 This is a beautiful car to look at and that's about it. I sold a 911 and bought a new 05' SL500 six months ago. I have owned many cars and the SL ranks amongst the least fun to drive. It is also not a well-built vehicle. All the stuff you read about Mercedes Benz being unreliable is true. The roof has been rattling since day one and the dealer has not been able to fix it yet. The engine sounds like a diesel under 40 mph, apparently they all sound like this. The 7-speed transmission is not very smooth and affects the car's performance.  The A/C blows cold air all the time. Radio and other instrument controls are poorly designed and hard to figure out. It only has 10 FM presets.