10 reasons to love and hate the R129 SL 500: An article by your friendly neighborhood Masshole!

Hello! Bonjour! Guten tag! Hola! (Insert a myriad other hellos). My name is Lacoste Alligator, and I am going to be writing a sort of review-type thing about my car. So this is the first time I’m doing something of the sort, and if it goes well, it might not be the last time. But oh well, let’s see how good of a review I can do at 2:32:57 in the morning.

Pro - #1: 5 Litre V8 engine.

The SL 500 from 1989 - 2001 features a 322 horsepower “M119” V8 engine. Now by today’s standards it may not seem like such an amazing feat, but back in ‘89 when the car was released, the SL 500 made more power than some of the Ferraris on sale at the time. The engine is shared with other Mercedes of the time, such as the CL - class, the S - class and the famous E 500. 5 litre, Dual overhead cam, 32 valve, 322 hp and 332 lbs-ft of torque V8. What more can you ask for? (Other than the 7.2 Litre AMG V12 offered in ‘95 and ‘98!!!!)

Con - #1: 5 Litre V8 engine

Now you may be asking yourselves: Wait, what the hell is going? Legit five seconds ago you were praising the engine and now you’re talkin’ smack about it? Well, yes, that is exactly what I am doing, since as we all know, nothing in life is perfect, and this engine certainly isn’t. In interest of time, I’ll keep it short and sweet for you. MPG and repair costs. But then again, this is an old Mercedes from 1994, what do you expect? 48 mpg like on my Jetta TDI? Same reliability as a ‘99 Corolla? No!

Pro - #2: Depreciation

Picture this: In 1989, very rich people with suspicious white powder around their nose would have payed around $143,256 in today’s money for one of these Mercs. That’s the type of money that gets you a new Bentley or an Audi A8 L W12 these days! However, a more than just good example of one of these can be had for around 4,000 to 7,000 USD. There are much cheaper ones too! Wouldn’t it just be awesome to say that you own a car valued at $143,256 sticker price? I don’t know about you but that sounds (AND IS!) pretty sweet to me.

Con - #2: Transmission

Now, the 1990’s were infamous for having poor and slow automatic transmissions, hence the term “slushbox” as a result of the automatic’s slushiness. And unfortunately for the Mercedes SL 500 R129 you could have a choice between a 4 speed “4G-TRONIC” slushbox or a 5 speed “5G-TRONIC” slushbox. Well yes, you could have your R129 equipped with a Getrag 5 speed manual, but only if you opted out for the cheaper and slower 6-cylinder R129, the one made for plebs. And since those horses are kept caged in by the slushy automatic transmission, you’ll never have that power that you deserve out of the magnificent V8.

Pro - #3: It's hella safe

When it was released to the public, the R129 was one of the safest cars ever built. Even by today’s standards it’s considered to be an extremely safe car. One of the most notable and innovative safety features of the car was the automatic roll bar which would deploy in milliseconds if the car were ever to flip over. The point of this was to avoid having your head crushed into a pancake during the crash. And it worked. It worked WELL.

Con - #3: Weight

It’s pretty obvious that when you’re going to be building a big luxurious V8 convertible built around the occupant’s safety, it’s never going to be as light as the Suzuki Whizkid. The R 129 SL 500 weighs in at about 1880 kg, which would be 4,145 lb in imperial measurements. Now if it seems to be just a rather large number to you, I’m translate it into common English: That’s a f*ton of weight, rendering the car to be quite slow even with that big V8 in the front. Well at least it’s safe and comfortable to make up for that weight.

Pro - #4: The interior is amazing

It should come as no surprise that you’re gonna get a nice interior when you’re buying an $143,256 Mercedes and well, the R129 is just that. The interior, at least the pre-facelift interior, is extremely nice. The seats are comfortable, the layout feels uncluttered (for a 90’s car) and you get real wood, a rarity in that time and age of faux wood. In addition, the steering wheel isn’t as atrocious as other 1990s steering wheels. All I can say about the car’s interior is that it’s such a nice place to sit, live, eat, sleep, make love, do crack, kill, and drive in. What more can I say?

Con - #4: Most temperamental radio ever

I don’t have much to say about this, but the radio is a real pain in the a**. You’ll understand this once you need to replace it.

Pro - #5 The looks

I mean just look at it. Those sleek aerodynamic lines, that big yet subtle grille, and the hardtop. Mercedes has done it right with the styling of this car. Coming from a wholeheartedly biased point of view, the R129 SL has to be one of the most beautiful car ever to come out of the 90’s. Sure that Mercedes badge at the front is obnoxiously large but it flows well with the rest of the styling. Well done, Bruno Sacco! (Designer of the R129)

Con - #5 The two-tone

When released in ‘89, the R129 only came with a set of two-tone paint jobs, which made the car appear quite dated when released. Not many people were a fan of it, and that’s why sometime the post-1995 models without the two tone are sometimes more desirable. Personally I like the two tone, and Mercedes makes it work well with the R129.

So here was my list of pro’s and con’s of the R129 Mercedes, I hope you enjoyed reading this! Now, go do yourself a favor and buy yourself an R129 SL 500. Or SL 600. Or SL 300. Or SL 280. Or SL 60. Or SL 70. Or SL 55. Or SL 320. Or SL 73. Or whatever other R129 model there is.

This content was originally posted by a Car Throttle user on our Community platform and was not commissioned or created by the CT editorial team.