99 - SLK 200 & 230 Kompressor - Any guidance
Discussion
TISPKJ said:
Not sure what year they started but dont discount the 320, makes a lovely noise and goes well.
Seem to be a higher ratio of Manuals v Autos in the 320 version so that might end up being an alternative if I can't find a decent manual 230 - still not keen on the added complexity of a V6 versus a four pot with a charger for only 20 bhp moreTISPKJ said:
Again depends on your budget but SLK 32 AMG pretty much bargain prices now, can only hold value and maybe increase a little over time and with 360 bhp they sure do go well.
Good lord - there was me thinking the AMG version was all cosmetics and alloys!!No not in this case :-)
Seem to recall the 200 was manual as std and auto option, then 230 the reverse, mind you we were buying them in France at the time so maybe wrong.
Think you will find a manual SLK hard to shift on if you need to, and would expect it to be a fair bit cheaper.
Please drive a 300sl before you even consider buying one .... horrible compared to modern stuff
Seem to recall the 200 was manual as std and auto option, then 230 the reverse, mind you we were buying them in France at the time so maybe wrong.
Think you will find a manual SLK hard to shift on if you need to, and would expect it to be a fair bit cheaper.
Please drive a 300sl before you even consider buying one .... horrible compared to modern stuff
TISPKJ said:
No not in this case :-)
Seem to recall the 200 was manual as std and auto option, then 230 the reverse, mind you we were buying them in France at the time so maybe wrong.
Doesn't seem to fit the picture here - way too many are auto but I've found one that fits almost all the criteriaSeem to recall the 200 was manual as std and auto option, then 230 the reverse, mind you we were buying them in France at the time so maybe wrong.
TISPKJ said:
Think you will find a manual SLK hard to shift on if you need to, and would expect it to be a fair bit cheaper.
Well I hope I don't need to shift it too soon 
and because of the condition I was prepared to spend to near the top of my budgetBlack and almost perfect paintwork
Black leather inside (no garish coloured panels in seat or dash)
1 owner from new
230 Kompressor in Manual 6 box format with the right amount of history
Only thing it didn't fit into my criteria was the pre March 2001 for VED bit being just after the cut off but I wasn't going to walk away from the best one I'd seen for a tiny bit more VED cost
TISPKJ said:
Please drive a 300sl before you even consider buying one .... horrible compared to modern stuff
Now I wouldn't have a problem with that - in fact it would be part of the charm but it's an itch to scratch another timeAnyway thanks for the advice all of you - very usefull and appreciated
Picked it up last night
Four bangs and a blower - it's a bit gruff compared to a 6 or 8 but not horrid - nice spread of torque from 2K on
Boot very usefull with the roof up
Refurbished Alloys
Got home at well past midnight after calling into the ACE cafe to look at the hot rods - 6 deg outside roof down and I can conclude that the heater is adequate - Anyone know what temp they run at on the dash as this one sits bang on 80 deg C and I'd expect 90 Deg as the norm
Four bangs and a blower - it's a bit gruff compared to a 6 or 8 but not horrid - nice spread of torque from 2K on
Boot very usefull with the roof up
Refurbished Alloys
Got home at well past midnight after calling into the ACE cafe to look at the hot rods - 6 deg outside roof down and I can conclude that the heater is adequate - Anyone know what temp they run at on the dash as this one sits bang on 80 deg C and I'd expect 90 Deg as the norm
r129sl said:
80 deg C not the end of the world if it's cold and you've got the heater on strong.
Looks like a super car: well done! These are seriously under-rated vehicles in my view.
Mine runs at that on the Motorway or an 'A' road, but creeps up to the high 90's in traffic.Looks like a super car: well done! These are seriously under-rated vehicles in my view.
Looks like a nice car. If I were you I'd whip the cover at the front of the engine - the one with the star on it - and have a look to see if there is any oil in the wiring to the cam sensor. Post back if there is. The cover just clips on.
Riff Raff said:
r129sl said:
80 deg C not the end of the world if it's cold and you've got the heater on strong.
Looks like a super car: well done! These are seriously under-rated vehicles in my view.
Mine runs at that on the Motorway or an 'A' road, but creeps up to the high 90's in traffic.Looks like a super car: well done! These are seriously under-rated vehicles in my view.
Riff Raff said:
Looks like a nice car. If I were you I'd whip the cover at the front of the engine - the one with the star on it - and have a look to see if there is any oil in the wiring to the cam sensor. Post back if there is. The cover just clips on.
No oil residue at all - just OE fluffy alloy and wiring but thanks for the tip about the cover So saturday it was time for a proper clean
Jet washed all the arches and the drive was covered in dirt (that hadn't been done for a while)
Paintwork got a claybar with dodo juice tarmalade taking car of a huge number of tar spots that the claybar struggled with.
Lime prime and then Orange crush gave a lovely gloss
Leather cleaned and fed
Wheels removed and waxed inside and out
My neighbour asked for a short back and sides as he drove out so I made sure I had a stool and a pair of clippers on the path for his return (took him a couple of attempts to back onto his drive due to laughing so much)
This all meant that it was time to introduce Mrs BC into the delights of topless motoring
100 miles (on A and B roads)later and we are both really liking the SLK - the 230 seems like a good choice - sure it's not a proper quick car but it's torquey and gruff in a nice way with just a hint of charger whine where pressing on. It's a solid andheavy stable car with both a compliant ride and enough oomph (provided you drop a few cogs) to pass slower traffic with a safe margin
The box is agricultural and doesn't like to be rushed but has a nice positive action with a pleasantly weighted gate and the choice of ratios meant that there was always a choice of gears dependng on the level of acceleration required
Overall it's growing on me - it's not got the grunt of the LC or the effortless drive of the 740 and it's not got the dynamic ability of the Monza but it has elements of all and if has a similar thirst to the Gti (unlikely) it'd be perfect
Jet washed all the arches and the drive was covered in dirt (that hadn't been done for a while)
Paintwork got a claybar with dodo juice tarmalade taking car of a huge number of tar spots that the claybar struggled with.
Lime prime and then Orange crush gave a lovely gloss
Leather cleaned and fed
Wheels removed and waxed inside and out
My neighbour asked for a short back and sides as he drove out so I made sure I had a stool and a pair of clippers on the path for his return (took him a couple of attempts to back onto his drive due to laughing so much)
This all meant that it was time to introduce Mrs BC into the delights of topless motoring
100 miles (on A and B roads)later and we are both really liking the SLK - the 230 seems like a good choice - sure it's not a proper quick car but it's torquey and gruff in a nice way with just a hint of charger whine where pressing on. It's a solid and
The box is agricultural and doesn't like to be rushed but has a nice positive action with a pleasantly weighted gate and the choice of ratios meant that there was always a choice of gears dependng on the level of acceleration required
Overall it's growing on me - it's not got the grunt of the LC or the effortless drive of the 740 and it's not got the dynamic ability of the Monza but it has elements of all and if has a similar thirst to the Gti (unlikely) it'd be perfect
Sorry to bump this thread but quick question for the SLK owners
What Oil for a non long life nmaintenance schedule (I change the oil every 3000 miles and filter every other change - I've done this for all my cars since 1985 and don't see any point in going long life - in fact I'm deeply suspicious of it)
What Oil for a non long life nmaintenance schedule (I change the oil every 3000 miles and filter every other change - I've done this for all my cars since 1985 and don't see any point in going long life - in fact I'm deeply suspicious of it)
B'stard Child said:
Highway Star said:
OP - our 40k was mainly done when the car was our main car - it was far more reliable than the Fiat Coupe Turbo I had at the time, so it did get a lot of long journeys (Italy two years ago, France last year). Now I need something more practical and have got an Octavia 4x4 estate, the SLK gets used less, for my OH's commute (15 miles, mainly back roads and then a crawl around the ringroad) and for trips on sunny days. We do try and give it a good run every month or so. She is off on business for two weeks soon, so I'll probably use it quite a bit.
OK considering the type of usage now the mpg figure is impressive and more than I would have expected.The Polo Gti would have returned about 35 mpg in similar circumstances (but it's a buzzy little thing and to get good mpg you need to keep the speed down to below 80 mph on a m-way) and the SLK returned 32.5 mpg (I reckon that nice long 6th gear has a significant positive impact) I reckon a run up to scotland to see some old friends would see some very impressive mpg figures
Your fuel consumption is excellent, significantly better than the auto.
It should tell you when it needs a service. A little spanner sign will show in the odometer. The interval is variable but is generally 9,000 to 15,000 miles. Like you I change the oil and filter more often, about every 6,000miles. To be honest, every 3,000 is probably a bit excessive (because modern oils and engines are so much better and because it carries about 6.5litres of the stuff) but certainly won't do it any harm. Other intervals are pleasingly distant from each other but you might want to start with a new baseline and renew air filter, brake fluid, coolant, spark plugs, and fuel filter, maybe even the diff oil. Nobody ever renews the power steering fluid and filter, I have no idea why not. This motor is not that expensive to service.
It should tell you when it needs a service. A little spanner sign will show in the odometer. The interval is variable but is generally 9,000 to 15,000 miles. Like you I change the oil and filter more often, about every 6,000miles. To be honest, every 3,000 is probably a bit excessive (because modern oils and engines are so much better and because it carries about 6.5litres of the stuff) but certainly won't do it any harm. Other intervals are pleasingly distant from each other but you might want to start with a new baseline and renew air filter, brake fluid, coolant, spark plugs, and fuel filter, maybe even the diff oil. Nobody ever renews the power steering fluid and filter, I have no idea why not. This motor is not that expensive to service.
r129sl said:
Your fuel consumption is excellent, significantly better than the auto.
I used to get mid to high 20s in my auto 230. However this went to low 30s when I got a stainless, rortier exhaust. Was quite surprising.As to the oil changes - every 3000 is excessive IMO. I did "interim" changes. Mobil 1 from Costco.
r129sl said:
Your fuel consumption is excellent, significantly better than the auto.
Yeah it surprised me - I wasn't driving it for economy but as I said that long 6th I think had a major effect on the longer runsr129sl said:
It should tell you when it needs a service. A little spanner sign will show in the odometer. The interval is variable but is generally 9,000 to 15,000 miles. Like you I change the oil and filter more often, about every 6,000miles. To be honest, every 3,000 is probably a bit excessive (because modern oils and engines are so much better and because it carries about 6.5litres of the stuff) but certainly won't do it any harm.
It's my oil change regime for all my cars (cept the track car which gets changed before every trackday) Sure it sounds a little excessive but if I said I change the oil once a year regardless would that sound as excessive? I have a few cars with similar mileage limits and tend to alternate between the cars - effectively I do max 9,000 miles a year spread between three cars (not always same three - last year I never used the 740 for a whole year....)
r129sl said:
Other intervals are pleasingly distant from each other but you might want to start with a new baseline and renew air filter, brake fluid, coolant, spark plugs, and fuel filter, maybe even the diff oil. Nobody ever renews the power steering fluid and filter, I have no idea why not. This motor is not that expensive to service.
All of those are on my list to give myself a base line - the oil and filter is priority because it looks dark (8500 miles since last change)Dog Star said:
As to the oil changes - every 3000 is excessive IMO. I did "interim" changes. Mobil 1 from Costco.
I'm not keen on long life oil especially when to reach the change interval it would potentially 3 years old at the time of change.Much rather use a good quality branded oil at a good spec and change every 3000 miles (or a year time wise)
I have the 230K engine in my 97 C Class (sport), yes it isnt the last word in refinement but does go well, dunno what it is about the car but I love it!
Anyway mine runs at 80 all day long, has crept up slightly when sitting in traffic on really hot days, but otherwise bang on 80.
Your car looks spot on, same wheels as what my car has, although yours are in much better condition!
Anyway mine runs at 80 all day long, has crept up slightly when sitting in traffic on really hot days, but otherwise bang on 80.
Your car looks spot on, same wheels as what my car has, although yours are in much better condition!
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