New Mercedes SL – Facelift for 2008

The Mercedes SL in its current guise has been with us since 2002 (W230) and very successful it’s been too. I like this car a lot (Mercedes build quality allowing). It’s stylish, refined, powerful and immensely practical. But Mercedes are on a mission to update in 2008. So a face-lifted and tweaked SL is due to launch after the Geneva Motorshow in March, so look for the first new Mercedes SL for sale in April.

The SL facelift joins those already announced for the SLK & CLS, and it’s more of the same, rather than a new model. A face-lifted front that’s a cross between a 300SL and an SLR, plus updates to the interior and tweaks to the engine. A sort of ‘Half’ new model really.

I’m really not that sure about this new Mercedes nose, particularly on the SL. It seems to work better on the C and the CL than here. It makes the SL look less understated; brasher. I’m not sure that’s a good thing. The relatively understated looks compared to the performance (at least from the AMG) were what made the SL stand out from the competition. But it will sell. It always does.

There’s to be a new starting point with an SL280 (the first for a while), which gets a 228bhp V6, giving 0-60 in around 8.5 seconds and an average of 30mpg. Cheap posing. It also seems certain that the old SL55 AMG will make way for the SL63 AMG. It will be a shame to lose the old blower 55, but the 63 is a much better engine. And it will suit the SL down to the ground, with its seamless power delivery, which can at last be coupled to a more modern gearbox (which wasn’t possible in the 55 as its big peaks of torque would have shredded it).

So if you’ve landed here looking for a Mercedes SL55 amg for sale, I would hang on a few weeks and look for a Mercedes SL63 AMG for sale instead. Although, the SL55 is going to make one hell of a bargain buy next year!