Mercedes SLK 350 | Shed of the Week
Looking for a manual, rear-drive roadster with more than 250hp? Check out the road less travelled...
You might think it’s the wrong time of year for a two-seater convertible, and it probably is, but when a 268hp Mercedes SLK 350 pops up at under £2k, the least you can do is pay it some attention. Especially when it’s a gen-two R171 with a manual gearbox, a mooed-up cabin and no obvious faults.
Our R171 is from 2004, the first year of that model’s sales. It’s done 112,000 miles in total, equivalent to not much more than 5,000 a year. So far so good, but as you know Shed’s life has been a litany of disappointments, the most recent being the discovery that the vicar had part-ex’d him a car that was even more clocked than the one Shed had sold him.
With that in mind, he was fully prepared for bad news on this Merc’s MOT history. To his surprise, however, the last test in July showed nothing worse than light wear to a front suspension bush. That had pinged up on the 2024 and 2023 tests, too. Apart from a bit of seatbelt anchor point plating in 2020, a warning light in 2019 and replacement front springs in 2014 and 2015 it’s been consumables all the way for MOT advisories dating back to 2007.
The front end does need to do some heavy lifting on these SLK 350s because the M272 3.5-litre 24-valve 90-degree V6 was a chunky unit. A pokey one too. Despite the lack of turbo assistance, it pumped out 268hp at a rasping 6,000rpm, with 258lb ft on tap from 2,500-5,000rpm, so even by 2025 standards it will feel pleasingly rapid. Finding one of these with the six-speed manual gearbox is a rare occurrence, mainly because Merc manuals erred more towards function than fun and this one was no different. In fact, possibly, Shed maintains that the SLK after this one, the R172, was the last ever manual Mercedes.
Whether that’s true or not, what is true is that the 7G-Tronic automatic version of the R171 SLK 350 covered off the 0-62mph in 5.5 seconds, 0.1 seconds less than a skilled and probably sweating driver needed to achieve the same feat behind the wheel of the manual. On the positive side, the 1,465kg manual SLK was 20kg lighter than the auto, which gave it a soupcon more delicacy on the handling front. As Shed said while he was showing a landscape picture of Mrs Shed from the rear to a recently discovered cousin, it’s all relative. Though the SLK 350 was rear-wheel drive with staggered 17-inch wheels (7.5 front, 8.5 rear) it wasn’t nearly as precise to drive as Porsche’s Boxster. Nevertheless, if the phrase ‘refined boulevardier’ appeared higher up your new car wishlist than ‘ring dominator’ you’d be chuffed with your choice.
Owners generally like their R171s. It was better built inside and out than the R170, and the folding roof was pretty reliable, even on the gen-one. Thanks to Mrs Shed’s dextrous saucepan-wielding, Shed is accustomed to the idea of metal coming swiftly over his head, so he likes the fact that the R171’s steel top deployed three seconds quicker than the previous R170’s. More usefully, perhaps, the newer car provided an extra 63 litres of luggage space to boot, or indeed in the boot. Shed isn’t sure if this car would have had the then-new Airscarf neck-warmer as standard.
The 350’s combined fuel consumption was just under 27mpg with high 30s obtainable on a cruise. Today, the emissions figure of 255g/km conveniently keeps it out of the dearest band of vehicle excise duty beginning at 256g/km, but that just means you’ll be paying £710 a year instead of £735. There’s a fly in many an ointment, two or three if you’re Shed. It’s a shame, but you can’t have everything.
The good news is that the vendors are giving you a three-month warranty to go with the car’s full service history. That’s good because pre-2008 examples of the M272 engine did suffer from balance shaft and intake manifold issues. Rust can and will attack the rear subframes. Same goes for the front wings, and they’re not cheap to replace. The roof can rattle, but that’s generally easily fixed by the application of Gummi Pflege, a mysterious substance that nobody understands.
The vendors also say that ‘first to see will buy’. If by some strange magic that phrase was actually true Shed would be inviting that blooming vicar round to his yard for a special viewing.
I had an R120 SLK 320 manual during lockdown, and it was a nippy little thing, entertaining on the back roads.
This will be more refined, more powerful and with better technology. Air scarf is a nice touch.
Yes, not as composed as the Boxster, but you won't get one a fully functioning one of those easily for under £2k.
For the money if I was buying it, it would be used purely in the summer, hopefully sometime buys this & gives an old Merc the love it deserves.
The hydraulic roofs on the R170 (and probably the R171 too) are not as reliable as suggested by shed. The OEM hydraulic oil attacks the rubber seals in the hydraulic rams, so they can leak when the pump is running. Also, the microswitches can become sticky or even fail, so the pump continues to run even once the roof is closed. This finishes the job that the oil started.
MB in Sydney charge $4k to replace the “unserviceable” hydraulic rams. The alternative is to replace the seals yourself for the grand sum of about £50. That includes 20 Euros for a pack of rubber seals from German eBay, a few pounds for some 2mm drill bits and a ridiculous price for some hydraulic oil from MB themselves. There are plenty of YouTube videos describing how to dismantle the “sealed for life” rams and then reassemble them with new seals. It just takes a few hours labour and a little bravery.
As for M272 V6 balance shafts, there are several websites that can determine if a particular car is at risk from the VIN. Some 2008 cars have the revised engine.
Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff