SLK55 AMG - Considering buying one, any advice welcomed

[zmrjason]

Hi All,

Well as above I am considering one of these. I dont know much about them but am fancying a V8 in a small solid car that can be a hardtop and convertible.

I currently have a VX220 Stage 4 Turbo for fun and a golf for running around.
The mrs wants me to get a Touareg TDI but think we may get one of these and perhaps a AMG.

Can anyone shine any light on what they are like to own, use daily, reliability, servicing etc.
Also can the power be increased at all?
Are they okay for the occasional trackday?

I have heard reports that the gearbox can get in the way of sporty driving, is this being harsh and only really applicable to very hard driving as opposed to spirited!?

Anyway a bit vague I am sorry but if anyone has time or inclination to post some info it would be much appreciated.

Thanks Jason

[Carlton Banks]

Great Car, Qustionable Image.

[zmrjason]

I agree but kind of feel the AMG model lifts it out of hairdresser turf!

[mattyg]

When youv'e had one kick the back end out on kickdown at 80 mph you'll know it aint no hairdresser's car

[vinnie83]

Or get the 'proper' version - SL55 AMG.

[Four Litre]

Havent driven the SLK55 but have a C55, the engine is epic and probably one of the fastest cars Ive driven. Being that the SLK is lighter I would imagine its pretty brutal....

AMG speedshift is still a slushbox but changes pretty well and will hold the gear, only changes down in manual mode automatically.

[nakulan7]

Its a fantastic car and have driven a few miles in 2 of them.

www.slkworld.com for specific advice.

[AliV6]

Four Litre said:

Havent driven the SLK55 but have a C55, the engine is epic and probably one of the fastest cars Ive driven. Being that the SLK is lighter I would imagine its pretty brutal....

AMG speedshift is still a slushbox but changes pretty well and will hold the gear, only changes down in manual mode automatically.

Possibly a slightly daft question, but are the downshifts quick enough?!

I'm not tryin to compare to DCT or DSG, but do they change in a quick manor! I remember the old semi-auto boxes were shocking!!

[8ROM]

Hi, i've just bought one of these and i'm picking it up next week. I've gone for a black one, its THE amg colour in my opinion plus it gives it a tougher gangster/porn industry type of image although not so much as the SL obviously. Trouble is my parking space is quite restricted which forced my decision to the SLK55 rather than the SL.

One thing i was quite dissappointed with was how quiet the car sounds on tickover. I have listened to a few on youtube and they all sound much louder and meatier on tickover than the one i have bought. Does anybody know why this is and is there anything i can do to the exhaust to get a meatier tickover noise?

Thanks,
Richard.

[vinnie83]

8ROM said:

Hi, i've just bought one of these and i'm picking it up next week. I've gone for a black one, its THE amg colour in my opinion plus it gives it a tougher gangster/porn industry type of image although not so much as the SL obviously. Trouble is my parking space is quite restricted which forced my decision to the SLK55 rather than the SL.

One thing i was quite dissappointed with was how quiet the car sounds on tickover. I have listened to a few on youtube and they all sound much louder and meatier on tickover than the one i have bought. Does anybody know why this is and is there anything i can do to the exhaust to get a meatier tickover noise?

Thanks,
Richard.

If it has a switchable exhaust with a flap that opens, then I'm sure there must be a way of keeping it open. I know a lot of Aston boys do this. I'm unsure whether the SLK55 has this or not though.

Otherwise, time for a new exhaust

[8ROM]

Thanks, where is this exhaust flap located and how do you keep it open? Do you know?

Cheers.

[vinnie83]

8ROM said:

Thanks, where is this exhaust flap located and how do you keep it open? Do you know?

Cheers.

Like I said, I'm not even sure if the AMG has that type of system, but worth finding out if it has.

Is it quiet, then all of a sudden very loud at a certain rev range?

[notax]

I had an SLK55 last year but sold it pretty quickly.

Good points:

Noise! I doubt you would need to modify it , very loud as standard.

Very fast, clever roof, very good seats

Bad points:

Really hard ride (much worse than the Aston Vantage I now drive)

Annoying gearbox - wouldn't always change down when I wanted it to and the paddles are very slow compared to most other similarly equiped cars (it is a full automatic afterall, not an automated manual)

I found satnav annoying as you cant enter full postcode (although many cars suffer from this)

Too noisy to use the built in phone (which I needed to as it was my work daily driver)

Image a bit dodgy

I hoped the SLK55 would be a good replacement for my XKR and TVR Chimaera - apart from the gearbox, it was a worthy TVR replacment when pushing on but I ended up selling it and keeping both the other cars (XKR now replaced by the Aston )

Hope that helps.

[8ROM]

Thanks for the help. Not sure if the exhaust gets louder further up the rev range as i haven't driven it yet but i want it to tick over louder.

Regarding the hard ride, i currently have a Z4 with 18" runflats so ride quality doesn't get much harder than that anyway!

I think the image of the car is different depending on colour, i looked at a blue one and it did look a bit ghey if i'm honest but in black if i could just get the tickover to be a bit louder and meaner i think it will have a pretty gangster image. As i said i would have preferred an SL but my parking space is a bit limited and opening the door would be a problem with a car that wide.

If anyone knows how i can modify the standard exhaust to tickover louder please let me know. I am in the motor trade so have access to a ramp and tools etc.

Thanks.

[Biggriff]

I have the supersprint cross pipe and thats plenty loud enough. Only a few hundred quid to do.

[8ROM]

I looked at the supersprint system. Do you need to buy the rear section with the tailpipes also or can you just bolt the x-pipe straight into the standard system leaving the standard rear silencers? If this is possible, is it a simple straight forward job or do pipes need to be cut and stuff? Thanks.

[kilarney]

You cut the centre resonator out and weld in the x pipe, its pretty easy for an exhaust shop. The AMG rear boxs are acknowledged as brilliant so most people retain them even with a supercharger fitted.

[8ROM]

Ok thanks

[OAP]

I too had a VX220, great once you are sat in it but the climbing in and out of the letterbox sized door what a nightmare. This is my third SLK I keep getting bored trying something else and then buying another one they are that good. Performance per £ it is unmatched, the runing costs are very low for a 5.5 V8 car with 360 bhp. I choose a 2 year old main dealer car simply because I would keep this one a number of years and like the extendable tier 1 warranty. I have now owned it for just over 2 years and it has not cost me anything. Choose a 2007 onwards car as it has the paddle shift, before that they had buttons. If you ever get bored of it you can go and talk to Kleeman in DK about a 600 bhp supercharger upgrade.