Gentlemen... an interesting read of experiences and feelings.... the significant other and myself are fortunate enough to have both a sl and sel, 600 (93's).. our past mb's have been 190's, 300's and an e420, and a 300td. after nearly a year with the 600 sel, i understand why some individuals find the car overwhelming.. it does not suffer fools well.. the combination of weight, size and power will bite you for even a moment of inattentiveness (nearly got me;my own fault). the car is so deceptively fast that you can be over your head in a second, and the weight, well, we all know about momentum and inertia. the sl on the other hand feels like a toy compared to its sibling and does not exhibit a propensity to bite quite as quickly (less mass?). As far as running costs, both of these 600's have been less expensive and less demanding than my departed 97 sho('lectrics by lucas, self destructing camshafts)
indeed either of these 600's could be called monsters, but when you need to do a 6 hour trip in 4 hours...... and boys, size really does matter...

mithra