Can't wait to see those pics Ken. She looks lovely already and I know what difference the mods will make ;-) Bet you can't wait!! I'm proud of you as you now consider your baby as 'yours' and not constantly thinking about resale value - I do similar, but hey - KEEP the replaced items so if someone in the future wants to go back in time then so be it. Selling those replaced items on eBay just isn't worth it in my opinion.

Best thing about depreciation is that the previous 3 owners (does anyone know Richard Wilson?) of my car lost around 70 grand between them..... ;)

my baby's still worth the money I paid, however I've spent 1.5 grand on her so far, but hey - you gotta spend your money on something eh?

Lea

Ken, We painted all the lowers on the SL to match the rest of the car and to me, that was the best thing I have done, along with the wheels. We didn't dull the clearcoat either which adds to the class looks of the car. :D

Lea,
You're right - I can't wait! The worst thing is the anticipation... I'm part of the boomer "want it all now" generation :) And I'm hanging out for the AMG Sport kit yet (both bumpers and sills), which, because I'm buying the genuine parts will cost as much again as I have already spent. So it will be an expensive exercise, but what the heck--I don't much like the R230 shape--so I will hang on to the R129 for a few years. When I get the urge to update I'll seriously look at an Aston Martin - the last 5 years of those were a lovely design which hasn't been surpassed by any other sports car in my opinion.

PJG56,
Yes, a one colour paintout was the first thing I did to mine a year ago. Apart from the wheels, it is one of the main things we can do that improve this car immensely. All the other upgrade steps are slight ones--noticed only by affectionadios!

Ken Silver
--------------
~1993 SL500, glistening triple black, xenons: http://www.kensilver.com/SL
~1999 SLK 230 Kompressor, silver/black leather, CD, immaculate (my wife's)
~1999 Suzuki Grand Vitara. black & silver
~1991 Daimler, shiny grey/grey leather, best in country!
~ex 350SL, 230E, 280E, MX5 and a lot of other makes not nearly as nice.

Aston Martin - now we're talking :) I'd love a DB9 to be sitting on my front drive - but hey, guess that's not gonna happen for around 10 years (assuming the depreciation is roughly the same as the 500SL). So hope my old '93 500 makes it till then :eek:

Xenons
 

Ken I love the look of the car.
What was involved in upgrading the headlights to xenons?

I have a 98 SL500 and thinking about changing to xenons.