the V8 goes like stink.

Shop around. There are a lot of cars out there. Get the right one. If there is a problem area, it is this: neglect. Late models have all the goodies on them (and matching lower-body cladding).