First of, pizza guy; thanks for the help.
For sure this has been subject to anyone's best guess, and nobody has guessed right so far.
This new mechanic is an old school guy, and unlike the last guy, he took my list of all things replaced and started away from it. The last guy after Matt said it was the RCM, , which was the first thing I had redone by Brian lol. then he said maybe the the crank sensor ( also replaced before bringing it to him ) and finally, he admitted he not only didn't have a clue, but didn't want to bother looking into it.
So this new guy who works on performance cars is pretty locked in on the Throttle body, so I ordered the upgrade from Needswings.
BTW He also mentioned the attaching connections seem brittle, so I'm wondering were to get them? lmk if you have an idea on that

 

Ha! I just checked my email, and Rob has the connectors.
TO BE CONTINUED lol

 

Hi Tom,
Was your issue resolved? If so, could you provide a concise summary of the problem, the symptoms and the solution.
Thanks, sincerely
Jerry.

 

Throttle body. That was it. Bunch of $ spent on other parts, some had to be replaced as well, some not. The issue was caused by a faulty throttle body and brittle connectors, both replacements purchased from Rob @ Needswings ( great seller, as you all already know )
No warning light, no code.. just due diligence by a mechanic who had enough experience to discover the issue. Props to Cesar Ochoa and "Performance Plus Auto Repair" in Coral Springs, Fl.
for their excellent work.

 

Glad to hear your up and running again.

 

Hi Tom,
Thanks for the update. Glad your issue was solved.
Thanks again, sincerely
-Jerry

 

I keep going back to TB/MAF. It had to be low fuel pressure or TB.

And I HOPE people really read your last post: Rob at Needswings does not sell crappy parts. Sure, you can buy cheaper elsewhere, but if you buy from him, you K N O W the part is right. When trying to get a car running, messing around with cheap parts is silly. I've seen SO MANY people come to this forum and go off and buy cheap generic parts and struggle for months. You don't see that happen with Rob's stuff. I know people preach "FCPEuro" and I have bought from them - but when the chips are down, go buy the RIGHT part.

 

Hey Pizzaguy, Rob was easy to deal with, and sent exactly what was needed. Now that the gremlin is gone, I want to work on the suspension, new shocks, springs , flex, mounts..Any particular recommendation on parts?

 

When ti comes to suspension, guess who can make that happen again.

I do know a lot of guys like FCPEuro due to the lifetime warranty. But it seems like FCP stuff does fail more often and some guys have fit issues at times.

I have bought from ROb maybe six times since 2009, only met the guy once, I don't want anyone thinking I am working for him, but dammit, I keep seeing people struggle with their car due to parts that 'kinda fit' or 'kinda work'. Seems like a lot of frustration, just to save 10-15%, to me.

NOW, you have an 05, I believe ALL those parts are 2003 SLK320 items that you can get off the shelf.

I did do shocks on my 05 back in 2015. Got the recommended KYBs. I was disgusted, ruined the ride over the old shocks that were ten years old and had 105,000 on them. SO, get ADJUSTABLE shocks, that is my input.