R230 buying checks: service history, ABC and a trunk-lock correction
JamesMitchell’s early SL55 buying notes, the repairs his auction car still needed, and members’ corrections about trunk leaks and broad V12 reliability claims.
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A checklist drawn from a recently bought SL55
JamesMitchell introduces his car as a 2003 SL55 bought sight unseen at auction after it had been abandoned. He reports about 120,000 miles, Mercedes service records through 100,000 miles and a supercharger replacement at about 90,000 miles. Although he says it ran and drove well, he explicitly does not recommend his own purchase method to others. His broader buying notes favor actual maintenance paperwork, vehicle-history research and a test drive with the roof both raised and lowered. Missing entries in a history report do not, he notes, prove that independent-shop maintenance was absent. The prices and paid-report offers in the original post are historical examples, not current valuations or purchase recommendations.
The photographs accompanied a list of unfinished work
In the following post, JamesMitchell reports damage to the lower passenger-side front bumper and third brake light, a passenger-side rear strut needing replacement, planned ABC valve-block and fluid/filter work, and wheels he intended to replace after the car was mechanically sound. These are the owner’s condition notes and plans, not evidence that the work was finished. Member sivikvtec adds a suggestion to obtain dealer repair history and inspect for ABC hose sweating and underbody leaks. JamesMitchell then lists the pump, lines, struts, accumulators and pulsation damper as areas he intended to inspect. Their comments do not establish a universal fluid interval or a complete hydraulic inspection or repair procedure.
A leaking lock is different from leaking air hoses
The opening checklist attributed loss of the trunk’s soft-close function to leaking air hoses. Frederick NL corrects that account: in the case he describes, the leak is in the lock itself. JamesMitchell accepts the correction and shares a lock-mechanism detail photograph while referring to a separate six-port repair write-up. The illustration identifies the part being discussed; it does not prove where a particular car leaks or validate an epoxy repair. Frederick also disputes the idea that simply replacing the rubber below the rear window is a durable cure for water entry, emphasizing removal, cleaning and proper installation. Water entering the trunk and an air leak in the soft-close mechanism are separate issues.
Members disagree about blanket V12 failure claims
FxFormat describes expensive coil-pack, engine-mount and cooling-system problems on his own V12 cars. BlownV8 counters that his updated coil packs had not caused recurring trouble over his reported combined ownership mileage, and that he had not replaced their engine mounts. JamesMitchell acknowledges that contrasting experience and frames coil packs as a potential expense a buyer should know about. These accounts support asking about a particular car’s repair history; they do not establish that all V12s fail on a fixed schedule, require engine removal for every mount job, or have a predictable repair cost. Individual photographers and photo reuse permission are unknown.