Discussion
Depends on your appetite for expenditure really. They will eventually need money spent on them. Mine's cost me close to 5K in the time I've had it.
(Engine mounts, control arms, rocker and sump leaks, gearbox valve body and conductor plate) has had a new rear-subframe and you need to make sure the seals have had gummi pflege on them at least annually otherwise you'll going to be looking at leaks.
The roof may or may not fail to proceed. I use mine pretty much every day when it's not raining and I think regular use helps.
I say this because you need to be aware of potential bills. Mine has been a PITA in terms of cost, but it's had all the weak points addressed.
But it's a brilliant little car with a soundtrack to die for but go in with eyes open. I'd say yes to your purchase as I'm biased but make sure EVERYTHING works and also check the history meticulously.
(Engine mounts, control arms, rocker and sump leaks, gearbox valve body and conductor plate) has had a new rear-subframe and you need to make sure the seals have had gummi pflege on them at least annually otherwise you'll going to be looking at leaks.
The roof may or may not fail to proceed. I use mine pretty much every day when it's not raining and I think regular use helps.
I say this because you need to be aware of potential bills. Mine has been a PITA in terms of cost, but it's had all the weak points addressed.
But it's a brilliant little car with a soundtrack to die for but go in with eyes open. I'd say yes to your purchase as I'm biased but make sure EVERYTHING works and also check the history meticulously.
Pretty sensible I think. The engine has a few places where it can leak oil, but little in the way of major failures. Build quality I understand is better than Mercedes' nadir, although still not stellar; check any purchase carefully for rust, electrical gremlins etc.
I think if you're ok with the fuel consumption, and the fact that it's an old-style automatic gearbox - as long as you're not expecting it to be some kind of Boxster rival - then it's a fairly sensible buy. And it's not as if there are a lot of small roadsters with V8 engines to choose from!
They're a very good car there are a few minor things but they're cracking cars, or you could go for a CLK55 AMG convertible:
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202202232...
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202202232...
Well I recently bought a 55-plate (the latest if you want cheap tax) CL500. I've had to spend about £500 on parts to rectify a few faults. I also unnecessarily bought some new tyres and changed the stereo to one of the new Chinese units with up to date sat-nav etc. that was optional spending. About 1k on top of purchase price for sorting the immediate neglect which comes with older cars. I budget for immediate spending when looking for a new car.
My main reason for getting this older car though was that I'm unhappy with the way the technology has advanced (in terms of spy gear in particular) and I just wanted to get back to what has been identified on here as the point where car design peaked. People have said cars of the naughties are generally well screwed together, sufficiently advanced to be satisfactory in performance and kit but they don't have the phone-home tech or the collision avoidance or lane guidance or driver fatigue monitoring or the SOS button that phones the police or any of that stuff. Just plain cars with reasonable fuel efficiency and reliability, good corrosion resistance etc.
My main reason for getting this older car though was that I'm unhappy with the way the technology has advanced (in terms of spy gear in particular) and I just wanted to get back to what has been identified on here as the point where car design peaked. People have said cars of the naughties are generally well screwed together, sufficiently advanced to be satisfactory in performance and kit but they don't have the phone-home tech or the collision avoidance or lane guidance or driver fatigue monitoring or the SOS button that phones the police or any of that stuff. Just plain cars with reasonable fuel efficiency and reliability, good corrosion resistance etc.
juice said:
Depends on your appetite for expenditure really. They will eventually need money spent on them. Mine's cost me close to 5K in the time I've had it.
(Engine mounts, control arms, rocker and sump leaks, gearbox valve body and conductor plate) has had a new rear-subframe and you need to make sure the seals have had gummi pflege on them at least annually otherwise you'll going to be looking at leaks.
The roof may or may not fail to proceed. I use mine pretty much every day when it's not raining and I think regular use helps.
I say this because you need to be aware of potential bills. Mine has been a PITA in terms of cost, but it's had all the weak points addressed.
But it's a brilliant little car with a soundtrack to die for but go in with eyes open. I'd say yes to your purchase as I'm biased but make sure EVERYTHING works and also check the history meticulously.
How long did you have it for (to spend £5k)(Engine mounts, control arms, rocker and sump leaks, gearbox valve body and conductor plate) has had a new rear-subframe and you need to make sure the seals have had gummi pflege on them at least annually otherwise you'll going to be looking at leaks.
The roof may or may not fail to proceed. I use mine pretty much every day when it's not raining and I think regular use helps.
I say this because you need to be aware of potential bills. Mine has been a PITA in terms of cost, but it's had all the weak points addressed.
But it's a brilliant little car with a soundtrack to die for but go in with eyes open. I'd say yes to your purchase as I'm biased but make sure EVERYTHING works and also check the history meticulously.
BTW, SLK55 is rather popular on here, can view a few threads here https://www.google.com/search?q=site%3Apistonheads...
cerb4.5lee said:
vanman1936 said:
How long did you have it for (to spend £5k)
He still has it, and it is an absolute beauty for sure. 
Had mine just over three years. My thread is https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
I’ve not had to spend too much. Four new Michelin PS4, new battery, crankshaft sensor, wipers, gas struts, cabinet filter, new wheel bolts and locking bolts set early on. Also a secondhand aerial amplifier as the original had a broken connector so had very poor range.
At the last MoT had to replace a front suspension arm and did an oil change. The OEM part was cheaper than the non-OEM,
I think that is about it. Everything works, but as Juice said, make sure you lubricate the roof seals. There are a lot of them!
They go well, and make the best noise of any car at this price range. I’m just not using mine enough. Now my son has a car, I have two cars to move to get to the SLK which makes it a PITA. Keep your eye on the classifieds in a week or two…
In terms of values, they do feel like a sleeping giant. That engine is immense, and surely will be a sought after fun car to balance out the EVs we’ll be driving in the future.
I’ve not had to spend too much. Four new Michelin PS4, new battery, crankshaft sensor, wipers, gas struts, cabinet filter, new wheel bolts and locking bolts set early on. Also a secondhand aerial amplifier as the original had a broken connector so had very poor range.
At the last MoT had to replace a front suspension arm and did an oil change. The OEM part was cheaper than the non-OEM,
I think that is about it. Everything works, but as Juice said, make sure you lubricate the roof seals. There are a lot of them!
They go well, and make the best noise of any car at this price range. I’m just not using mine enough. Now my son has a car, I have two cars to move to get to the SLK which makes it a PITA. Keep your eye on the classifieds in a week or two…
In terms of values, they do feel like a sleeping giant. That engine is immense, and surely will be a sought after fun car to balance out the EVs we’ll be driving in the future.
I love mine and chose it over a 987.2 Boxster S. I’ve even been offered a swap deal for a 172 (MY13) 55 but I won’t do it. For the money the car is unrivalled in my view but as said, go in with your eyes wide open.
A lot of the cars you’ll come across will have had huge money spent on them already as owners tend to love and mollycoddle them. That said, if you’re prepared to work on it yourself it’s not that difficult - even the spark plugs change, although time consuming, is not that difficult.
They’re juicy on 98/99 Ron fuel, although I managed to get 33 mpg on a run the other day. Ordinarily it averages around 18mpg around town.
I’ve had a 172 350 and 200, the former having had a Quaife LSD, KW suspension and a tune, but I still rate my 2005 55 over all of them, even over a MY00 S2000 that I had many moons ago. Great car.
A lot of the cars you’ll come across will have had huge money spent on them already as owners tend to love and mollycoddle them. That said, if you’re prepared to work on it yourself it’s not that difficult - even the spark plugs change, although time consuming, is not that difficult.
They’re juicy on 98/99 Ron fuel, although I managed to get 33 mpg on a run the other day. Ordinarily it averages around 18mpg around town.
I’ve had a 172 350 and 200, the former having had a Quaife LSD, KW suspension and a tune, but I still rate my 2005 55 over all of them, even over a MY00 S2000 that I had many moons ago. Great car.
Gassing Station | Car Buying | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff