SLK 55 AMG 2005 - 2007 Buying Advice
Discussion
Hi,
I am considering buying an SLK 55 AMG from somewhere round the 2005 - 2007 age. I would be grateful for any pointers to look out for such as different spec brakes on newer models, realistic servicing costs and any known wallet melting horrors that can occur.
Thanks in anticipation
Marty
I am considering buying an SLK 55 AMG from somewhere round the 2005 - 2007 age. I would be grateful for any pointers to look out for such as different spec brakes on newer models, realistic servicing costs and any known wallet melting horrors that can occur.
Thanks in anticipation
Marty
I've never heard stories of leaky roofs...
Re: Brakes - the facelift models have 4-pot brakes up front, 2-pot brakes rear. Not overly expensive (but don't have prices). The pre-facelift models (2006 and earlier) have superior 6-pot floating-disc brakes up front and 4-pot brakes on the rear. They're great, but VERY expensive. They're Brembo, but can only be purchased direct from Mercedes. Its approx £1500 for discs and pads at the front (fitted), and about £2000 for discs and pads all round.
Make sure the gear changes are clean, noise-free and not overly-jerky, especially when cold. Not heard of any total failures with the 7G, but any repairs via Mercedes are obviously expensive - four figure bills are not unusual.
With the roof, this should be quiet and operate smoothly. Never heard any horror stories regarding these.
A major service with Mercedes, including 16x plugs, all filters and oils comes in at around £1200. Obviously less with a specialist.
Engines are pretty much bulletproof.
Electrics are pretty solid, but watch for the heated seats, bases are a known failure point and are again expensive to fix (what isn't!)
All in, they're pretty solid cars - but when things go wrong, its a Merc AMG so be prepared to pay. Many insist on a warranty, but these are about £2000/year now from Merc for a Tier1, and if you've let it lapse they will want a £300 inspection (and anything rectified) before they will give it. Probably better off with a slush fund, and I certainly wouldn't bother with any aftermarket warranties.
Lastly, and you may already know this, facelift cars are easily identified by the modified front intake, but anything 2007-onward should be unless it was late registered.
HTH!
I've got a 2005 model which is great. I have never heard of a leaky roof. The only leaky bit seems to be the cam covers. I have had two services, one small at £300 and one large at £700. My car has covered 26000 miles and since I've had it never missed a beat. Mine has the original brakes I.e. 6 pot calipers and they are very expensive to replace but you have to expect some pain with a performance car.
Go try one, the sound is fantastic, even better than my TVR.
Go try one, the sound is fantastic, even better than my TVR.
MadeInEngland said:
I've got a 2005 model which is great. I have never heard of a leaky roof. The only leaky bit seems to be the cam covers. I have had two services, one small at £300 and one large at £700. My car has covered 26000 miles and since I've had it never missed a beat. Mine has the original brakes I.e. 6 pot calipers and they are very expensive to replace but you have to expect some pain with a performance car.
Go try one, the sound is fantastic, even better than my TVR.
Funny you should mention TVR as thats what I have at present. Looking to sell it soon and am currently scratching my head and looking around for something to replace it with. The baby Merc still has a glorious sounding V8 in it (which is what attracted me to it in the first place) but is perhaps a bit more civilised than the TVR. Also looked at Audi RS4 as well.Go try one, the sound is fantastic, even better than my TVR.
I havent read any scary stories about the folding roofs failing, so am guessing that its reliable?
. I'll go and have a look.Thread resurection sorry,
I test drove an 07 55 yesterday weather was aweful so not the best experience but I think there's hope for a purchase. A few questions if I may,
It sounded nice but not awesome like my 996 with pse so is there some sort of exhaust mod to make it bark?
Also is a remap worth doing maybe linked to an exhaust mod air filter etc?
Can the roof be put down on the move and can it be opened from the key the key just had lock/ unlock and boot on it.
Can wider tyres be fitted on the standard rims my Porsche has 295s the 55 has 245s and Iove the wide look from the rear.
If the car has only buttons for the gear change is it easy to change to paddles?
Is the HK audio much better than standard my Porsche has bose it it's great.
Thanks in advance
I test drove an 07 55 yesterday weather was aweful so not the best experience but I think there's hope for a purchase. A few questions if I may,
It sounded nice but not awesome like my 996 with pse so is there some sort of exhaust mod to make it bark?
Also is a remap worth doing maybe linked to an exhaust mod air filter etc?
Can the roof be put down on the move and can it be opened from the key the key just had lock/ unlock and boot on it.
Can wider tyres be fitted on the standard rims my Porsche has 295s the 55 has 245s and Iove the wide look from the rear.
If the car has only buttons for the gear change is it easy to change to paddles?
Is the HK audio much better than standard my Porsche has bose it it's great.
Thanks in advance
Barry Ashcroft said:
Thread resurection sorry,
I test drove an 07 55 yesterday weather was aweful so not the best experience but I think there's hope for a purchase. A few questions if I may,
It sounded nice but not awesome like my 996 with pse so is there some sort of exhaust mod to make it bark?
Also is a remap worth doing maybe linked to an exhaust mod air filter etc?
Can the roof be put down on the move and can it be opened from the key the key just had lock/ unlock and boot on it.
Can wider tyres be fitted on the standard rims my Porsche has 295s the 55 has 245s and Iove the wide look from the rear.
If the car has only buttons for the gear change is it easy to change to paddles?
Is the HK audio much better than standard my Porsche has bose it it's great.
Thanks in advance
About the roof: I think all the functions you describe need one of these: http://www.ppcgb.com/Mercedes-Benz/Mercedes-SLK-Cl...I test drove an 07 55 yesterday weather was aweful so not the best experience but I think there's hope for a purchase. A few questions if I may,
It sounded nice but not awesome like my 996 with pse so is there some sort of exhaust mod to make it bark?
Also is a remap worth doing maybe linked to an exhaust mod air filter etc?
Can the roof be put down on the move and can it be opened from the key the key just had lock/ unlock and boot on it.
Can wider tyres be fitted on the standard rims my Porsche has 295s the 55 has 245s and Iove the wide look from the rear.
If the car has only buttons for the gear change is it easy to change to paddles?
Is the HK audio much better than standard my Porsche has bose it it's great.
Thanks in advance
Interesting topic as I have just bought an SLK 55 to add to my SLK 32
It took me a while to find the right car.. I did want one in either iridium or a designo colour ( Not may about in the UK it seems)
In the end after viewing a few tired examples I found a one owner late 2005 car
the reason I wanted this age was
lower road task ( 260 as opposed to 460)
Larger brakes
I also wanted one with the 2 tone interior as the black was a bit to funereal for me- I was somewhat diappointed with the amount of plastic in the cabin initially but I guess all the money went on the engine!!
My new car has covered just 24000 miles now and what is interesting is thta this had the roof issue- I have the paperwork from the dealer which cost around £900 to fix. Regarding performance it is different to the 32 in as much as the performance is much more linear- more like a 4 stroke compared to the 32's which is more like a 2 stroke with the powerband when the supercharger kicks in
Also- you can retrofit the paddles instead of the buttons- I remember reading an article on the SLKWorld forum- however with such a prodigious amount of torque not sure I would ever need to use them
It took me a while to find the right car.. I did want one in either iridium or a designo colour ( Not may about in the UK it seems)
In the end after viewing a few tired examples I found a one owner late 2005 car
the reason I wanted this age was
lower road task ( 260 as opposed to 460)
Larger brakes
I also wanted one with the 2 tone interior as the black was a bit to funereal for me- I was somewhat diappointed with the amount of plastic in the cabin initially but I guess all the money went on the engine!!
My new car has covered just 24000 miles now and what is interesting is thta this had the roof issue- I have the paperwork from the dealer which cost around £900 to fix. Regarding performance it is different to the 32 in as much as the performance is much more linear- more like a 4 stroke compared to the 32's which is more like a 2 stroke with the powerband when the supercharger kicks in
Also- you can retrofit the paddles instead of the buttons- I remember reading an article on the SLKWorld forum- however with such a prodigious amount of torque not sure I would ever need to use them
Water in boot is a common issue
look under the spare wheel.
the seal on the boot lid comes in separate parts and gets compressed
over time allowing water in a the top edge.
seat bases (heated) mainly damaged from kneeling on them. try to avoid this.
superb car
and I would have another any time
after vising Monaco-Italy in my wife's previously
look under the spare wheel.
the seal on the boot lid comes in separate parts and gets compressed
over time allowing water in a the top edge.
seat bases (heated) mainly damaged from kneeling on them. try to avoid this.
superb car
and I would have another any time
after vising Monaco-Italy in my wife's previously
Thanks for the replies,
After my test drive sat I'm still waiting to hear from the dealer ref p/ex also 2 other dealers have not even bothered to return my first call (ones a mb franchised dealer) I guess they have to many customers already to bother with a new one (bangs head on table)
Also called cks a few days ago and guess what also still waiting to hear from them top customer service NOT
After my test drive sat I'm still waiting to hear from the dealer ref p/ex also 2 other dealers have not even bothered to return my first call (ones a mb franchised dealer) I guess they have to many customers already to bother with a new one (bangs head on table)
Also called cks a few days ago and guess what also still waiting to hear from them top customer service NOT
I had a similar experience of dealer indifference when buying my CLS AMG - calls or emails not returned and no follow up with answers to questions they could not answer immediately. This attitude even included MB Approved Used. I also had a non-franchised dealer claim a FMSH when they must have known full well that it was incomplete. In some instances, it was almost as if they'd immediately decided I was a timewaster. I do get it that performance cars must attract a few dreamers but such indifference must surely be bad for business.
So I thought why pay an extra £2-5k for poor customer service and misinformation? Instead, I decided to look at private sales. One private seller did object to detailed questions over the phone about the claimed service history (I note that car is still for sale nearly 4 months later). However, other sellers were very courteous, as I am when I'm selling my cars. In the event, I bought through a broker who sells cars on behalf of their owners. Although the transaction had a complication of outstanding finance, it was well managed by the broker and smooth.
I'm sure there are some private sale SLK55s out there. Yes there would be some risk but, short of Approved Used, most warranties offered by dealers do not give much piece of mind anyway.
So I thought why pay an extra £2-5k for poor customer service and misinformation? Instead, I decided to look at private sales. One private seller did object to detailed questions over the phone about the claimed service history (I note that car is still for sale nearly 4 months later). However, other sellers were very courteous, as I am when I'm selling my cars. In the event, I bought through a broker who sells cars on behalf of their owners. Although the transaction had a complication of outstanding finance, it was well managed by the broker and smooth.
I'm sure there are some private sale SLK55s out there. Yes there would be some risk but, short of Approved Used, most warranties offered by dealers do not give much piece of mind anyway.
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