I've always liked the SL's. Had a 1999 and a 2000. I understood that they went to crap in about 2002, then got good again in 07-08, then a new version...then I lost track.
Totally agreed about de-tinting the headlights. Then it'll just look fierce. And no you WONT be too old. Just remember when you get out of that ride you're CLINT EASTWOOD. Sometimes you see older guys getting out of those rides and they're almost embarassed.
It's like look: if you're gonna do the 23-year-old girlfriend, you gotta ROCK IT and go full Hugh. Be proud of both of you.

 

And yes everything about black cars being a pain is true. I still own one. But I DO like that Lunar Grey. (And Mercedes had this blue-ish gray that I love...)

 

Eyes must be going I thought it was a mustang from the front

 

Congrats, I hope you two are happy together.

I bought my Mom an SL (mid 80s example) and that thing was a tank! It was fairly reliable for her, but when it came time to sell it she gave it back to me and in preparation for sale I went through all of the service records and found a lot more than I expected... to be fair, Mom wasn't all about maintaining things past annual oil changes. So there was a lot to do to it (which I chose not to do) but it was still a tank. Mercedes, just like everyone else, doesn't make 'em like they used to, but I think the SL is still widely recognized as one of their best.

 

I feel like you're soon gonna miss the character and style of the XKR. It's all obviously personal/subjective but to me all German cars seem soulless and the styling too bland. Unfortunately Tata seem to be taking Jag that way too, presumably just to compete with the Germans.

The German brands reputation for quality/reliability (especially Mercedes) was deserved 40+ years ago and is largely what drives their high prices, but that reputation is absolutely not true now. German parts are also hideously expensive. Jag are still suffering from a now undeserved reputation for bad reliability that actually dates back to just one period in the 80's/early 90's almost entirely thanks to Lucas electronics. Jag reliability especially in the X150 era was/is in fact very good (generally better than the German brands), and Jag parts are at least by comparison to all the German brands a LOT cheaper.

My admittedly limited experience with Mercedes (just being several rental cars) is that they try to nanny and control you all the time with a bunch of annoying safety and other "features" that you can't turn off or at least explicitly have to every time you start the car. A car should do what the owner/driver tells it to, not have the manufacturer's opinion override the driver's. I'd at least expect performance/driver-oriented models like the SL to be different but I understand even in the SL you still can't actually turn the traction fully off even though there's a button. Personally I'd never buy a car from any manufacturer with that mindset.

 

Unfortunately tell that to my wife's partner who had a nightmare getting their 2018 Jag fixed, then when they gave up and traded it in their new Jag hit a deer and they are now on their 3rd month waiting for parts.....

German sedans are superior to all others (yes, you too Lexus), That's why you still see them as standard transportation for nearly all world leaders.

As to the MB in this post, Chazaroo was wise to not get the adaptive suspension. It's a $4-$8,000 hydraulic fix when it starts to leak (and it will start to leak).

My .02

 

To each his own of course. The best looking automobile on the road is a cleaned, detailed black car. It just reeks with "class".
The worst looking car on the road is a black automobile that's been driven for a few days and hit rain puddles, bugs, back roads dust,etc.

In 2000 I had a black on black Lincoln Continental with a 4.6L V-8 rated at 275HP. Great looking car and I had an expense account to keep it looking good. I was in sales and had a major national account in the telecom realm. Man, she was sharp. A bonafide classy looking car.

https://www.edmunds.com/lincoln/cont...l/2000/review/

Hotter than hell in the summer though I kept her garaged at home and had covered parking at the office but when not, A/C was flipped on and I 'd find a shade tree for a few minutes before hitting the road. Other downside, every time I pulled up in front of our local International airport to pick up a business associate I'd have folks from all over the world open the passenger front door and ask if I was there to pick up: Gretchen, Franz, Toshi, Alfredo, etc. I could have made some good coin moonlighting.

Enjoy your new ride. All that is important is the fact it makes you happy.

 

Hey! Life is short and one should take the opportunity to enjoy some parts of life in their own way. I have a black 2019 Mercedes E450 Wagon, one of 4 Mercedes I have bought over the last 4 years. I sold my 6th Jaguar, a 2009 VDP 4 1/2 years ago and regretted it every time I saw a pic of one. Well being totally bored under this damn pandemic, I decided to buy a "pandemic project" . In early September, I picked up a 2006 VDP and I LUV IT !!! In fact, the Mercedes has barely been on the road since. You just can't beat that Jaguar ride and feeling. Owning many Jags from 3 74 XKE's, a 1980 XJ6, 1986 Sovereign, and the 2009 VDP, I am very impressed with the way Ford and Jaguar raised the production standards. The German cars have that distinct stiffness about them no matter how much you try to add the comfort air suspension. Nothing compared the my 14 year old, 110,000 miles VDP. I JUST LUV IT!!!

 

Yeah I tried to be specific about X150 reliability only. Sorry if that was not clear. The X150 was basically the last fruit of years of corrective actions under Ford's ownership.
Jag reliability has gotten terrible since Tata took over, and the styling has gotten much more bland/generic/Germanic too.

>> German sedans are superior to all others (yes, you too Lexus), That's why you still see them as standard transportation for nearly all world leaders.

Clearly you're one of the many that buy into groupthink without ever actually fact-checking.
Data from a trustworthy source shows it is absolutely not true, especially Mercedes:
https://www.jdpower.com/sites/defaul...?itok=GHb4qU3W

In fact leaders generally use cars made in their own country.
For example the The US president's official car is a Caddy.
UK government use Jaguar, the royal family use pre-German Rolls Royce, Jaguar, Landrover and Aston Martin
EU leaders use German car brands but that's because the 7 seats of the EU are in Germany and the Benelux countries.

 

While JD Power is an authority, the Dependability measure is but one metric. I did not state the Germans were the most dependable.
When one plays in this price league, the subjective seat-of-your-pants and WOW factors cannot be measured, yet are significant contributors to the purchase decision.

I will put the Audi A8 up against any sedan on that list of manufacturers with higher rankings. Of the 14 brands listed as higher than Audi, 9 of them do not offer a sedan in its price range Of the 5 remaining, 2 of them are German! That leaves 3 - Lexus, Genesis and Cadillac. Subjectively, Lexus' are too cushy, Genesis carries over Elantra parts, and I went from an A8 to a Cadillac... then back to an A8. I am sorry to disagree with you but it is not a fallacy.

As always, a lively discussion!

 

................ but Audis pretty much SUCK. Uncomfortable and not intuitive at all. Plus, Audi took over the "douchebag driver" title from BMW a few years ago. It wouldn't matter if they are supposedly 'better built', because if a new A8 sits in the driveway broken from one thing for nine months, it's ranked 'better' than something driven 500 miles a day every day that breaks TWO things.

 

Well, my Audi's 22-way heated/cooled/massage seats are pretty F'n comfy, more so than my great XKR seats, so I'll disagree with you there.

And my reliability record with all my Audi's has been stellar, so I'll disagree with you there, too. As to your comment about not being intuitive, most cars with starting prices near six-figures have a learning curve that frustrates short-attention span users. What Audi really F'd up was making the knob turn counter-clockwise when it should turn clockwise. Those wacky Germans!

In these parts the "douchebag driver" award perennially goes to Lexus drivers, with Chevy Blazer drivers a close second, so we'll disagree on that but maybe both be right.

In the past 8 years, my wife's partner has had three Audi's and two Jaguars, all bought new, and the Jags have spent significantly more time in the shop than the Audi's. But, I did not let that detract me from buying a Jaguar.

 

 

Damn funny! Jeremy is nearly always right......

 

I also just had to let go of Kitty, my beloved ‘03 XKR Coupe (drove her for 130,000 miles). I never enjoyed driving a Benz though. The steering just doesn’t talk to me. If the X150 handles like the new F-Type, then you’ll probably be enjoying the Benz too. But nothing ever felt as sweet to drive as Kitty did or looked as sleek.

Why did I have to sell her? Well, the wife got a great deal on a Ferrari 360 Spider “and” we have an Audi RS7 sitting in the driveway as well. Kitty had to find a new home. :-(

I always wish good people well though. I hope you grow to absolutely love the SL as much as I did my XKR. Enjoy!!!