Methinks Sev's local dealer has upset him. There's plenty of independant Merc specialists out there Bosch Lambda's are £250 a pair. Also bear in mind that for all the horror stories over the 7G box, there are several million of them out there - the 7G is used in pretty much every single Mercedes car. However, the SLK is very small inside - sitting in one roof down, I'm looking over the top of the windscreen frame.
There is something very feminine about the SLK, it has always seemed to me. But maybe that's just me. I'm always surprised when I see a bloke driving one.
I wouldn't buy a used Merc, made the mistake in 1999 of changing my 328i Touring for a new C280 Sport estate, what a mistake! the car was unreliable, the main dealer service experience was appalling and after 3 years it started to rust. I've run BMW & VW/Audi cars ever since, I have owned our current E91 325i Touring for 8 years now and 125,000 miles, probably the best all round car I've ever owned, Mrs CF runs it now as a school run hack, and when I occasionally jump in to it, despite the neglected state it's in! it still manages to feel tight and sharp.
you're right. As have mercedes UK. Is that a generic part Doodle or is that for the genuine Mercedes Part? As for the 7G gearbox, or 722.9 specifically there were technical service documents issued over a span of years since incept and ending with service bulletin S127.19-P-0007B on 20/06/2011 addressing the issue of the transmission speed sensor and the eletrohydraulic actuator plate in general. It was a known issue from day one and was only cured as far as we know with the evolution of the dsg gearboxes most recently. The five speed boxes were far more reliable in that respect with the sensor being external to the ECU and so were easy to replace, however the 722.9 had them integrated due to it saving 2Euro per car, and was one less Bill of material part count. I knew designers who worked at Mercedes when this gearbox was being designed, and the decision taken. I was working on the Mercedes W199 platform at the time. The issues are thus: The replacement of the sensor (mounted on the electrohydraulic actuator plate) is 1300 quid and a non stock part. Merc won't let third parties like BBA reman re manufacture the unit. The unit need to have all its data downloaded, fitted, then re-uploaded and recoded. also there is this to bear in mind, When transmission defects were not too common before 2005, the Mereceds Benz 6 speed gearboxes used to go into a true "limp home mode" where the driver could never shift the gear beyond first gear till the failed internal sensor or mechanical defect was addressed in a workshop. With the introduction of the most defective transmission (722.69 7-gtronic) it became obvious that the sensor failure had become an everyday occurrence. To date it is hard to keep track of how many replacement part numbers have been introduced and the instructions have also changed so often that it raises the obvious question of doing R & D on customer’s cars behind their backs at the risk of their death. Please take the time to Google the terms 722.9, defective, sensors, ESP etc. to get a favour of the depth of customers anguish worldwide to this abomination of a transmission. As a result Daimler Engineers deactivated the previous limp-home system, putting the car in third gear without a serious warning to the customer such that when the car is restarted a self check restores the car to normal functioning (gear change available) until the next occurrence of sensor failure (fault code 2768 and 2767). In this way most customers would not even notice the defect but in rare case if the defect occurs while the customer is overtaking, without warning he may be unable to accelerate and may cause a fatal accident as a result. Now this actually happened in our CLK (30,000 miles fmdsh) when my other half was accelerating over a roundabout and the car just dumped itself into limp. Suffice to say were it not for the brakes on a 40 ton royal mail articulator she would have been in hospital from being broadsided as he was flying full chat onto the roundabout. Me coming off my bike because I'm being a tit is one thing, her being written off because Merc mugged her off into parting with her money on their buckets of shite under the myth they were reliable is quite another. Even after that while examining the car, it may easily be said "THAT THERE WAS NO WARNING ON THE DASHBOARD AND THEREFORE THERE WAS NO FAILURE". Only the Mercedes STAR system would be able to go into the stored faults and see the mileage reading and frequencies of Fault occurrence. I don't know if after market scanners are capable of displaying this information, or whether they can recode the unit. (Merc Part number MA220 270 31 06 80) Understanding the risks Daimler AG has turned off the warning system and they use this as a trick to replace affected parts without admitting the failure. This is a case of increasing the customer's exposure to death just to avoid a recall campaign. You need to understand that for any of the premium German brands their reputation and thus justification for expense is based on ultimate reliability and build quality. With respect to fuel adaption problems, it generally affects the larger V6's used on short runs as moisture builds and eventually collects in the fuel rails. Doodle might be able to correct me, but it generally involved swapping out the fuel rail and injectors as they could only be bought as one master assembly which was circa 800 quids. Mercedes are just now recovering from the mess that was the Chrysler tie in and the reduction in quality and reliability that was suffered during these years. Like I say, if you're looking at SLK's look at a Z4, so much more car, and so much better.
Oh well..........A re-think is due then.......... It's more for Madam than it is for me........someone suggested a Fiat 500, but having looked at them, they are the equivalent of a 60s Mini IMO.......nowhere for the engine to go other than backwards in a shunt, plus they sound like a hairdryer when you are inside. Personally, I would have the Z4 or the Nissan 350Z but like the SLK, they are basically motorcycles with a roof..........Out here, a Jeep Patriot would suit us, but of course Madam doesn't want to drive what she calls a bus. God, I hate bl**dy cars! (But I do like the look of the Alfa 4C)..........
The Alfa 4C will surely be the biz. The only problem is that it is brand spanking, so whatever is going to go wrong will be unexpected. It would surely be better to buy one in a year or 2's time when whatever teething problems there may be have been fixed. I assume that any really new model will have teething problems.
Even if I could afford a new one, I wouldn't..... .....Although I have had new cars, I am really against buying new because of the immediate depreciation which some people will put up with just to say 'look at me'....... Plus, having spent so much on cars in the past only to find some t*t has messed around with it, I'm even reluctant to buy secondhand. I bought a Nissan 300ZX against my better judgement (instead of a Mitsubishi GTO) in the early 90s......cost a bl**dy fortune to put right. Buying new bikes, yes, OK.......I rarely bought secondhand unless I knew I could turn them for a profit or they were cheap enough to take a hit...... Still, more investigation needed.
I may have someone on for your Coupe. PM me the details and I will run it past her.. Bare in mind I like to make a drink
The alternative is to buy a new car and keep it for yonks and use up all the depreciation yourself. Never sell it until it is worthless. Cars are well-made these days and last for ages. My 13 year old Alfa is still tickety boo. It is now depreciation-less.
Sev, I'm fully familiar with the 7G issues. That's why I had a E320cdi with a straight six :wink:. It's definitely a bad design decision, just like BMW's and Audis ingesting swirl flaps, VANOS failures, removing glowplugs on Discovery3/4, Aisin gearboxes with TQ seals that breakup etc etc. And as a result I drive a 19yo Merc and a 14yo Landcruiser.
Always worth seeing what Honest John has to say: Mercedes-Benz SLK R171 2004 - Car Review | Honest John rather a lot of negatives in this case... For an altogether cheaper coupe you could look at a Hyundai? Honest John's description though: "I do have to ponder who will buy the car, though. Four years ago I went on the launch of the protrusive Mk II Coupe in Majorca and I thought it was a car for divorced men in their late 40s to drive divorced women in their late 30s back from nightclubs. The Mk III is a much better car and a truly great looker. But who’s going to go for it? "
I had a 2000 320 V6 SLK, only issue was with the alarm system ended up having part of system removed, other than that need to be cautious of the roof system works ok, we eventually changed it for a V6 TT that was a much better car, build quality and performance
That was/is a car I could cheerfully own. A good looking coupé built on the same chassis as my 156 and which still gives you a hatch and fold down seats for going to Ikea (eek!). They still have a ski tunnel. Very practical.
I know where there is a very nice 330d 6 speed auto coupe coming up for sale very soon. Only done 25k, 2008 on private plate. Blue metallic with cream leather.. 35mpg around the doors and 40 on a run. Only weakness on them is the ABS pump and this one was done last year. Not enough space since moving house and cant get it in the garage with the Multistrada
Ok, iron in the fire.... My brother has run mercs for nearly 10 years now. His first, a 97 e300 turbo diesel now has over 200,000 miles, and never needed more than just regular servicing. In 2009 he bought a 2005 S350. To date (now with 70,000 miles) it's had one fault, a gearbox sensor. The local Mercedes independent (millennium Mercedes in Bedford) sorted it, including a trans service for £500. His friend has run Mercedes and Porsche exclusively for the same sort of time, and never had a problem with either. You won't go far wrong with a CLK - fantastic cars, just avoid the 4 cylinder 230 models.
