Optional equipment includes a $220 wood and leather shift knob, $850 wood and leather steering wheel, $1,250 climate comfort seats, plus multi-colored left and right front seats at $770 each and Keyless Go, a state of the art touch sensitive system that allows an owner to open the car just by touching a button on the door, start the engine by tapping the gearshift lever, all without touching the key or remote itself. It does this via an adaptation of the Smart Key system. The price of wowing your friends is a cool $1,805.
Want more? You can add Distronic adaptive cruise control for $3,995, Parktronic for $1,500, a panorama retractable roof with manual sunshade for $2,585, a tire pressure monitoring system at $930, bi-xenon Headlamps at $400 and last but not least an AMG sport package for $8,825. Also, a $2,980 integrated Motorola V60 portable telephone system can be dealer installed. Altogether the options come to $26,880, or just $550 more than the price of a 2003 VW GTI 1.8T - putting the entire purchasing premise into perspective.
At $151,780, is a fully loaded SL500 priced beyond reason? It's hard to compare as there aren't very many competitors in the luxury sports roadster category and those that are offer very different experiences and hardly similar equipment. Compared to the $195,000 BMW Z8 the SL seems like quite a bargain. That said the 396-hp, 6-speed manual equipped, aluminum bodied BMW is in an altogether different performance category. The same has to be said for the brilliant Maserati Spyder. While closer in price at $147,250 fully featured, its Ferrari derived 390-hp V8 and F1-style sequentially shifting paddle-actuated manual is in a league of few. That said it doesn't have the SL's slick retractable hardtop or a great many of its other features. Porsche's 911 Cabriolet offers a couple of jump seats and a little more power for slightly less money, but realistically a Porsche is an entirely different prospect. Jaguar's XKR offers even more grunt, at 370-hp, despite its much lower $130,000-ish maxed out price. That said it's not as sophisticated by any means. Only the Lexus SC 430 offers a similar combination of folding hardtop, sporting dynamics and luxury features. That said it's almost half the price at $84,000, something to consider if budgetary restraints are involved in your purchasing decision.