SLK32 AMG

[ALT CRZ]

Hi this is my first post on this forum and was wondering if anyone could help.

Last week I bought a 51 plate 32AMG, 46,000 miles with a full MB service history.
Absolutely love the car but just noticed rust forming in the boot lid handle and under all
four wheel arches. Spoke to Mercedes customer service who telll me that the goodwill period ( which runs out on Saturday) is not valid because I needed to have owned the car for 1 year.

A local body shop has told me that is would be more cost effective if I replaced the front wings
instead of repairing them. Questions are:

Can anyone recommend a good after market outlet for body parts?

Is this quite common on SLKs?

Is there an alternative after market wind break to the headrest net?

Thanks for your help. Bill

[ShadownINja]

Annoying re the goodwill period. I think it's 8 years?

Rust is common on all Mercedes from that era. As for parts, best off asking on the two UK forums.

One thing to look out for is the intercooler pump failure. When it stops, you will lose significant power.

[Highway Star]

Those two places are the common rust points for SLKs I'm afraid.

I believe some SLK owners have used an MR2 (latest shape) clear plastic windstop, if you do a search on the Merc forums, you'll find something.

Edit to add - On reading the post below, I meant S2000, not MR2, sorry :slapshead:

Edited by Highway Star on Wednesday 7th October 16:38

[SLacKer]

Hi

Sorry to hear about the rust. Mine has 82K miles and no rust so I guess it is luck of the draw. EuroCarParts do wings at £108 for left and £134 for the right inc VAT although they have low stock on some. Put your registration in so it gets the right model and year as the wing changes in 2000 when the side indicator went onto the door mirror.

As for alternative to the net wind break I have one from an S2000 and it is great. There is one on ebay now S2000 Wind Deflector. Never heard of the MR2 one.

Take a look



As has already been mentioned the inter cooler pump can go which disables the supercharger and makes the car a lot slower. The only other issue is the seat heaters which are sewn into the seat material and tend to break.

Here is my car

Edited by SLacKer on Wednesday 7th October 12:54

[ALT CRZ]

Thanks for your feedback. Will lookout for the intercooler and seat heaters.

SLacKer really like the wind deflector, are the roll hoops an after fit? They look great!

Just noticed the best overtaking gear selection by pushing and holding the shift lever. Cool!

Thanks again. Bill

[SLacKer]

Hi

Yes they are aftermarket. Got them from Germany and they come with a TUV certificate. They are straight forward to fit although allow a couple of hours as trim needs removing. I also have full auto roof control from the key fob and also whilst moving upto 20MPH. I ditched the OEM CD player for one with an SD Card slot so I don't need to have a cd changer getting in the way.

Yes the manual mode is quite interesting isn't it. The SLK also learns your driving behaviour so it can seem a little tame in auto mode. This can be reset of course.

In manual mode if you hold the stick to the right it will jump back into drive you do not need to go up each gear.

[ALT CRZ]

Hi SLacKer,

Got the windbrake off E bay, was it easy to fit?

Like the sound of the remote opening, do you have any contact details?

Will try holding the shifter to the right, been changing gears one at a time after
holding the shifter full left.

Thanks again for your help.

Bill

[SLacKer]

ALT CRZ said:

Hi SLacKer,

Got the windbrake off E bay, was it easy to fit?

Like the sound of the remote opening, do you have any contact details?

Will try holding the shifter to the right, been changing gears one at a time after
holding the shifter full left.

Thanks again for your help.

Bill

It was easy to fit as I drilled holes in the plastic and used nuts and bolts. You can prize the shelf up a little without dismantling everything and should be able to do it without much bother. Just get the position right equal distance from the rollbars and mark well so you only drill once. The way I saw it was if I ever got rid of it I could just use a couple of black blanking trim plugs to cover the holes.

Obviously the roof being down is the way to do it and stop it before the boot lid shuts to give access.

As for the auto roof you can get em on eBay but they are a bh to fit I would not recommend it if you are not confident with vehicle electrics as it is wired into the ECU wiring and is a little tight to do (mine has been in 3 years with no issues so I must have done it right). Got mine from Germany again http://www.reinhold-engineering.de just follow the links for the R170 SLK as they make one for the current R171 as well which does not fit the R170. A good auto electrician could sort this for you though. I use my roof a lot more as when I am approaching the car I can open it and walk away it is closing instead of sitting there with your finger on the button.