New slk350 - advice re spec
Discussion
Seriously thinking about ordering a new slk350. Anybody out there can offer some advice re. spec?
Presently have decided on:
Iridium silver
Dusky red leather
Heated seats/Airscarf
18" AMG 5 spokes/sports suspension
Remote roof operation
Rain Sensitive wipers
Interior wind deflector
Tyre pressure sensor
Just can't decide on the following:
Manual or Automatic - Have always had manuals and the enthusiast in me is telling me that this is the way to go with a two seat roadster, but there is a niggle that perhaps I should try an auto. Also with it being a Mercedes, does it make better financial sense come resale to spec the auto?
Anybody any thoughts on this, together with how well the Auto drives (haven't been able to find much press opinion on this, other than Clarkson saying the auto nearly spoilt the car).
COMAND or CD changer - I use the car exclusively for leisure and infrequently venture into the unknown. I have a large CD collection and have always had CD changers in the past. I have read somewhere that multiple CD's can be burnt onto DVD and played in the COMAND system, but I have no experience of transfering CD's to DVD. I am unsure as to whether I would get value from what is a rather pricey option. Or again is this a pre-requisite for residual values.
Bi-Xenons - With these becoming more commonplace these days I am surprised that they still command a price of £700+ as an option. Never had them, are they worth it?
Heated steering wheel - Useful or an extravagance?
Harmon Kardon upgrade - with 9 speakers as standard is this a significant improvement?
This vehicle is to be a private purchase and whilst driver/owner satisfaction is first and foremost, I also need to consider residuals. All being well, I will probably keep the car for 4-5yrs/30-35000 miles.
I would welcome any advice re the above.
Presently have decided on:
Iridium silver
Dusky red leather
Heated seats/Airscarf
18" AMG 5 spokes/sports suspension
Remote roof operation
Rain Sensitive wipers
Interior wind deflector
Tyre pressure sensor
Just can't decide on the following:
Manual or Automatic - Have always had manuals and the enthusiast in me is telling me that this is the way to go with a two seat roadster, but there is a niggle that perhaps I should try an auto. Also with it being a Mercedes, does it make better financial sense come resale to spec the auto?
Anybody any thoughts on this, together with how well the Auto drives (haven't been able to find much press opinion on this, other than Clarkson saying the auto nearly spoilt the car).
COMAND or CD changer - I use the car exclusively for leisure and infrequently venture into the unknown. I have a large CD collection and have always had CD changers in the past. I have read somewhere that multiple CD's can be burnt onto DVD and played in the COMAND system, but I have no experience of transfering CD's to DVD. I am unsure as to whether I would get value from what is a rather pricey option. Or again is this a pre-requisite for residual values.
Bi-Xenons - With these becoming more commonplace these days I am surprised that they still command a price of £700+ as an option. Never had them, are they worth it?
Heated steering wheel - Useful or an extravagance?
Harmon Kardon upgrade - with 9 speakers as standard is this a significant improvement?
This vehicle is to be a private purchase and whilst driver/owner satisfaction is first and foremost, I also need to consider residuals. All being well, I will probably keep the car for 4-5yrs/30-35000 miles.
I would welcome any advice re the above.
Manual or Automatic -
I would go for the Auto
Having driven both I prefer the auto and to be honest if we all listen to everything Clarkson says we all be driving VW Golf's.
COMAND or CD changer -
Mercedes do not recommend using Burnt CD's as any warranty on the unit may be invalid.
Is there not a option for a multi changer with command
Bi-Xenons -
If you do a lot of night driving there a must have
Heated steering wheel - Extravagance?
I would go for the Auto
Having driven both I prefer the auto and to be honest if we all listen to everything Clarkson says we all be driving VW Golf's.
COMAND or CD changer -
Mercedes do not recommend using Burnt CD's as any warranty on the unit may be invalid.
Is there not a option for a multi changer with command
Bi-Xenons -
If you do a lot of night driving there a must have
Heated steering wheel - Extravagance?
Fantastic car
Xenons a must, cd player with changer recommended. Mine is black on black best colour im my opinion. I have a VDO Dayton 5500XL navigation fitted (better than Command and half the price. Along with 7-G auto, AMG 5 spoke alloys, Airscarf and all the other usual extras folding mirrors ect.
you will love it go ahead and buy mine will be up for sale in May if anyone is interested.
graham
Xenons a must, cd player with changer recommended. Mine is black on black best colour im my opinion. I have a VDO Dayton 5500XL navigation fitted (better than Command and half the price. Along with 7-G auto, AMG 5 spoke alloys, Airscarf and all the other usual extras folding mirrors ect.
you will love it go ahead and buy mine will be up for sale in May if anyone is interested.
graham
A manual box will affect resale, there's no doubt about that. However, probably only by the amount it cost in the first place. Leather, metallic paint and the automatic gearbox are the only options really which you get all your money back on when selling the car. An auto will never give you the same control as a manual, but this one is very good as autos go, and for commuter traffic it's nice to not have to worry about shifting gears all the time.
You can get the equivalent of dozens of CDs onto a DVD in mp3 form, over 1,000 tracks. It works really well, if you already have your music in mp3 form, and of course you need a DVD writer. Obviously it will also play mp3 CDs, and you can get about 150 tracks on those, so still far more than you could get in the CD changer. COMAND displays the album and track name and you can play individual albums or shuffle play across the whole disc, as you wish. The CD changer takes up most of the glovebox so the COMAND/mp3 route is a better option. If you don't have your music in mp3 form it will probably take you some time to rip enough CDs to fill a DVD. However if you just made CDs to start with it wouldn't be so bad. It takes about 5 minutes on average to rip a CD, to give you some idea. Burning a disc once you have the mp3 files only takes about the same.
It's a personal preference at the end of the day, but I have getting on for 1,000 CDs and I just don't see the point of CD changers nowadays. I could never pick just 6 CDs to put in the car at any one time. Another option you could consider with COMAND is to get yourself an iPod and the integration kit. This allows you to use the steering wheel and COMAND controls to operate the iPod, and the track name is displayed in the instrument cluster.
COMAND navigation isn't bad, and it now has TMC so it shows you heavy traffic on the in-car map. It's not functionally as good as the Garmin portable I used previously, but I haven't found that to be a problem since the most useful functionality is there. The screen is large and bright compared to portable units. It will probably keep improving each year as the new nav DVD comes out, as that includes new software each time.
The 18" AMG 5 spokes are easy to clean and look great. The sports suspension is firm but well controlled even on UK roads and definitely worth having.
The Xenon lamps are very good, but I haven't driven one without them so I can't provide a comparison.
I would have gone for the heated steering wheel, but it wasn't an option on the 55. Airscarf and heated seats mean you can have the roof down in much colder weather than you would expect, so heating the wheel would help with that too.
I have the Harmon Kardon option. Again I can't say how it compares to standard, but it is excellent.
You might also consider Parktronic. It seems like an extravagance in a short car, but it's hard to place the front of the car with accuracy in confined spaces.
If you are keeping the car for several years then it's likely that COMAND will be a required option for resale by then. We are almost at the point with sat nav that we were with a/c a few years ago. One of the mainstream makers such as Vauxhall or Ford will likely include sat nav as standard equipment on most models before too long, and just like before with a/c, everyone else will follow. Right now, a 3-5 year old car without a/c is worth quite a lot less than one with it, because it's expected. It's likely that will be the case with sat nav at some point IMO.
You can get the equivalent of dozens of CDs onto a DVD in mp3 form, over 1,000 tracks. It works really well, if you already have your music in mp3 form, and of course you need a DVD writer. Obviously it will also play mp3 CDs, and you can get about 150 tracks on those, so still far more than you could get in the CD changer. COMAND displays the album and track name and you can play individual albums or shuffle play across the whole disc, as you wish. The CD changer takes up most of the glovebox so the COMAND/mp3 route is a better option. If you don't have your music in mp3 form it will probably take you some time to rip enough CDs to fill a DVD. However if you just made CDs to start with it wouldn't be so bad. It takes about 5 minutes on average to rip a CD, to give you some idea. Burning a disc once you have the mp3 files only takes about the same.
It's a personal preference at the end of the day, but I have getting on for 1,000 CDs and I just don't see the point of CD changers nowadays. I could never pick just 6 CDs to put in the car at any one time. Another option you could consider with COMAND is to get yourself an iPod and the integration kit. This allows you to use the steering wheel and COMAND controls to operate the iPod, and the track name is displayed in the instrument cluster.
COMAND navigation isn't bad, and it now has TMC so it shows you heavy traffic on the in-car map. It's not functionally as good as the Garmin portable I used previously, but I haven't found that to be a problem since the most useful functionality is there. The screen is large and bright compared to portable units. It will probably keep improving each year as the new nav DVD comes out, as that includes new software each time.
The 18" AMG 5 spokes are easy to clean and look great. The sports suspension is firm but well controlled even on UK roads and definitely worth having.
The Xenon lamps are very good, but I haven't driven one without them so I can't provide a comparison.
I would have gone for the heated steering wheel, but it wasn't an option on the 55. Airscarf and heated seats mean you can have the roof down in much colder weather than you would expect, so heating the wheel would help with that too.
I have the Harmon Kardon option. Again I can't say how it compares to standard, but it is excellent.
You might also consider Parktronic. It seems like an extravagance in a short car, but it's hard to place the front of the car with accuracy in confined spaces.
If you are keeping the car for several years then it's likely that COMAND will be a required option for resale by then. We are almost at the point with sat nav that we were with a/c a few years ago. One of the mainstream makers such as Vauxhall or Ford will likely include sat nav as standard equipment on most models before too long, and just like before with a/c, everyone else will follow. Right now, a 3-5 year old car without a/c is worth quite a lot less than one with it, because it's expected. It's likely that will be the case with sat nav at some point IMO.
disad-vantage-d said:
Seriously thinking about ordering a new slk350. Anybody out there can offer some advice re. spec?
Presently have decided on:
Iridium silver
Dusky red leather
Heated seats/Airscarf
18" AMG 5 spokes/sports suspension
Remote roof operation
Rain Sensitive wipers
Interior wind deflector
Tyre pressure sensor
Just can't decide on the following:
Manual or Automatic - Have always had manuals and the enthusiast in me is telling me that this is the way to go with a two seat roadster, but there is a niggle that perhaps I should try an auto. Also with it being a Mercedes, does it make better financial sense come resale to spec the auto?
Anybody any thoughts on this, together with how well the Auto drives (haven't been able to find much press opinion on this, other than Clarkson saying the auto nearly spoilt the car).
Bi-Xenons - With these becoming more commonplace these days I am surprised that they still command a price of £700+ as an option. Never had them, are they worth it?
Heated steering wheel - Useful or an extravagance?
Harmon Kardon upgrade - with 9 speakers as standard is this a significant improvement?
I would welcome any advice re the above.
Wish I'd ordered the heated steering wheel. Sounds extravagant but i tried my brothers on his Porker and it is lovely!
Hearsay on the following: Speaker upgrade is good but isn't worth the money. Auto wipers can be a pain: too much/too little. Tyre pressure thing- just o.k.
opinion/experience based: If the iridium silver is the blue/silver I think it looks a bit feminine. Find one to look at in the tin. I changed mine from the bluey to the straight silver after seeing one. Personal taste though.
Bi xenons are tops!!!
Then we come to the Manual/Auto argument. I've driven both and bought the manual because the "traffic jam" advantages of the auto were outweighed by the fact that in 8/10ths driving the bl00dy thing won't drop a gear when you want it to. Result: no engine braking into corners. A real pain! The manual, although not engineering perfection, is a lot better than the old one. The SLK is now considered a lot sportier than the previous model and so although the manual option will limit your selling market, it won't make it difficult to sell, as per the previous model.
The choice of 'box will be down to where/how you drive. If you mainly cruise in towns, take the auto. If you drive more out of town and like to hoon a bit, take the manual.
Neither is perfect but one will suit you better than the other.
blueyes said:
Hearsay on the following: Speaker upgrade is good but isn't worth the money. Auto wipers can be a pain: too much/too little.
None of the options are worth the money
The wipers work a treat under all conditions for me. blueyes said:
opinion/experience based: If the iridium silver is the blue/silver I think it looks a bit feminine. Find one to look at in the tin. I changed mine from the bluey to the straight silver after seeing one. Personal taste though.
Iridium is the regular silver. The blue one is Tellurite and the gold one is Cubanite. Neither will be as desirable as Iridium.
I have a C CLass, so not sure how relevant these thought are:
Man/Auto - people seem to expect auto in Mercs - a manual might be hard to sell. Does the SLK have the foot operated parking brake? That's a pain to operate with a manual.
COMAND / CD Changer - I've got both. CD Changer in my car is in the glove box.
Someone else mentioned TMC on COMAND. MB have got themselves in a right mess with this. If it's important to you then get the dealer to assure you that you'll get *UK* TMC, and if not, that they'll upgrade the DVD disk itself to a TMC enabled one as soon as its available.
Man/Auto - people seem to expect auto in Mercs - a manual might be hard to sell. Does the SLK have the foot operated parking brake? That's a pain to operate with a manual.
COMAND / CD Changer - I've got both. CD Changer in my car is in the glove box.
Someone else mentioned TMC on COMAND. MB have got themselves in a right mess with this. If it's important to you then get the dealer to assure you that you'll get *UK* TMC, and if not, that they'll upgrade the DVD disk itself to a TMC enabled one as soon as its available.
deva link said:
Someone else mentioned TMC on COMAND. MB have got themselves in a right mess with this. If it's important to you then get the dealer to assure you that you'll get *UK* TMC, and if not, that they'll upgrade the DVD disk itself to a TMC enabled one as soon as its available.
UK TMC enabled Nav disc is already supplied with new cars.
Out of curiosity does anyone know if the infra red remote to operate the roof from the key can somehow be retrofitted afterwards. Only saying that as mine is not specced without it. Don't see it as a major thing but just interested.
Also, I would always buy a Merc with an auto box. They are notoriously difficult to trade back into a dealer as a manual and just gives them more ammunition to give you a bad price.
I think Command would be essential with a model such as a 350 but maybe not so with a 200. It's easy to go crazy with the Merc option list and then realise in 18 months time that you'll never get the money back for them. Anyway, if Merc are guilty of having a huge options list, just have a look at Porsche, if you don't spec anything on those, you'd have as much spec inside as a Daewoo does.
Also, I would always buy a Merc with an auto box. They are notoriously difficult to trade back into a dealer as a manual and just gives them more ammunition to give you a bad price.
I think Command would be essential with a model such as a 350 but maybe not so with a 200. It's easy to go crazy with the Merc option list and then realise in 18 months time that you'll never get the money back for them. Anyway, if Merc are guilty of having a huge options list, just have a look at Porsche, if you don't spec anything on those, you'd have as much spec inside as a Daewoo does.
anissut said:
Out of curiosity does anyone know if the infra red remote to operate the roof from the key can somehow be retrofitted afterwards. Only saying that as mine is not specced without it. Don't see it as a major thing but just interested.
Anything's possible, but your car won't have the IR sensors in the door handle so it would be very expensive. One advantage is when the car has been sitting in the sun you can drop the roof without getting in. Another is that it can make it easier to get in the car when it's in a confined space such as a garage. I find I rarely use it though.
Thanks Steve. From reading other posts/threads you seem to be the man with all the knowledge re: SLKs.
The MB dealer is including an Ipod integration kit, fitted to my car for £180 which is pretty good I think. Lets hope it works well. I will speak to Parts about the Plexiglass Wind Deflector which I will purchase once the car has arrived and I will need to search ebay for the Lux Climate Control box which I can apparently retrofit. Any idea what I search for?
The MB dealer is including an Ipod integration kit, fitted to my car for £180 which is pretty good I think. Lets hope it works well. I will speak to Parts about the Plexiglass Wind Deflector which I will purchase once the car has arrived and I will need to search ebay for the Lux Climate Control box which I can apparently retrofit. Any idea what I search for?
anissut said:
The MB dealer is including an Ipod integration kit, fitted to my car for £180 which is pretty good I think. Lets hope it works well. I will speak to Parts about the Plexiglass Wind Deflector which I will purchase once the car has arrived and I will need to search ebay for the Lux Climate Control box which I can apparently retrofit. Any idea what I search for?
Yes, the fully automatic climate control box is supposedly an easy retrofit:
www.projekt-online.de/14306.html
However there aren't any for sale on eBay at the moment as far as I can see. I tried a search for r171 thermotronic and it didn't find anything. There were a few people selling them last year and some people on another forum bought them from zahnperlen@web.de, maybe you could email them and ask. Alternatively the part number is A171 830018505 so you could get one from a dealer.
It's cheaper to buy the wind deflector with the car when new, than from the dealer, for some reason.
steve-p said:
Someone else mentioned TMC on COMAND. MB have got themselves in a right mess with this. If it's important to you then get the dealer to assure you that you'll get *UK* TMC, and if not, that they'll upgrade the DVD disk itself to a TMC enabled one as soon as its available.
UK TMC enabled Nav disc is already supplied with new cars.
That's a very confusing situation, and it depends on which model you have, and who you talk to in MB (MB use a least a couple of different COMAND systems.
The one for the E Class (V5, which I *think* is the same as the SLK) *should* have been released, but apparently it's just been withdrawn again due to bugs. Also, even when the disk is available, it may take a while for it to feed through into a production change at MB - presumeably they'll use up all the old disks, and swop those of people who make a fuss.
MB are saying the C Class COMAND disk won't be here until mid 06.
>> Edited by deva link on Monday 23 January 10:40
deva link said:
That's a very confusing situation, and it depends on which model you have, and who you talk to in MB (MB use a least a couple of different COMAND systems.
MB are saying the C Class COMAND disk won't be here until mid 06.
I agree, and it's also outrageous that MB want to charge existing owners well over £300 for the V5.0 disc. However, there are enterprising dealers in continental Europe who will ship to UK customers, and it's half the price (250 Euros). Apparently UK dealers are still saying March 06 to get the disc even though it has been on sale in Europe since early December.
Isn't the C class COMAND the same as the SLK one?
Thanks for all your opinions, hopefully will be having a test drive at the weekend. I suspect the demonstrator will be an auto, so hopefully that will sort out one of the issues, at least. Just hope the route will give me an opportunity to experience the car on REAL roads, as it's a city dealership. (Never test drove a 2 seater before, 'suppose the wife will have to stay at the dealer sipping coffee!!!!)
I have two merc's one with heated steering wheel and one without (55AMG so not an option) I will never buy another Merc without this option.
Fantastic bit of kit and worth every penny. At present AMG has gone into the garage and using the CLS simply because of the heated wheel and seats especially on these freezing cold mornings.
Fantastic bit of kit and worth every penny. At present AMG has gone into the garage and using the CLS simply because of the heated wheel and seats especially on these freezing cold mornings.
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