Considering SLK350

[SirGull]

Hi guys

I am considering purchasing a 2007 SLK 350 and was wondering if you could offer any adivce on the kind of things to look out for.

The car has covered 32,000 miles, comes with a full service history, has 2 owners from new, warranty of 12 months from a reputable garage in the North of England.

Is there anything anyone can think of specifically that I need to watch out for?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated

Thanks in advance

 

[Terry_]

Google 272 engine balance shaft

 

[Deleted member 65149]

All I know about is that you need to check for leaks where the roof joins the windscreen. Any signs of staining are a giveaway. Also of course look for rust, especially round the wheel arches. Other than that, it's a great car. Make sure the price reflects the fact that it's a pre-facelift model. A raft of driver improvements came in in 2008: 0-60 in 5.4 secs and variable ratio steering being just two of the things that made a good car great.

 

[Colin_b]

Make sure it has Airscarf, if you ever plan to use it roof down.

Excellent cars, IMO.

 

[Valkirk]

Had one of these, great cars! I did have quite a few problems with mine but not too serious.

AC issues, back in numerous times. Sorted in the end - pinhole leak on compressor
Seat base replaced, clonking sound going round corners
Seat motor failed
Heated seat failed
Folding mirror motor failed
Comand needed hard reset

Nothing very major mainly electrics to watch for.

 

[sinewave]

Airscarf equipped post 2008 car then if funds permit!

 

[MOCAŠ]

The main benefit of the post-2008 models is that they fall into a much lower VED bracket (as do the pre-March 2006 ones). They also gave 306bhp as opposed to 272bhp, but the 0-60 improvement is negligible (5.4 as opposed to 5.5 seconds). Parameter steering was available as an option on the pre-facelift cars, though I'm not sure whether many have it fitted.

One downside with the post-facelift cars is that the orginal dashboard was given a pretty nasty plastic coating, also used on the doors and centre console. The design of the cubby hole was also dumbed down, but that's unlikely to bother anyone that hadn't been used to the original version.

Not suffered any problems with rust, leaks, roof, electrics or balancer shafts in the seven years I've had my car, although it does have a small leak in the air con compessor and it has suffered from a broken front spring (as have many MB models).

I agree that Airscarf is a defining feature of the R171 and is therefore a must-have. Everything else is a matter of personal choice, although it was fairly well equipped as standard.

 

[Dr-Nab]

Other than what has been suggested to look out for, see if you can find out if the car you look at has had the steering wheel wiring loom replaced (should have been done under warranty), causes an SRS error to occur so the airbags deactivate. That is the only issue I had with my 2006 SLK350 in the two and a half years I had it.

Must have options, airscarf and heated seats. Mine was a great car and still miss it, love the noise it made, didn't have any issues with the engine but then it had only covered 30k miles when I sold it.

 

[SirGull]

Guys thanks for all the feedback its been most helpful.

The car is the pre 2008 facelift but does come with the airscarf, heated seats, satnav and the memory pack on the seats and stering wheel.

I am a little concerned about the comments surrounding the engine balance shaft.

I owned an A4 convertable with a tritronic auto box which failed on me twice and I am not keen on going down that route again with a car which has a common fault.

Has anyone actually had any experice of problems with the engine balance shaft? if you did have to get it repaired what did it cost? is there a difinitive list of engine numbers somewhere which are effected by this problem?

Any further advice would be appreciated

Thanks

 

[st13phil]

Has anyone actually had any experice of problems with the engine balance shaft? if you did have to get it repaired what did it cost? is there a difinitive list of engine numbers somewhere which are effected by this problem?

Have a read of these two threads:

Approved used CLS M272 issue

The Complete M272 Engine Thread

 

[SirGull]

Update (For those who are interested)
Just to let you know that I have checked the engine number of the potential car and it falls outside of those known to have problems. Phew

Whilst I know this is no gurantee it does help to put my mind at rest a little

So, the test drive is booked for saturday and if all goes well the car will be mine. Oh yes it will be mine!

Thanks again to all those who took the time to respond to my request for help and I lookforward to hopefully joining the ranks of the SLK owners after the weekend

 

[MOCAŠ]

Good luck with the test drive. One other thing to keep and eye (or ear) out for is creaks from the roof when it's closed. At 8 years old, mine creaks a bit when starting from cold (particularly when going over speed bumps or pot holes), but is quiet once the car's interior has warmed up a bit. It doesn't really bother me enough to do anything about it, as I usually have the roof down anyway, but I know some people are more sensitive to these things.

If you notice any roof creaks during your test drive and you decide to buy the car, it may be worth asking the dealership to attend to it as part of the deal.