What I do NOT like about my R129 SL500 Mercedes?

Or what in my opinion could be better...
Anyone who follows my videos knows that I love R129 and So much is said to praise the design of Bruno Sacho's R129 and the over-engineered nature of R129. R129 is definitely one of the most perfect creations of Mercedes-Benz before the merger and there is no doubt that, it is the favourite car of many mercedes enthusiasts as well as mine too. But this does not necessarily mean that there is no negative point to mention, and i am sure you have your list as well. The fact is that this SL class Mercedes is right in between the classic R107 and the modern R230, and sometimes we expect it to have a bit more... but here are my top 10 very small subjective issues or better to say wish list to mention:


10. Lack of Cup holder, glove box
Massive airbag fitted on passenger side of R129 has led it to lack the glove box, I am well aware that R129 has many extra locking compartments on the doors and middle console and back seat area and even decent size boot. But I sometimes wish it could have one or 2 cup holders.

9. Plastic rear window
This one is a bit more annoying as the plastic window gets sun faded over time and reduces the visibility. Also, if you replace the original plastic window with a new after market one, you might end up with a rear plastic windeo that might be noisy due to the wind producing vibration .

8. Fragile interior trims
This one I am sure most of you have experienced; the plastic AC vents, the sunvisors, vanity lights, centre mirror, Top of the dashboard, these become easily fragile over the time.

7. Lack of electronic control ignition
This is specific to pre 1995 engines with mechanical ignition systems that requires extra maintenance on the caps, rotors, and seals. This affects the idle quality, can lead to misfires and poor performance.

6. Having a separate hardtop has its own advantages and disadvantages, The advantage is looking and feeling like a coupe when the hard top is on for the winter season but the cons is the Difficulties of storing the hard top during the summer time.

5. Giant steering wheel... this is probably a bit subjective, but i feel that the R129 steering wheel is a tad on the larger size and I know the reason too, it is because of huge and comprehensive instrument cluster that requires a larger opening...

4. Seats are prone to crack and tear
Well, i wish the materials used on the seats were more durable as i have seen many of these cars with torn and imperfect leather condition.

3. Soft top switches, electronics, and seals are not the most reliable. We all recognise the R129 as the first fully automatic soft top ever built, but unfortunately, this system has proven to leak, and more often switch and electrical issues and even computer failure.

2. Diagnos-ability: pre 1997 R129s with M119 engine and the OBD1 and non digital diagnostic systems are very difficult to diagnose. I understand that this car with the 36 pin diagnostic port can be easily be diagnosed with simply a peice of wire and a bulb, but in most of the cases the issue would be more complicated than that and the regular obd2 scanners would fail to diagnose them and more expensive tools like MB Star is required for proper diagnosis.

1. Silent exhaust and engine, this is also very subjective and what I mention here is actually sometimes what i really enjoy but for 5 percent of the times I would love to have a bit of more exhaust and engine roar than the very quite M119 and stock exhaust.

Please let me in the comments what could be better on R129 considering the fact that most of these cars are now almost 30 years old. All right, as usuall thank you for coming back and watching, liking, and subscribing please watch my other videos.

свернуть