Thanks to a well-placed friend :-), I was able to sit in and gently caress a couple of 2003 SL500's while I was in Florence last week. The car is awesome in person, though it seems much smaller than the outgoing model. When you are approaching the car from the front, you first can easily mistake it for the CL, but then on closer look, you notice the headlamps are different. What is interesting is the tail lamps are exactly the same as one of the "studies" they did for the tail lamps on the S-Class. The ONLY complaint I have for the interior is the cheap looking plastic instrument binnacle cover. The dash is leather, but for some reason they chose to use this cheap looking plastic for the intrument cover. But after this experience, I am seriously considering trading my CL for the new SL. I just need to find out how long the waiting list is.

If anyone is interested, I can scan the pics I took next week when I return to the office. You will have to ignore the sorry looking chap (me) though.

Do post the pics here. Sounds like a load of fun all packed in!

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... Kerry

126 tailed by a 203, 129 leading the pack.

Do you have a W215 CL? I bet the waiting list for the SL is 2-3 years long by now. And yes, scan the pics!

Ok, I will scan and post my pics on Tuesday when I get back to the office. Yes, I currently have a W215 CL500. Also, a clarification from my post, I said the car seems smaller. That is an illusion because the car is supposed to actually be an inch or so larger than the outgoing model and the front seats do have more interior space than the old model. HOWEVER, those extra couple of inches of seat travel have been at the expense of the parcel shelf behind the seats. It is definitely smaller and I would venture to say that it can no longer be used as a "kiddie" seat.

http://www.geocities.com/slpicsus/

Thats nice! I had only seen pictures of it in silver, thats a nice green color. Thanks for the pics.

I would say go for new SL if you can... SL is much more exclusive IMO.. hehe.

P.S. Currently, the waiting list is about 1 to 1 1/2 year.... depends on which model you wanted....

Andy Kuo

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1992 Mercedes-Benz 400SE
http://members.shaw.ca/AKRY/W140_Side.gif

2002 Acura TL Type S
http://members.shaw.ca/AKRY/type_s_side.gif

I posted some pics of the new R230 SL in the SL-section of this forum...these pics were taken on the IAA in Frankfurt.
The car is great and it is a definite joy to sit in it...the rear child seat is even smaller as in the R129...

[img]http://communities.msn.nl/_Secure/0MQBoGckOgk9UQCew5Q*!Qn9yA23CR0*PIrrDl0oVtXfdUdkel8tnupQlVKsSn0Sbr*UzFMuy3Ns1LkBJntbwuQ/r230-500sl01.JPG[/img]


More MB related IAA pics are to be found on these 9 picture pages .

greetingz,

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1990 300SL-24
1993 C250D with a minor 600+k kilometer
www.MBenzNL.com(the Netherlands)

I was disappointed to hear that the 2003 SL500's interior is NOT leather on the dash and some of the door area as it is on the CL500. Someone on another list said it was a brand new material that looks and feels like leather. From what I saw in the car in Florence a couple weeks ago, they REALLY were able to make it look and feel like leather. It is truly amazing. I guess if I had sniffed it, I would have realized it, but thought it was leather. I hear the SL55 will have full leather, like the CL500. I can see the practical side of having such a material in a convertible, but would prefer full leather.

Does any body know the price for the new SL500 or SL55?

No pricing has been determined yet, but expect prices to be around 80-85K for the SL500 and 120-130K for the SL55.