Thanks for all the great information and welcomes. I've been having problems with photobucket so have not had a chance to post images yet. I will have to try another image hosting solution, but most likely I will just upgrade to premium so that I can upload them on slkworld. The SLK goes in on Thurs to get the paddles replaced. Hopefully that resolves it once and for all. I have had great luck with the RS4 and the AM Vantage. The only issues (dealer said it wasn't) with the RS4 was that it burned through 5 quarts of oil in the first 5K miles. Since it only just hit 5K when I traded it in it worried me a little. On the AM I had a small leak in the rear window which only showed up under high pressure washing. The brake squeal only happens when I don't drive it hard. After a couple of good high speed braking they don't squeal again until many hours of "normal" driving. That car does not like puttering around town
I've ordered the SmartTop and hopefully the install will go smoothly.
I was thinking about the BT and since I will most likely be driving the SLK around all the time with the top down, how useful is it to have? I guess that is why pre-wiring is a dealer option and not factory like the CLS. I am not sure I want to spend 3K on the BT. I would rather spend it on performance mods.
Thanks again for the warm welcome and I will post pictures of both cars soon!
Hil