OV9

Opinions/driving experiences please. There seem to be a decent amount of the larger engined ones available with sensible miles on them for not a lot of cash. What are they like to like with on a daily basis? I have no need for practicality, only requirement is an auto box. Speaking of the auto box, does it have manual override and if so how is it in operation? I'm thinking about the 2004 - 2011 generation.

Depending on wha year you're looking at, If the box is the same 5 speed as on my 2003 CLK then it's ok for manual override. Fairly responsive and intuitive, and whilst obviously not the last word in speedy changes it was an order magnitude faster than the auto box on my (5 years older) A8 was to change. Was even ok on track with left foot braking and a blip of the accelerator on down changes

I used to see an SLK55 in my old office car park, nice over-engined little thing.

Here comes Matty.....

I assume we're taking R171 from 2005 to 2010ish ones? The manual box is meant to be crap in them, so auto is best

I had the 171 '55 which had the 7G autobox, and it was pretty shit for performance driving. For day to day, it was fine though IMO. Fairly smooth, slightly clunky in low gears until warm. As is known, mine shit its biscuits on 85k requiring a 2.5k rebuild, but this is fairly rare, most common is the mechatronic failing, which is about £600. MAKE SURE they gearbox oil changes have been done on 40k/80k etc.

Make sure the roof works properly, they're reliable but obviously expensive to fix. Buy some "Gummy Pfledge" to use on the seals to keep it squeak free. Heated seats pretty much break as soon as you sit on them, and a new base is £800ish, so I wouldn't worry if they don't work....I looked at 8 cars and only 1 had working heat base on the drivers side.
AirScarf and Parktronic are essential options. COMAND is crap but good for resale.

Otherwise, most of my research was around the '55 which is a different kettle of fish - but the 350 (auto) is the one to go for. Good peformance/cost balance and relatively cheap.

Zonda in 6 months:

So, I now need to pick up kids 3 days a week so need to sell the SLK and get something more practical....

Rich B wrote: Fri Dec 14, 2018 12:14 pm Zonda in 6 weeks:

So, I now need to pick up kids 3 days a week so need to sell the SLK and get something more practical....

Edted.

Rich B wrote: Fri Dec 14, 2018 12:14 pm Zonda in 6 months:

So, I now need to pick up kids 3 days a week so need to sell the SLK and get something more practical....

Hey, you crash your cars to change, I just get bored easily! At least this time I have a genuine reason for changing and there are certainly no kids that I know about...

Zonda_ wrote: Fri Dec 14, 2018 12:26 pm

Rich B wrote: Fri Dec 14, 2018 12:14 pm Zonda in 6 months:

So, I now need to pick up kids 3 days a week so need to sell the SLK and get something more practical....

Hey, you crash your cars to change, I just get bored easily! At least this time I have a genuine reason for changing and there are certainly no kids that I know about...

tbf - I probably would still have my e46 if it hadn’t been trashed!

Rich B wrote: Fri Dec 14, 2018 12:54 pm

Zonda_ wrote: Fri Dec 14, 2018 12:26 pm

Rich B wrote: Fri Dec 14, 2018 12:14 pm Zonda in 6 months:

So, I now need to pick up kids 3 days a week so need to sell the SLK and get something more practical....

Hey, you crash your cars to change, I just get bored easily! At least this time I have a genuine reason for changing and there are certainly no kids that I know about...

tbf - I probably would still have my e46 if it hadn’t been trashed!

I've been considering E46 M3's too, am I right is thinking they never got the facelift the rest of the range did? Too thirsty it seems though.

What engine SLK are you thinking about? If it's the 55 then you can't say an M3 is too thirsty!

JonMad wrote: Fri Dec 14, 2018 1:46 pm What engine SLK are you thinking about? If it's the 55 then you can't say an M3 is too thirsty!

The 350

Zonda_ wrote: Fri Dec 14, 2018 2:06 pm

JonMad wrote: Fri Dec 14, 2018 1:46 pm What engine SLK are you thinking about? If it's the 55 then you can't say an M3 is too thirsty!

The 350

I was going to say, ah that's the 7 speed box version then isn't it. Then I read the bit I had completely skipped in your first post about 2004-2011

Zonda_ wrote: Fri Dec 14, 2018 12:57 pm I've been considering E46 M3's too, am I right is thinking they never got the facelift the rest of the range did? Too thirsty it seems though.

The front lights didn't change, but they got the updated rear lights and bootlid when the E46 coupe was facelifted.

Zonda_ wrote: Fri Dec 14, 2018 12:57 pm

Rich B wrote: Fri Dec 14, 2018 12:54 pm

Zonda_ wrote: Fri Dec 14, 2018 12:26 pm

Hey, you crash your cars to change, I just get bored easily! At least this time I have a genuine reason for changing and there are certainly no kids that I know about...

tbf - I probably would still have my e46 if it hadn’t been trashed!

I've been considering E46 M3's too, am I right is thinking they never got the facelift the rest of the range did? Too thirsty it seems though.

It got a facelift at the same time as the rest of the range, they just didn't change the headlights. It still got the longer boot handle and led rear lights plus spec and electrical changes.

We have a clk 350 with the 7g auto. It's ok. Reasonable turn of speed, hangs on to the revs nicely in sport. Can manually change by nudging the gear lever sideways, but tbh rarely bother unless preparing for an overtake where you don't want to wait for it to decide to kick down on its own.

On clks at least you could get gear change buttons on the steering wheel but they were an option and don't seem all that common.

integrale_evo wrote: Fri Dec 14, 2018 3:44 pm We have a clk 350 with the 7g auto. It's ok. Reasonable turn of speed, hangs on to the revs nicely in sport. Can manually change by nudging the gear lever sideways, but tbh rarely bother unless preparing for an overtake where you don't want to wait for it to decide to kick down on its own.

On clks at least you could get gear change buttons on the steering wheel but they were an option and don't seem all that common.

Looked at a couple of adverts and the SLKs have paddles.

I was offered a SLK350 that had been jumpstarted and then lit up like a Christmas tree. Then dragged up a low loader where halfway up the rear wheels started turning. I asked about and was to,d to not even bother.

In the SL it’s a lovely engine so in the SLK it shou,d be genuinely quick across country.

Dave!