mcat

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As a result of moving back to the UK I need to swap my left hand drive 350 MT for a new right hand drive SLK so went off to MB World at Brooklands to test the new face-lift 350 and a pre-facelift 55 (no real change pre & post for the 55).

First off, if you have never been to MB World I can highly recommend it. It blew my mind when I arrived. I had no clue something like this existed. It is like a museum, motor show and test track all rolled into one (oh, and there is a dealer in there somewhere too). The place is huge and spectacular.

First up was 30 mins in the face-lift 350 around the track. The purpose of the track is really to show off the safety and handling features of the car rather than race. This is what I noticed about the 350...

Coming from a LH drive 350 MT I found the new 350 RH drive auto hard to drive and never really felt that confident in it.

Dislikes:

- Stopping: The stopping ability doesn't feel as good as it did before. This impression is compounded as auto gives very little engine braking compared to the manual.

- Auto: Still don't like the mushiness of the auto when responding to the throttle compared to the manual. 'Feels' slower

- Steering: The new steering system is going to need getting use to. I was constantly misjudging the corner apex as it has completely different characteristics.

- Steering wheel: I hate the new steering wheel. Still a bit to big and it is far, far too easy to hit the horn when turning. It is thinner than the old one

- Visibility: It seems that the roof pillar at the front is much bigger and I found my visibility being impaired compared to the old model.

Likes:

- Manual mode on the auto: More responsive than I thought it would be and it is kinda fun. It blips the throttle on down-changes which is a nice touch (doesn't do this in auto mode)

- Bluetooth phone connection: Works well and copies your contacts across

Unsure:

- The new comand system: Seems to be much more fiddly than the old version. Things I could do with a single press before I now have to navigate through menus. There are no soft-keys which seems to be a backward step. The radio looks cool with the tuning band shown like old radios. I don't know if the placement has changed but I felt I had to stretch more to do things than previously (could be the effect of going from LH to RH and not having soft keys)

SLK 55:

When i got into this it felt like getting into my own 350. Instantly at home and everything familiar.

Dislikes:

- Manual mode on the auto. This is a poor second to the new one on the 350. It doesn't change down when you want it and seems pretty pointless. I suspect the difference here is because the 350 revs higher and blips the throttle on down-changes whereas the 55 doesn't. Not sure why they are not changing the face-lift 55 to do this as well.

Likes:

- Steering characteristics: Felt much more confident in this as it steers exactly the same as my current car

- The auto: Very responsive and seems to use engine breaking when slowing down which I saw no evidence of on the 350. I don't think I would miss the MT.

- Brakes: Out of this world. Stops the car in half of the distance of the 350, wet or dry. Damn impressive.

- Managed to make the MB guy soil his underwear. Doing 70 out of a corner, i floored the throttle causing the car to spin it's wheels and step out of shape (track was damp). If not for the electronic aids I would have been in the barrier

So which to buy?

I woud be very surprised if MB sells any MTs in the UK. The manual mode is pretty good and more importantly the MT attracts £200 / per year more road tax than the auto!!!

The 55 is about £10k more than the 350 with similar options and the running cost much higher so need to do a bit of thinking on that. Lead time on the 350 is about 3 months and double that on the 55

I pretty much know which option I am getting but there is two I am unsure about so would be interested in feedback on these ...

- Parameter steering: (now called direct steering?) I have this on my current 350 and like it. However, I have not tried it on the new 350 and wonder how it suits it.

- Lumber support: Couldn't find any demo cars with it on. This is a £310 option. Any good?

- Colour: The new palladium sure looks nice but will it show the dirt unlike iridium. Biggest problem is that every car they have sold to date has been palladium - they have not sold any other colour!! It is going to be as common as crap. Iridium has its advantages - doesn't show dirt or scratches but the palladium does look nice. Decisions, decisions.

Other things to note are that the mirror options only come as a package now. You have to take the folding mirrors with the dimming mirrors.

One last thing: How much discount are people getting in the UK? What's the max I can push for?

alroumi

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Parameter steering, makes the steering feel heavier on higher speeds and lighter on lower speeds helping you move the direction with one hand if your carried away with something else at a halt.

- Lumber support, go for it sounds that it makes the car driving comfort more appealing to drive and user adjusted to your settings

I would personally go for white.

Other things to note are that the mirror options only come as a package now, I would go for them as they tilt whilst in reverse helping you to not to hit the curb whilst reversing.

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WhiteRabbit

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At first I didn't like the new steering wheel on the face-lift cars but after a couple of weeks of use I really like it. Being slightly thinner fits my hands better.
As to the visiblity thing, i.e. the front roof pillar, that has not changed at all on the new models. All body work changes are to the bumpers only everything else is the same as previous models. The direct steering is better than the old parameter steering but takes some time getting use to it as the 'turn-in' is sharper.

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2009 SLK 350, Arctic White, Gullwing Red, 7G Automatic, Premium PKG I, Lighting, Heating packages, Auto Climate Control, smartTop roof module v3.22, Clear side-marker lenses.

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mcat, why do they charge more road tax for a manual transmission?

mcat

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The manual has higher emissions than the auto

etyu

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Which to buy? SLK 55 AMG, assuming that you have considered the cost (inlcuding insurance, road tax, etc), otherwise SLK350 with AMG package.

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drcarrera

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I suffer with back problems so we specced lumbar support on our 350. We were surprised on delivery that it was on both seats, as according to the pricelist it was "drivers seat" only.

Anyway, for us it's a total waste of time. There's so much contour in the back of the seats that we have both upper and lower lumbar set to zero anyway - othewise it's really uncomfortable. I haven't sat in a facelift without the lumbar option, so I don't know if simply having it makes the seats different, but it's the one option we specced that we wish we hadn't!

bjohnson

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Thanks for that info. I was told that the vehicle I have just bought would have lumbar support but it turned out not to have it. Afer reading your post I feel a lot better about it! Although I do have back problems I must admit that the standard seat seems fine, even for long trips.

mcat

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I second this. I was worried I would miss out on something but am always worried that lumber support would make things more uncomfortable, ie, sticks out not where I what it. I always have this prob with airline seats with lumber support. I have done 12 hours switzerland to UK several time with no probs. The trick i have found is to make the seat more upright than you would normally have it. The bit I miss is more neck support.