2016 Mercedes-Benz SL facelift leaked ahead of LA motor show

Updated Mercedes-Benz SL will go on sale in the UK next year, after the smaller SLC
Darren Moss
13 November 2015

Images of the facelifted Mercedes-Benz SL have been leaked prior to the car's official debut at the Los Angeles motor show next week.

The images - which were first published here - confirm that the updated SL will adopt minor styling changes designed to bring it in line with the current Mercedes-Benz family, and in particular the Mercedes-AMG GT sports car. A redesigned front grille and LED headlight clusters can be seen, alongside tweaked exhaust outlets and a reprofiled bumper at the rear.

The SL’s engine line-up is unlikely to change significantly, meaning the current range of 3.0-litre V6, 4.6-litre and 5.5-litre V8s and 6.0-litre V12 engines will carry over. The high-performance SL63 has also been leaked, and is understood to be keeping its current 577bhp 5.5-litre V8 engine. Styling changes for the SL63 include a new grille, new carbonfibre exterior trim and new allow wheels.

Reflecting similar changes made to the SLK back in April, Mercedes’s new nine-speed automatic transmission will be optional for the first time, replacing the existing 7-speed automatic unit.

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Mercedes-Benz SL

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In the SLK, the new transmission helps to improve fuel consumption by 5.3mpg while also improving that car’s 0-62mph sprint time.

Inside, the SL receives new materials and details designed to refresh its premium image, as well as a new free-standing infotainment screen running the latest version of Mercedes’s COMAND software. A touch-sensitive controller for the system, already in use elsewhere in the Mercedes range, also features, as does a new dash-mounted clock.

With the facelifted SLC (formerly SLK) scheduled to launch at the beginning of 2016, it’s likely the updated SL will be seen towards the middle of next year.

The revised GL-Class, which now goes under the GLS name, will also be on show in LA.

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Comments
16

papagomp

21 July 2015
It certainly needed a facelift, talk about one department designing the rear and another the front ....
This and the current SLK are hardly the most elegant roadsters, a real shame after some more beautiful Mercedes convertibles of the past.

bol

21 July 2015
I'm so excited to see what the new nose looks like. It's impossible to guess under all that camouflage. Hopefully it'll look just like my B Class.

Daniel Joseph

21 July 2015
bol wrote:

I'm so excited to see what the new nose looks like. It's impossible to guess under all that camouflage. Hopefully it'll look just like my B Class.

It will.

jatters

21 July 2015
It looks like the exterior may well be smarted up (much need since they ruined my personal favourite - the model between 2001 to 2008)BUT again a horrible 'pad on the shelf ("... as well as a new free-standing infotainment screen..."). I can't understand why these are now fitted - seems like a very backward step to me.

Badgerman

13 November 2015
My wife bought a GLA. It's not the most elegant design I grant you but once you've got used to it you can appreciate the benefits, particularly with respect to the Sat Nav function. Having it slightly higher, further forward, and larger than a standard screen makes navigation in the city marginally safer in my opinion. I've got a new model C-Class with the same screen and when I compare it to the old style fascia inset Comand system we have on our SLK it beats it hands down.

J13Dog

21 July 2015
There is still time to sort the SL and SLC exterior mirror design out before launch. Both models have a great chance of being winners if you move the mirrors off the doors like sprouting growths and place them elegantly back in the traditional position. Or Better still place as they are on the AMG GT. You're Welcome.

J13Dog

13 November 2015
J13Dog wrote:

There is still time to sort the SL and SLC exterior mirror design out before launch. Both models have a great chance of being winners if you move the mirrors off the doors like sprouting growths and place them elegantly back in the traditional position. Or Better still place as they are on the AMG GT. You're Welcome.

Well they took no notice and they turned the grill upsidedown. They have just facelifted it into the same DOG thay had before. Im guessing the SLC will be just as ugly.

FrownyFace3000

13 November 2015
I wouldn't say that. The facelifted SL takes on the new corporate face which really does improve its looks. The thing is though, every MB kind of looks the same from the front now...

Nobby Hightinkle

21 July 2015
Get rid. Scary !!!!

Jeremy

11 November 2015
Surely under Mercedes-Benz's new naming policy, if the SLK becomes SLC, then the SL should become SLS? - oh, hang on, we've already had that one! Agree that the current SL and SLK are not a patch on their predecessors - something that can be said for most MB models these days. Which is a shame.

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Our Verdict

Mercedes-Benz SL

Mercedes-Benz SL

The Mercedes SL is perhaps the most splendid, single-minded luxury convertible in the world

Find an Autocar car review

Driven this week