2002 Mercedes R230 SL500 : Madness or Genius?

Like that

Nice - not 100% sure about the wheels but it's a nice colour on the outside - good luck with it

Many thanks!

The colour is a rare one for a UK R230. Most were either silver or black. This is Jasper Blue.

The wheels aren't to my tastes either, or the previous owner's family members! They were changed as the original 18s had the paint wear off them quite some time ago. Annoying, as I'd have preferred them!

That said, the Riviera wheels on there do have good Merc approved Michelin PSSs on them. The annoying thing is they are 19s, and naturally, 19" R230 wheels tend to be AMG wheels, which are alot! Depending on how I get on with the car, the wheels may well come off, but I have enough to get on with.



I would call it something else, but I'm going to roll with your sentiment! .

So, what we all want to know. What does a 22 year old R230 present itself like?

-The left headlight no longer works
-The boot struts are shot, despite being changed 5 years ago.
-The central locking doesn't work, but the keyless entry does work, with the door striker not rising despite the door opening)
-It has a minor judder under braking
-The roof doesn't work
-The fuel gauge doesn't work. Handy in a car that likes a drink
-There are alot of error codes upon checking it with the iCarsoft reader. Many are from the battery going flat previously, but I am going through the code list slowly!

OK, not a good list, I know, I know! So what does this automotive marvel have going for it?

-It appears to be a very clean car, living up to the mileage and ownership
-I know the car is a genuine car ; I'm fairly aware of the history of this car not long after it was first bought by the PO
-The Sat Nav works
-It sounds great
-It drives ok
-it had a new ABC pump a few years ago
-It's also had a new NSF suspension strut, which in these are mental money. Think of the suspension that's in the latest Range Rover Sport SV, as well as the McLaren 670S, and Merc's ABC is a similar version to that, only over 20 years ago.

Is it a risky buy? It sure is. Do the problems worry me? A little! Am I making progress? I already have!

More to come later.

If nothing else, I suppose I've owned some Merc 'greats' including:

-'E Classes' (W124s and S124s)
-'CLK' (C209 (OK, maybe that could have been better, but the Sport models have aged well, in addition to the Black Series cars))
-'S Class'/280SE (W108 : Now that was a very cool thing, and truth be told, some things on that were as ruinous as this SL!)
-SL (This R230 : OK, I fancied a Pagoda or an R107, but the budget wasn't going to stretch to one of those)

Wish me luck folks!

It certainly is! I think I'll need some luck!

So, let's get stuck in! I think this and the M3 may well be proof that low mileage cars aren't always the be all and end all. The M3 is on around 100k more than this car now.

So, let's get started with the faults. This will scare a few, and TBH, it's almost scaring me! But I suppose it would be a 6 figure car now with back then, either complicated, or new technology.

Headlight

The headlight did work when I bought the car, after I repaired the harness. It now no longer does, but the light cluster still works. To me, this sounds like either a ballast or an HID bulb issue. It did come with a spare ballast, and I have a spare ballast from the M3, which I'll cross reference ; it's working, but I bought another one when the HIDs played up on that. We'll see what switching things about does there.

Central Locking

The central locking doesn't work. The doors, the tailgate (which needs a manual override to work). Yet the lights flash when you operate the keyfob, and the keyless entry works! This did confuse me!

Further digging reveals that these use a Pneumatic & Vacuum operated pump assembly, called a PSE Pump for short. Yup, this 'modern' car still has vacuum central locking just like the old Mercs did. Except a few more details:

-It also actuates the locks inside the car
-The boot electronic button is operated via the PSE pump
-The boot also has a soft close function, which, you guessed it, is operated via the PSE pump.

Upon stripping down the pump, the news was not good. I'll share photos later, but the PCB was basically going green on one side, and the microprocessor had some tarnished legs on it. Not good.

If you google R230 PSE pump, you will see they are a common fault, and not a cheap thing to fix ; water damage is the most common issue, with it either damaging the board or the motor itself within the pump ; the impellors within the motor are rebuildable, which mine looks to have done already. I have as a result, sent mine away to get tested and see what the result is. Hopefully I can get away with it, but I am in the hands of the specialists now. It didn't stop me testing it with a power probe however. The motor still works, which is fortunate.

The Roof

Oddly, a dead PSE pump can stop the roof from working as well, since the boot separator switch feeds back to the PSE pump, which then allows the roof to work. A dead PSE pump, and I have no roof. It's the one reason I sent off the PSE pump, as I was tempted to live without the central locking. Sure enough, the dash comes up with a boot separator closure request when I try to open the roof.

The Judder

The minor judder was down to a shot track rod end, and rusty discs. The discs are cleaning up with me moving it about in the yard, so hopefully this should be fine.

The upper arms may need changing, which I also have courtesy of RockAuto, but it will require the ABC struts to be disconnected. Joy. ; There seem to be mixed reviews as to whether I need to bleed the ABC setup again via an ABC 'rodeo' test, or if I can get away with it. I still don't have an answer on that annoyingly. Worst case, I'll need to buy an Autel, or an iCarSoft Pro setup, which is annoying, but it would save on the Carly subscription I have, so that may not be too bad, and cheaper in the long run. The other way would be to buy STAR, or find someone who can lend me their machine. So far, I'm diagnosing the car with RetroWarwicK's i980 reader, which has been invaluable.

No fuel? Ah, the Fuel Gauge

The fuel gauge is said to be down to the rear SAM (Signal Attenuation Module) failing, or a bad sender ; Merc seem to love them SAMs. The SAM in this car was replaced years ago, and the rear SAM is kicking out codes. One code, sure enough, is the resistance on the sender unit being too high. My plan is once the roof works, is to access the sender unit, and test it on the bench. Some do go rusty or varnish up ; this car did sit for 2 years remember. One telltale of the sender not working is the fact that the reserve light doesn't light up. Let's see how I get on there.

Boot struts not working

As for the boot struts, that's now fixed. Courtesy of a delivery from a German outfit, I had some OE replacements in the form of Stabilus Lift-O-Mats.




However, I would need to hold the boot open somehow, and without a willing assistant, I'd need to improvise. With the Mercedes special tool in use, in the form of a broom handle, I soon had the boot propped up, ready to change the struts.



Soon enough, I have both changed in a jiffy, and a boot which was no longer trying to kill me! We'll see how long these last, or if I need to give them some blue pills to keep them up!

Yes, the list is big, but sulking away isn't going to fix it. I've rolled the dice, and am awaiting to see how I get along.