SLK350 what are they like ?

[steve-5snwi]

Has anyone owned or driven the SLK350 ? i'm toying with one as a replacement for our Mk1 TT 225. I'd be looking around the 07/08 mark where the tax drops from £520 to £305. We like the TT and have owned it for 7 years but the wife likes automatics, which is ok as we have an A4 2.0TFSi multitronic and a Mini Cooper S Clubman. I'm thinking of going down to 2 cars, with a Civic Type R or Fiesta ST as likely replacements. Or whatever 9k will buy.

I'm not interested in TT's (mk2) but the only other obvious choice is the Boxster but the PDK is way out of reach, the Z4 is ok but i prefer the look of the SLK. My only other concern is after time in one of the latest AMG SLKs is i felt the cabin space was a bit limited.

[steve-5snwi]

Its really for the wife so i don't think it needs to be balanced, but then again a Mk1 TT isn't much fun to drive quickly, I see the SLK350 as a step up with a nice engine and better gearbox than the tiptronic in the Boxster. Its going to be left at the station day in day out - or thats the plan and its less likely to get the word knob carved into the bonnet.

[steve-5snwi]

I've driven a few of the Z4's, 20i, 23i,28i,35i and while i like them i find the steering and general controls quite heavy, its not a bad thing but i feel merc has the right balance between build quality including materials and driving when compared to Audi and BMW

[steve-5snwi]

Airscarf would be a must, tax, looking at 08 models Autotrader list them as £305, 216g/km which puts them in the right group for the cheaper tax. The 280 always seems to end up in the higher group though as does the CLK350.

[steve-5snwi]

Thanks for the very useful post, i've got both of them on my watch list, it takes me ages to find a car, the only issue with those two is neither look like they have xenons and i think that would be a must on the SLK.