96 was the first year for the updated SL. ( The easy way to tell, 1 large and 1 small round speaker in the door 95 and older , no visible round speakers 96 and up. )

_ALL_ 91 ish to 95 ish Mercedes models suffered from biodegradable wiring insulation. ( see also late 80's Volvo, similar year Jaguar. ) Deterioration starts with the engine harness and creeps to the under dash area. There have been reports of cars burning down due to under dash insulation failures. Early cars also suffer fires when the aux heater pump locks up causing the HVAC button panel to light off.

The 6 cyl cars are somewhat unloved making them a good deal. Power is enough for a 4,000 Lb car and it will pull down 20 + MPG in mixed driving. Yes the V8 has 100 more HP, but only gets 16 ish MPG.

I'm not sure how he put a 3.2 motor in a 300 car. I'm pretty sure all 3.2 had electronic injection where the 3.0 has CIS mechanical. The CIS injected cars are going to be $$ to make right when components wear out.

The market for former high end cars is down and the 90 -01 SL is just another used car at this point so hold out for a good one.

For reference, last year I bought a very nice but beginning to become somewhat neglected, 124,000 mile southern 97 SL 320 Sport for $ 6,100. I've put ~ $ 2,500 in 18" tires, 2nd set of AMG wheels, radiator, brake rebuild, _ALL_ coolant hoses , water pump, ball joints, upper strut mounts, tune up parts, alternator rebuild and some other bits. These are parts only prices as I do all of my own work. Many of these repairs are preemptive as it makes no sense to let the car break down then chase all of this one item at a time through the summer. Winter will see round 2 of tiding up

The car has Xenon headlights , AMG wheels / bumpers / side skirts , wood trimmed steering wheel and shifter. I think this is all part of the Sport package but have not found any information confirming this.