Discussion
Hi Fellow PH'ers, I'm thinking about one of these cars, I like my open tops, speed, and a car that is appreciating. Any thoughts? How reliable are they and I know rust is an issue, is this the same with the AMG ones? There's 2 for sale at the mo, both silver and I really want anything but silver but I guess I can't be choosy!
I've owned mine for 11 years now.
Rust is an issue, but as these cars are very rare (only 29 imported into the UK in 2003, for example), owners tend to attend to the worst rust points. Which are:
Boot lid hand aperture
Rear wheel arches
Front wings
Certain panel edges
Nothing 'structural' though. As for other reliability issues, most are the same as for the SLK320 - e.g. crankshaft position sensor, front ball joints. Specific-to-AMG issues are the intercooler water pump (not terribly expensive) and seat heaters....but that's about it.
The SLK32 AMG came with pretty well every SLK 'extra' as standard, so will inevitably be well spec'd. The standard radio system is probably the Audio 10 radio / CD player, perhaps with a CD changer in the boot. But it is coupled to a Bose amplifier and speakers; as these are some weird impedance, aftermarket radio upgrade is rather difficult - so don't bother.
Roughly 27 mpg unless you give it the beans - then it drops somewhat. 354 bhp (over 50% more than the SLK320) yields 0-60 in 4.8 sec and it'll cruise at the electronically limited 155 mph all day long (in Germany, of course!).
Engine and supercharger reliability is good - apart from the supercharger intercooler pump which dies at around 30000 miles. But once replaced, it'll be fine.
In normal use, a set of Michelin Pilot Sports will probably last around 15000 miles.
More modern cars have all sorts of silly electronic toys, flappy paddle gears, complicated menu-driven infotainment systems etc. - the SLK32 AMG has everything necessary, no frills but LOTS OF POWER!!
Rust is an issue, but as these cars are very rare (only 29 imported into the UK in 2003, for example), owners tend to attend to the worst rust points. Which are:
Boot lid hand aperture
Rear wheel arches
Front wings
Certain panel edges
Nothing 'structural' though. As for other reliability issues, most are the same as for the SLK320 - e.g. crankshaft position sensor, front ball joints. Specific-to-AMG issues are the intercooler water pump (not terribly expensive) and seat heaters....but that's about it.
The SLK32 AMG came with pretty well every SLK 'extra' as standard, so will inevitably be well spec'd. The standard radio system is probably the Audio 10 radio / CD player, perhaps with a CD changer in the boot. But it is coupled to a Bose amplifier and speakers; as these are some weird impedance, aftermarket radio upgrade is rather difficult - so don't bother.
Roughly 27 mpg unless you give it the beans - then it drops somewhat. 354 bhp (over 50% more than the SLK320) yields 0-60 in 4.8 sec and it'll cruise at the electronically limited 155 mph all day long (in Germany, of course!).
Engine and supercharger reliability is good - apart from the supercharger intercooler pump which dies at around 30000 miles. But once replaced, it'll be fine.
In normal use, a set of Michelin Pilot Sports will probably last around 15000 miles.
More modern cars have all sorts of silly electronic toys, flappy paddle gears, complicated menu-driven infotainment systems etc. - the SLK32 AMG has everything necessary, no frills but LOTS OF POWER!!
They're still on the road because there's nothing to beat them!
I've seen mostly silver '32s, plus one in black. I'm not sure whether other colours were very popular - my brochure shows black, white, obsidian black metallic, linarite blue metallic, amber red metallic, cubanite silver metallic and brilliant metallic as the only 2003 options. Or designo, I assume.
I've seen mostly silver '32s, plus one in black. I'm not sure whether other colours were very popular - my brochure shows black, white, obsidian black metallic, linarite blue metallic, amber red metallic, cubanite silver metallic and brilliant metallic as the only 2003 options. Or designo, I assume.
I think Nick's pretty much covered everything
I've owned mine since 2008 and covered just over 55K . . It's now done just over 100k.
In that time apart from routine servicing all its needed was crankshaft position sensor (these are plastic and get progressively more brittle due to heat cycling) and supercharger pump. I replaced the Bosch pump with a johnson marine pump cm30. Not only is this a recommended upgrade on slkworld but the pump has a higher flow rate and a metal impellor (not plastic like the bosch). Its also cheaper!
The big killer is rust, specifically the wheel arches. The way they are rolled traps road crud which then rots from the Inside. I've had mine done twice now (once in 2008 under warranty and again in 2014 which I had to pay)
Colour wise most are silver, I've seen one designo bordeaux colour and a palladium silver and a linarite blue. With even the newest car 12 years old (and the vast majority from 2001) it's a matter of buying on condition . If you can I would try to seek out a designo interior as these can liven up the funereal interior. I have the silver with bordeaux leather like nicks and it really does look great. I've also seen a silver car with black / red inserts.
performance wise, 350 bhp is ample but I upgraded the supercharger pulley on mine with a remap from kleemann so it's now 404bhp .
Once you drive one its easy to become smitten which is why most owners hang on to them, I've had mine for 8 years and the wife uses it now as a daily, I think nicks had his even longer.
Take the plunge, you won't regret it!
I've owned mine since 2008 and covered just over 55K . . It's now done just over 100k.
In that time apart from routine servicing all its needed was crankshaft position sensor (these are plastic and get progressively more brittle due to heat cycling) and supercharger pump. I replaced the Bosch pump with a johnson marine pump cm30. Not only is this a recommended upgrade on slkworld but the pump has a higher flow rate and a metal impellor (not plastic like the bosch). Its also cheaper!
The big killer is rust, specifically the wheel arches. The way they are rolled traps road crud which then rots from the Inside. I've had mine done twice now (once in 2008 under warranty and again in 2014 which I had to pay)
Colour wise most are silver, I've seen one designo bordeaux colour and a palladium silver and a linarite blue. With even the newest car 12 years old (and the vast majority from 2001) it's a matter of buying on condition . If you can I would try to seek out a designo interior as these can liven up the funereal interior. I have the silver with bordeaux leather like nicks and it really does look great. I've also seen a silver car with black / red inserts.
performance wise, 350 bhp is ample but I upgraded the supercharger pulley on mine with a remap from kleemann so it's now 404bhp .
Once you drive one its easy to become smitten which is why most owners hang on to them, I've had mine for 8 years and the wife uses it now as a daily, I think nicks had his even longer.
Take the plunge, you won't regret it!
I've been giving my slk32amg a good spring clean this lovely sunny sunday morning and its gleaming so I put the roof down and have just come back from a very satisfying belt round a few Cheshire country lanes listening to a rather good prog album.
As said I think most of the cars niggles have been covered, can I just add a few personal points.
Ideal q car as its very understated and if you don't know your mercs looks just like the thousands of other R170s.
Gearbox has seamless changes right across the rev band, my mate was very impressed when he drove it and he has a Ferrari 458.
V6 soundtrack is wonderful especially with the roof off.
Car was slammed by car magazines for being a boulevard car and criticisms aimed at the handling and traction control. All a load of rubbish unless you want to drive like Clarkson on a track lighting up the tyres whilst sideways. I would like to think we are all good road users so I don't think you will need to worry about those points.
The recirculating ball steering system is often criticised but I've never had any issues with it.
Performance wise plenty bhp to play with and not many cars can live with it.
I have owned mine for 10 years and would recommend them to all prospective new owners.
As said I think most of the cars niggles have been covered, can I just add a few personal points.
Ideal q car as its very understated and if you don't know your mercs looks just like the thousands of other R170s.
Gearbox has seamless changes right across the rev band, my mate was very impressed when he drove it and he has a Ferrari 458.
V6 soundtrack is wonderful especially with the roof off.
Car was slammed by car magazines for being a boulevard car and criticisms aimed at the handling and traction control. All a load of rubbish unless you want to drive like Clarkson on a track lighting up the tyres whilst sideways. I would like to think we are all good road users so I don't think you will need to worry about those points.
The recirculating ball steering system is often criticised but I've never had any issues with it.
Performance wise plenty bhp to play with and not many cars can live with it.
I have owned mine for 10 years and would recommend them to all prospective new owners.
I'm surprise that both those cars have that horrid rear wing antenna - none of the other SLK32 AMGs I've seen do - they just use the concealed FM antenna.
Both look nice though and have reasonable mileage for their age. If it was me, I'd normally choose the lower mileage car.
Having read this thread yesterday, I just had to take mine out for a little drive! I was going to put the roof down, but realised that I was fast coming down with man 'flu, so came home early.
But once I've thrown off this wretched cold and Spring is here again......!!
One point - my local dealer tried to persuade me to get the 12 plugs changed at the last B service, even though they'd only done 25 000 miles since the previous change. Yet the US brochure quotes a 100 000 mile interval between plug changes for the V6...?
Both look nice though and have reasonable mileage for their age. If it was me, I'd normally choose the lower mileage car.
Having read this thread yesterday, I just had to take mine out for a little drive! I was going to put the roof down, but realised that I was fast coming down with man 'flu, so came home early.
But once I've thrown off this wretched cold and Spring is here again......!!
One point - my local dealer tried to persuade me to get the 12 plugs changed at the last B service, even though they'd only done 25 000 miles since the previous change. Yet the US brochure quotes a 100 000 mile interval between plug changes for the V6...?
I read about the SLK32 AMG in Quentin Willson's Classic Cars column sometime last year….he said it was one car that was guaranteed to appreciate…..I didn't even know it existed but it sounded so interesting that I went out and got one!
As others have said, it's very much a Q car/ sleeper and dare I say it a little 'girlie'. But that is the brilliant thing about it. No-one knows how fast it is...until you plant your right foot. The 0-60 times are very good but misleading because the traction limits it…if you turn the traction control off you can lay rubber like a redneck. Of course one does not condone such loutish behaviour….
It's a brilliant little car with a hugely powerful engine that delivers proper grown up mid-range shove...I've owned big V8s so torque is my thang and this is a torque monster but it revs so smoothly....remember this engine was handbuilt by AMG, a real jewel. It was according to Merc the fastest accelerating car they made, not counting the Merc/McLaren. At 110bhp/litre It's faster than the corvette made at the same time...so believe me it goes like stink. I have a lot of detailed stuff from Merc issued at the time, press releases, technical data and so on….and learnt that if it was delimited it would run out at 179 mph. Scarcely believable but true! Some hairdressers car!
It’s so willing to go that I stick the winter setting on around town which makes it start in 2nd gear. There is so much grunt 1st is not necessary most of the time….just makes for a very smooth ride. Out of town it’s a total gas to drive and keeps up with very heavy duty stuff.
Very little point in playing with the manual selection. The AMG shifter is designed to hold onto lower gears when driving enthusiastically so it’s ready to be booted coming out of a turn…I thought the gearbox might have had a problem as it was a little strange at first, then read the technical detail about how it was designed to work…..it made perfect sense.
The car has performed faultlessly.
Mine is Obsidian Black with Anthracite leather and Magma red seat/door inserts which brighten it up. And only 30 something thousand miles so is tight as a drum. If I was to criticise anything I would prefer the steering wheel to be a little thinner and more adjustable. That’s it.
As others have said, it's very much a Q car/ sleeper and dare I say it a little 'girlie'. But that is the brilliant thing about it. No-one knows how fast it is...until you plant your right foot. The 0-60 times are very good but misleading because the traction limits it…if you turn the traction control off you can lay rubber like a redneck. Of course one does not condone such loutish behaviour….
It's a brilliant little car with a hugely powerful engine that delivers proper grown up mid-range shove...I've owned big V8s so torque is my thang and this is a torque monster but it revs so smoothly....remember this engine was handbuilt by AMG, a real jewel. It was according to Merc the fastest accelerating car they made, not counting the Merc/McLaren. At 110bhp/litre It's faster than the corvette made at the same time...so believe me it goes like stink. I have a lot of detailed stuff from Merc issued at the time, press releases, technical data and so on….and learnt that if it was delimited it would run out at 179 mph. Scarcely believable but true! Some hairdressers car!
It’s so willing to go that I stick the winter setting on around town which makes it start in 2nd gear. There is so much grunt 1st is not necessary most of the time….just makes for a very smooth ride. Out of town it’s a total gas to drive and keeps up with very heavy duty stuff.
Very little point in playing with the manual selection. The AMG shifter is designed to hold onto lower gears when driving enthusiastically so it’s ready to be booted coming out of a turn…I thought the gearbox might have had a problem as it was a little strange at first, then read the technical detail about how it was designed to work…..it made perfect sense.
The car has performed faultlessly.
Mine is Obsidian Black with Anthracite leather and Magma red seat/door inserts which brighten it up. And only 30 something thousand miles so is tight as a drum. If I was to criticise anything I would prefer the steering wheel to be a little thinner and more adjustable. That’s it.
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