RE: Mercedes SLK 320 | Shed of the Week
Discussion
Suppose its lasted this long, the rust will depend on whether its taken 20 years to get like that or just that its not been done again this year.
I think that the rust could be attended to properly fairly easily and otherwise it looks pretty straight, but to be honest, for me, on a car like this it would be a case of just making it so its the same colour as the rest of the car so it doesnt draw the eye/isnt as obvious.
Do I want it, not really but dont mind it. I remember having someone collecting a car off me and he was dropped off by his mate who was the "archetypal oldest swinger in town", chain smoking paunchy bloke of about sixty with long hair and a 1970s vibe and whenever I see an SLK it reminds me of him and not wanting to be that bloke.
I think that the rust could be attended to properly fairly easily and otherwise it looks pretty straight, but to be honest, for me, on a car like this it would be a case of just making it so its the same colour as the rest of the car so it doesnt draw the eye/isnt as obvious.
Do I want it, not really but dont mind it. I remember having someone collecting a car off me and he was dropped off by his mate who was the "archetypal oldest swinger in town", chain smoking paunchy bloke of about sixty with long hair and a 1970s vibe and whenever I see an SLK it reminds me of him and not wanting to be that bloke.
Rumblestripe said:
Leaving aside the undoubtedly present rust issues, the colour is enough to make me walk away. It's the colour of a dead something that even a very hungry rat would think twice about having a nibble on. Nasty.
It reminds me of the purples, bronzes and other dreary cars that my Uncle used to buy. Why? Because they were cheap to get them off the lot. My Uncle was the sort of guy who when faced with a dilemma of size 6 on shoes or size 7, would choose the larger size as there would be more material for the same money.Assuming (and that is a big assumption) that the car is straight and the rust is of the cosmetic variety and not too far advanced this looks a brilliant shed to burble about in. The autobox suits the kind of cruiser it is, the engines are pretty robust and can be found in taxis all over the world so shouldn't present much of a problem.
In reality for under £2k its more than likely a dog though...
In reality for under £2k its more than likely a dog though...
Who ever got 20mpg from a M112?
CR Snr's CLK320 reliably did low-mid 30s and even my M113k (a 3-valver of the same generation) would have exceeded 20mpg if I hadn't done so much suburban pootling.
Much as these were cheap-out engines in many respects, they were also tough as and had much better low speed performance and economy than older MB 6/8 pot engines.
CR Snr's CLK320 reliably did low-mid 30s and even my M113k (a 3-valver of the same generation) would have exceeded 20mpg if I hadn't done so much suburban pootling.
Much as these were cheap-out engines in many respects, they were also tough as and had much better low speed performance and economy than older MB 6/8 pot engines.
A colleague I worked with back in 2011 had a low mileage 2003 example that he'd bought off his neighbour who'd owned it from new but was giving up driving. It was pristine, and had only done 19,000 miles
Pristine, apart from the rust which was starting to bubble up on the A pillars and the rear arches. Despite a full dealer history, Mercedes tried all sorts to get out of the corrosion warranty claim before eventually relenting. I could never get my head around how an 8 year old car built in this millennium, with low miles and which had never had any bodywork repairs done could be visibly rusting in that way.
It did go surprisingly well though, and the engine was super smooth and sounded great. His was also in a far nicer colour than this one (metallic blue).
First impressions of this shed, and I suspect the colour of this example doesn't help, is how dated these look now, especially from the front.
Pristine, apart from the rust which was starting to bubble up on the A pillars and the rear arches. Despite a full dealer history, Mercedes tried all sorts to get out of the corrosion warranty claim before eventually relenting. I could never get my head around how an 8 year old car built in this millennium, with low miles and which had never had any bodywork repairs done could be visibly rusting in that way.
It did go surprisingly well though, and the engine was super smooth and sounded great. His was also in a far nicer colour than this one (metallic blue).
First impressions of this shed, and I suspect the colour of this example doesn't help, is how dated these look now, especially from the front.
Had this very model, though with a bit more of the brown stuff. Quite liked it, less keen on the auto-tiptronic box which was probably personal preference than its performance.
Sold it to a mate (who is still talking to me) in full awareness of the visible and non-visible corrosion, and more than one shade of silver. He had all the rust and paint dealt with, taxes and brings it out in summer and loves it. Don't know how much he spent, though, and daren't ask.
Sold it to a mate (who is still talking to me) in full awareness of the visible and non-visible corrosion, and more than one shade of silver. He had all the rust and paint dealt with, taxes and brings it out in summer and loves it. Don't know how much he spent, though, and daren't ask.
not dreadful, once you get your head around the fact it's a cruiser and not a sportscar, the colour REALLY does it no favours! I had the red-headed step-child (Crossfire) of this which, in all honesty, I preferred, although it obviously doesn't have the vario-roof. Followed that up with an R171 SLK55, an R172 SLK and, finally, an R172 SLC Final Edition in yellow (do miss that car!)
A friend of mine has one and the rear suspension arm snapped clean in half while driving, luckily slow speed , got it home and changed both rear arms sourced from Merc and was told these usually changed as a matter of course during Mercedes servicing routine at 90k miles, so not just the bodywork rusts.
slk 32 said:
I owned 2 R170 SLKs, one 230K and an SLK 32.
The 230K had the somewhat agricultural 4 cylinder whilst the 32 had the supercharged V6.
Rust started coming through on all 4 wheel arches and the bootlid on the 32 at 7 years old and 50k miles. This was repaired by Mercedes under warranty but needed doing again every two years.
Otherwise, apart from the peeling interior plastic paint proved pretty reliable over 6 years and 50,000 miles. The only time it failed to proceed was when the crankshaft position sensor failed.
I'd recommend getting the transmission fluid changed though. It's meant to be sealed for life but I got mine done at 50k and it made a massive improvement.
Similar story to my dad who had those models too, although it was only 230K that started to show a few rust bubbles. I enjoyed driving them both though and probably put quite a few more miles on them than he did as he worked abroad at the time. The 230K had the somewhat agricultural 4 cylinder whilst the 32 had the supercharged V6.
Rust started coming through on all 4 wheel arches and the bootlid on the 32 at 7 years old and 50k miles. This was repaired by Mercedes under warranty but needed doing again every two years.
Otherwise, apart from the peeling interior plastic paint proved pretty reliable over 6 years and 50,000 miles. The only time it failed to proceed was when the crankshaft position sensor failed.
I'd recommend getting the transmission fluid changed though. It's meant to be sealed for life but I got mine done at 50k and it made a massive improvement.
I had one of these as a shed last year, a lot of them weep hydraulic fluid from the latching cylinder in the roof (and all the other cylinders really) so look for marks and oiliness on the headliner. They're also all rusty now to a greater or lesser extent.
My strongest memory is that the steering is awful and about 400 turns lock to lock, the whole thing felt like what it is really: a C class minicab roadster based on the worst C class they ever made. Mine was £900 with a long ticket and not too much rust, and even then I felt like I'd overpaid.
My strongest memory is that the steering is awful and about 400 turns lock to lock, the whole thing felt like what it is really: a C class minicab roadster based on the worst C class they ever made. Mine was £900 with a long ticket and not too much rust, and even then I felt like I'd overpaid.
GeniusOfLove said:
I had one of these as a shed last year, a lot of them weep hydraulic fluid from the latching cylinder in the roof (and all the other cylinders really) so look for marks and oiliness on the headliner. They're also all rusty now to a greater or lesser extent.
My strongest memory is that the steering is awful and about 400 turns lock to lock, the whole thing felt like what it is really: a C class minicab roadster based on the worst C class they ever made. Mine was £900 with a long ticket and not too much rust, and even then I felt like I'd overpaid.
The oiliness on the headliner, which you refer to, could just be Shed’s Brylcreem?😅My strongest memory is that the steering is awful and about 400 turns lock to lock, the whole thing felt like what it is really: a C class minicab roadster based on the worst C class they ever made. Mine was £900 with a long ticket and not too much rust, and even then I felt like I'd overpaid.
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