I was looking through a box of Mercedes-Benz sales brochures the other day and came across the catalog for the “Fall Collection 2009,” Mercedes accessory catalog. When I opened it up, it opened right the to the page with the Mercedes R230 Rear Shelf Bag Luggage, what, I believe, is the coolest accessory ever made for a modern Mercedes SL.
Original list price in the 2009 “Fall Collection” from ‘the Mercedes life’ was $450, available through dealer parts departments.
The Mercedes R230 SL was produced for the United States for model years 2003 – 2012 (although, technically, there were no 2010 SLs produced, but that’s another story for another time). Today, the R230 SL represents a fantastic value for what remains a highly advanced machine with a retractable hard top, plenty of horsepower in a generally very reliable package. There are a couple of known maintenance points to watch for, but still, they are pretty good cars and nice examples under 50,000 miles can easily be found in the mid teens.
Once you find a good R230 SL and you’re itching for the perfect accessory, look no further than the Mercedes R230 Rear Shelf Bag luggage accessory, Mercedes Part #B6 695 4241.
Luggage is fastened behind SL seats with the built in straps on the rear bulkhead of your SL.
This is a luggage accessory that is designed to fit perfectly behind the seats in the R230 SL and strapped in with the luggage straps that are built into the rear bulkhead. Most people who have R230 SLs don’t even know they have straps behind their seats to tie down this shelf bag, but that’s what those silver things are.
The bag is made up of two leather pods with a nylon center section with a zipper. They are nicely detailed with metal tabs embossed with “SL” on them. This is where the luggage straps in the car feed through to secure the luggage.
See luggage straps as noted by red arrows. Keep in mind, you won’t be able to access the rear storage compartments when the luggage bag is in place.
The original list price in the Mercedes accessory catalog was $450. These days, they do occasionally appear for sale on eBay and various Mercedes enthusiast forums like benzworld.org. Although On forums like that, I see more people looking for these Rear shelf Bag Luggage accessories than I do people selling them. It’s not out of the question to think that there may still be dealerships around the country that might have a few of these laying around on their parts department shelves. I’d start by calling the biggest dealers in areas where there might be a high concentration of SLs… Fletcher Jones in L.A. for example, maybe dealerships in South Florida.
If you’re determined, you should be able to find one of these Mercedes R230 Rear Shelf Bag luggage accessories for your next road trip. It fits perfectly in the car and who wouldn’t feel cool strolling into a hotel carrying this thing?