Mercedes SLK55 AMG

[djbunny]

I'm on the prowl for a SLK55 AMG 05-08 plate, I was wondering if you lot have any thoughts on pitfalls on buying these, what is likely to go wrong if anything and is it best to go for a low mileage 05 or higher mileage 08 ? also when do they have their major services, it will be just a toy and not a huge mileage to add as have an ML for day to day, thanks any comments will be appriciated.

[slk 32]

I bought my slk 55 a couple of months ago after a prolonged search.

I had a good idea of the spec i wanted and age. I wanted a pre 2006 car for 2 reasons.. the road tax is less (270 v 470 ) plus initially mercedes fitted six pot brakes at the front before they reduced them to four and charged extra to upgrade (which of course not many people did)

The trick is to find a low mileage good condition earlier model. Mine has 24k on the clock and full mbsh (it was owned by an old guy who garaged it and used it as an infrequent weekend toy)

From what i understand the latter model changes make a few cosmetic changes (slightly different front spoiler) plus also different steering wheel and paddle shift.as opposed to paddle buttons although there is so much torque 99% of the time fully auto suffices (or maybe i am just lazy)

I was disappointed in the quality feel of the cabin- it does feel very plasticky but that is soon forgotten when you hear the v8!

Another thing to consider is the front discs are very expensive (£1100 circa) so you may well need to factor that in too

Colours are somewhat limited too - i did see 2 years back one in designo chablis which looked stunning but most seem to be either black or iridium. Two tone leather helps to lift the plastic interior imho

Use the search function as i believe there are a lot more threads on the topic


Cheers

Edited by slk 32 on Sunday 19th August 21:14

[TheGroves]

djbunny said:

I'm on the prowl for a SLK55 AMG 05-08 plate, I was wondering if you lot have any thoughts on pitfalls on buying these, what is likely to go wrong if anything and is it best to go for a low mileage 05 or higher mileage 08 ? also when do they have their major services, it will be just a toy and not a huge mileage to add as have an ML for day to day, thanks any comments will be appriciated.

Picked mine up last July to replace my much loved TVR Tuscan. Didn't think I would find a car to match the Tuscan but the 55 certainly does. Plus, very good mate owns a great Merc Indie and really knows his stuff.

Picked up a 54 plate for all the reasons on the last post. Car is overall bomb-proof, certainly the engine is a much tested lump that doesn't suffer much. Services in the main are comparable to that of any other Merc, things to be mindful of:

Front discs are indeed composite and come in at £500 a pair, find a good indie to fit them, they'll only come in at >£1000 if done at MB

7G Gearbox needs to be serviced at scheduled intervals, (I think 40k), involves a drop, drain, flush and re-fluid. Don't trust the maindealers to do it right, find a good indie. Mine had been done according to the history by MB but when it started gliching discovered MB service had been lazy and not flushed properly so had it re-done. Perfect since done properly.

Spark plug service,(I think 40k or 4 years), can be costly, not because plugs are pricey but it has 16...its a twin-spark V8 and its the labour time that racks the bill up.

Some, ( like mine) can suffer a minor oil leak from the rocker-covers. They have breather chambers on top of the covers for oil vapour to condense in and be recirculated. Breather chamber seals to rover covers can leak and they're not gasketed so you have to replace the whole rocker-cover, circa £200 part. cannot re-seal old covers.

Mine has now got 75k on the clock and still nothing squeaks, rattles, wobbles etc, just make sure you service them right. Only other things that I've had to change are front ball joints, gotta expect something on a car that stiff with some much weight on the front wheels to give after that kind of mileage. Thankfully they're nothing too exotic like the SL, they're the same part as the eClass I think so where not costly.

Happy hunting.

Mike

Edited by TheGroves on Monday 20th August 01:14

[djbunny]

Thanks for your help so far, the prices are so varried from around £13,000 to £21,000 for an 05 plate, as book price is around £13,500 trade to £14,750 retail on 55,000 miles, some obviously thing their car is worth more than it is, yea discs can be costly as my old 3.2 v6 TT were about the same price and were a auldi only part. I just did not want to shell out on a car which spent more time in the garage that me driving it, I do like the upgraded steering wheel with the 08 face lift as don't really get on with the button change on my ML as I did with the paddle change on my TT.