Dear Anyone who understands performance and handling
I have a 5 speed '97 SL 500 which I love and maintain well, She has just passed a (UK) MoT test, so is sound mechanically
I am not a car man but have raced motorcycles competitively so know a bit about performance
My SL handles like a blancmange in a bin liner. She inspires no confidence when driven hard (I do drive her very hard...)
There are two distinct aspects to her poor handling
She never enters a corner in the right gear and never knows what gear to she wants to power out of the corner in. I get over this one by using the box manually...
But the suspension and ride! It is so soft - she grounds her nose on the slightest pretext, and she wallows, rolls and wobbles her way thro' a bend
She is actually quite seriously frightening when thrown into a corner fast, especially if one so much as dares touch the brakes... This is such a contrast to other cars I have driven, even my wife's dinosaur of a twenty year old class
Can there be anything wrong...? I can hardly believe it... Or is this the down side of owning an ultra luxurious old man's sports car...?
Please tell... and please advise if it is a recognised thing and if there are any recognised suspensions mods that people do
Kind regards
IanC
PS For info my (3 in all) late 80's early 90's BMW 325 i's handled superbly in comparison with the SL

 

You are asking a 1.7 tonne car to do things it wasn't design to do all the time. It is a gentleman’s cruiser, designed for comfort, so you don't feel the road surface and can steer with your little finger as you gracefully drive down tree line roads at 20mph, not sporty driving or being thrown into corners and being expected to perform well I’m afraid.

The new SLs are slightly different, but I would be willing to bet that most R129 SLs have engines that can't remember the last time they hit 3000+ rpm, and had original owners who were more concerned about the leather trim being clean than being able to go round a corner fast (sitting here rereading this gets me worried as it describes me and my W140 well).

The SL55 AMG was sportified, I don't know, but I would bet it had a modified suspension, and the gearbox reprogrammed slightly.

Not much of a help, but you will probably have to spend some serious cash to make it really “sporty”, I am sure some people on here will be able to help. First off I would look on the net to see what the difference between the SL500 and SL55 AMG was, and that is probably a good starting point for changes you may have to make.

 

check your tires first.... tires can cause a car too feel much different than it should, make sure tire size is what is supposed to be on the car ,not just size but brand makes some of a differnce too. should be in the drivers door jam sticker for the reccommended size. broken coil springs do occur too. blown out shocks or stuts or bent suspension components. i have seen 2 times on an sl that had a broken sway bar bracket that houses the sway bar bushing. this will cause the car to sway more than normal

 

Dear Chassis 221, dear JR Hilton... Many many thanks for replying to me and so sorry to take so long in thanking you both... It ytook longer tha I thought to find an answer and it was a broken coil spring... couple with a bit of iffy stuff in the shocks and roll bars... Take all good care, but if any of you have heard of intelligent self firing missiles that go for speed cameras, then please tell... Do AMG do an after market kit...? Kind wishes, IanC