Mercedes SL Facelift: Official Pictures

[Matt530i]

Hahahaha ^^
I think the SL will be like the CLS, when people saw the first pics of the CLS they hated the design but after seeing the car IRL most of the people really liked the design.

I hope so because my initial reaction to the facelift was that the pictures of the front were a bad chop.

 

[bmer]

Re: Mercedes SL Facelift (Spy pics & info).

It does look better in these pictures but I still definitely prefer the pre-facelifted one. The shape of the front lights is really weird, not beautiful at all. The grille also looks "empty" with only one horizontal bar. The interior is brilliant though.

Don't like the new headlights the least. It is some sought of a bastard child between the MB's new edgy design and the old curvy design. They should have just waited till they brought out a completely new car, the old one would have done fine till then.

I definitely agree. The "forced" design is very apparent in the pictures. The SL was originally designed to be round and sleek. Now when they've changed the front it looks too massive and doesn't fit with the more round rear. Even the front lights have this duality, they are partly round and partly very angular.

 

[Zafiro]

Ok so the exterior is a disappointment but what about the new gearbox. Any info? Is it really a double-clutch gearbox?

 

[Tarek]

I'm severly disappointed,they ruined the best looking roadster in the world,and what's up with the hideous fans in the headrest? my god

Give me the Pre FL please!

 

[Tumbo]

Re: Mercedes SL Facelift (Spy pics & info).

The current MB SL is one of the most beautiful cars in the world.

The facelift is NOT!!

To ruin such a beautiful car... I think I'm gonna cry now...

 

[Merc1]

Re: Mercedes SL Facelift (Spy pics & info).

All the reactions are expected. Hard to accept any change to a car like the SL initially, but I think this facelift will work. Especially when seen in person.

M

 

[siko]

Oh LORD NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

I was hoping those pics were chops, not real!

All I can say is that they ruined my favourite Benz!

 

[Cashmere]

I still cant get over this! Im hoping this is a bad dream and I will wake up to find out those lights arent for real! The SL is by far the most beautiful/elegant roadster on the market, but this is just disgusting! Love the rear however.

Is Chris Bangle now heading Merc's design team?

 

[Yperion]

They turned one of the most beautiful cars in their lineup into a monstrosity...nice job MB...

 

[CorpusCallosum]

I think MB have gone to far this time. Everything is out of proportion now. The front front grille is just to big in my opinion. This car use to be so sleek and sexy now it's a mangle between boxy and bloated and the front and skinny at the rear. It looks like they alny concentrated on a redesigned front and glued it to the old rear. I'm really disappointed with this considering some of the spyshots looked incredible.

That is a nice shot that gives me some hope that in real life this car will be a stunner but I don't think it is a well designed replacement for the purity of design that was the pre-facelift SL. It just looks like they tried to do to much. The CLS facelift was a good one because they mde it different enough without ruining the car. This facelift IMO has ruined some of the great features that made the SL such a beautiful road car. I will wait until I see it in real life however before I start screaming out for the death of th designer!

The interior looks very good except for the monstrosity that is those huge headrests. WHat are they and why do they have to look like something out a modern day boeing jet cockpit. They had want to be comfortable and ridicously safe to look like that.

Overall, disappointed with the FL so far but I will wait until I see it in person to make my final judgement.

 

[Tumbo]

 

[Mr. Mercedes]

No offense Audiholic...but PUHLEASE. To suggest theres similarities from those shots is really a stretch of the imagination!

 

[Power]

Very so-so. Not crap but not great. Could have done a better job with it in IMO

 

[vabboud]

they were trying to incorporate design cues from the original pagoda SL, the bulbous headlights, the bonnet curves, the big preponderant grill etc.. but to incorporate these design cues into a model designed in the post bruno sacco, swoopy curvy and inherently incoherent as whole, design philosphy period just doesn't work out
hence what we get, a bastard child spanning generations

 

[YoUhimhER]

it's one of those rare occassions when mercedes do mess up with their design. the pre-facelift sl was such a beaut and now this is just ugly, not cohesive at all.

 

[GrimReaper]

This car is absolutely ugly. I absolutely loved the pre-facelift SL but cannot stand this monstrosity. Maybe once I see it on road I will like it but it sems highly unlikely for now. The part that I hate is that they seem to have just done a mish-mash of different elements from all MB cars and made this 'new' SL. I mean they kept the rear of the previous SL, the side-gills of the SLR, the front nose of the SLK (sorta), the bonnet from the C63 and the headlights from the CLS. Yes all those elements look great in their original form but to just use them in the "holy grail" for Mercedes is atrocious. I think this would've worked a lot better on the SLK rather than the SL.

I still think however that this will be a huge success because of the brash rich culture nowadays.

 

[modena_360stradale]

Oh my God is Mercedes for real. Nothing wrong with the facelift but when you see the front you just die. Its awful. I hope it gets better once I see them on the roads for a while.
But now, Im not impressed. The pre-facelift was perfect and I guess its impossible to improve something perfect.

Yeah :/ The problem with major changes in a facelift is the car wasn't designed with the newer parts in mind. The original headlamps were made for the car, and vice versa.

 

[ALI]

Im not going to judge my opinion just yet ... I need to see this car in person ... Its more aggressive that the pre-facelift .. But yet it does not have the effect it first had when it first came out, besides its only a facelift, but a hell of a change i must say ... I like it though, alot ...


Call me wierd, but do I see big GL influence here ?? lol

 

[Gullwing]

I like that they went back to the one bar grill, but it could have been done nicer. The headlights, meh. The side grills are nice, the rear bumper lower center seems out of place. Don't like the new steering wheels. And OMG those headrests! I am sure there is enough room to put some of it in the seat back so it is not the size of a storm trooper helmet.
Nice shade of red

 

[Wunderkind]

Yeah :/ The problem with major changes in a facelift is the car wasn't designed with the newer parts in mind. The original headlamps were made for the car, and vice versa.

Correctamundo! Hence the slightly mish-mash feel of the facelift. But I'm confident that the facelift will grow on us. Just like all previous Models.

The headrest is so large because it has to house the airscarf system. The seats on the SLK were designed with the airscarf system from the outset and were incorporated into the backrest of the seats.