Start a new thread.

 

You can't think of ANY reasons? I don't think you are trying.
Less weight, retractable hardtop, subtler styling, Mercedes Benz build quality...I can think of many reasons why someone might chose the Mercedes Benz version of these two cars that share so much similarity.

A "TRUE auto enthusiast" may find heavy 19" rims a bit more for the stylistically concerned than the performance focused.

I won't buy anything but a Mercedes Benz. I turn all my own wrenches and I think they are the best engineered, easiest to repair and maintain cars I have ever worked on. My 15 year-old daily-driver Mercedes with 199k miles that is more reliable, comfortable, and attractive than most cars with half that age has a lot do do with that brand loyalty.

I know better than to disrespect the Crossfire SRT6 though when it shares so much in common with the SLK32 AMG. Different strokes for different folks. But only slightly different strokes in this case.

 

Where did you get that information? According to the Chrysler execs as seen in UTUBE interview, there is no difference in the engines. The disparity in HP figures was a marketing thing, MB didn't want the Crossfire advertised as the same HP when their car cost a few grand more. Would it make sense to change cams, then change all the perameters that it would affect, including reprogramming the ECU, etc. for 19 piddly hp. If you can show me the data on the cams and they are indeed different, then you have my apology, and also my curiosity because that would be another upgrade to look into.

 

Six year old thread, that was gummed to death back then.
Who says the dead can't come back and haunt you.

 

And conversely, anything negative said of the SRT-6 is equally as disparaging for the SLK. -CPS sensor..?

There's really only one thing to argue over, if any must, and that's the styling. For me, well I think you know which won me over!


True story.

 

........thought I deleted this. Damned old threads.

 

Holy dead thread Batman!

Check the dates, your arguing an argument that died in 2007!

 

Horsepowers only a number

 

"Horsepowers" only exist in the world of Top Gear.

 

Matt - what ever posesed you to bring this back to life!....???

But while we're at it.....
I reckon the SRT6 looks schmick! And might I say - a bit of a classic style, nothing else like it - agreed.

However the SLK32 I just love the 20sec hard top drop top. I began from that point of view with the SLK230 but quickly learnt the SLK32 was much more of a car.
However they only sold a few in Oz and they are very hard to come by.

FYI - same car almost..... but here,
the SLK32 sold for $154-$173k here !!!! versus about
$90k for the SRT6 -
resale values now +8yrs - both are around the $30-40k although you can buy a 5yr old 2008 SRT6 but the youngest MB you can buy is a 9 year old 2004 SLK32.

Not sure how many SRT6's they sold here, but unsubstantiated reports say 28 SLK32's for 22Million people.
I park mine on the street and it is very handy. A rag top was just asking for trouble.

b22b

 

Oh my! This IS an old thread. I almost always just click the "new posts" link; I didn't realize it had been revived from the dead.

 

This is the oldest thread I've ever posted in.

 

Things may have changed since you bought your daily driver. I own two Mercedes at the moment and I have no delusions about Mercedes being any better or worse than the industry average after doing research on these cars before I bought them.

Both my 2007 (W251) R500 and my (R171) 2006 SLK55 AMG use the 7G-Tronic automatic transmission. There was a design defect in the valve body / conductor plate in the early years that had a near 100% failure rate. The valve body causes a nasty 2-1 downshift and the conductor plate can cause the transmission to just stop shifting and stick in a given gear. About $1,700 to fix. Both my cars had the fix done under warranty.

The R500 also has Mercedes AirMatic suspension with air springs at all 4 corners fed by an on board compressor plus active dampers reacting every 50 milliseconds. The air springs have been a huge headache for Mercedes. My two fronts were replaced under warranty again, $1,700 apiece. When they fail, the compressor can run continually and then fail as well. My compressor was also replaced courtesy of Mercedes Benz.

The R500 also has a power lift gate at the rear. Just like many other SUV/Wagons from many manufacturers. Only the latch mechanism for the Mercedes hatch has been a plague for them. Once again, Mercedes paid to have mine replaced. It really shocks me that the vaunted German engineers had a problem with a lift gate latch.

Lastly, Mercedes got cute with the tail lights on the R Series and tried to use a metal on metal contact to ground the fixture rather than a wire. Failed with just a little oxidation. So they issued a TSB and a "fix kit" (ground wire). Yup, mine had it done courtesy of the Stuttgart bank account.

Another known problem for Mercedes has been a cast metal gear on the camshaft that drives a harmonic balancer on their "350" V6 engine. The gear fails, and maybe takes out the top end of your engine. This can cause thousands in damage. And the 350 V6 engine is just about ubiquitous in their lineup. C Class, E Class, SLK Class, ML Class, GL Class, GLK Class. There's a TSB but so far no recall.

Hence why I'm sticking with the older 3 valve twin plug V8's in Mercedes lineup. The M113 E50 in the R500 and the M113 E55 in the SLK55. Those are bulletproof.

In contrast, the older R170 SLK and Crossfire had relatively few problems that were cheap and easy to fix.

Mercedes doesn't suck. I love both my cars from der fatherland. But Mercedes has issues like every other manufacturer. As car get more complex, problems become more probable.

I was told the SLK55 has 70 (yes seventy) microprocessors running on its CANBUS network. Holy crap.

 

I wish I could thumbs up this post. Very true. Also having owned two different Merc products I stand behind the opinion that they're just like any other automobile in terms of technical nuisances.

 

Two different Mercury products? (just kidding)

You may be right. All I can say is I have a 98, 2003 and 2004 Mercedes Benz and they have been GREAT.

 

Never been big on Mercury, but i do love me some Cougars.

I'd say TSBs aside, with regular maintenance you can enjoy almost any car as these days the market is quite competitive.