Looking at buying an SLK55 and have looked at 2005 car which has some bubbles under the paint at the bottom edge of the wing where it meets the bumper ahead of the offside front wheel. Not sure if this is caused by movement between wing and bumper removing paint, or from crud getting behind the wing.
I’m used to having much newer cars so don’t have any rust issues - do I need to calibrate my expectations of how good a 14 year old car will be?
I’m thinking it needs sorting sooner rather than later - Does that look repairable? Any idea of what sort of cost?
My car is suffering the same problem - I think its a design flaw in SLK models because they all seem to suffer from it. The wings are very expensive and don't seem to come up in the second hand market very often. Haven't done anything about my car at the present, but if I don't want to be buying new wings I will have to address the problem soon.
See the attached document that shows the front bumper where it attaches (top right of the picture) to the front of the fender (wing). As you can see the bumper has a right angle flange as the mounting point of the bumper to the fender. The fender has similar flange and that is where road crud and winter chemicals collect. Result is the rust out you have. Keep in mind, if you can see the rust on the outside of the fender it has come from the inside so it is in fact all the way through the metal. The only part left is the paint in that area.
See the attached document that shows the front bumper where it attaches (top right of the picture) to the front of the fender (wing). As you can see the bumper has a right angle flange as the mounting point of the bumper to the fender. The fender has similar flange and that is where road crud and winter chemicals collect. Result is the rust out you have. Keep in mind, if you can see the rust on the outside of the fender it has come from the inside so it is in fact all the way through the metal. The only part left is the paint in that area.
Prompted by this, I went outside and stuck my hand in the front wheel well.
I can see what you say happening quite easily, because on mine there's quite an appreciable gap where the plastic arch protector doesn't fit properly with enough of a gap for the crud you describe being flicked up by the wheel and some of it making it's way in.
With a big gap, I was able to feel the bolts and mounting bracket you describe, luckily (I think) my car lived in London all it's life so never ventured out far on salty roads (it averaged 2k per year) so the bolts are in good shape. Now I know about this, they're going to get cleaned and a good dose of dinitrol applied !
Thanks for the reposes all. I did try to reply yesterday but my post didn’t appear so trying again....
I guess the killer question is whether this is a serious enough issue to put me off the car or not?
Everything on the car is working, and it drives very nicely, but I’m concerned about whether there is more serious rust anywhere else like subframes and have asked for some underbody photos to be taken this week.
Thanks for the photo - it does look. A bit odd, but as you say, clearly by design.
I’ve asked a couple of local bodyshops for an estimate for a new wing, and have asked the seller to get photos of the underside to show the condition of the subframes and powertrains mounts.
I have a 2005 SLK 55 AMG that I've owned for a little over a year, I don't have any rust issues at all so all I can assume is the car was stored in the winter by previous owners as I do. I looked over my SLK before I bought it and there were issues but personally if there was rust I would have walked away. There are quite a few 55s for sale so unless you're getting it dirt cheap you might want to skip this one, rust is like cock roaches, if you see one spot there's probably more hiding elsewhere.
Living in the UK, I’m not sure we can afford to disregard any car with rust - our climate is not helpful in this regard!
I’d be interested in any UK based responses as well. I saw an 04-plate SLK in our car park today and that had no visible rust at all so they do exist...
I’m awaiting underbody pictures as well as a coupe of quotes for repair / replacement of the affected wing to help inform
I’d be interested in any UK based responses as well. I saw an 04-plate SLK in our car park today and that had no visible rust at all so they do exist...
Bit late to the party here, but my car has been parked up for a while - now I have time to start doing some work (and there's a lot I want to do!). Looks like the UK weather and roads haven't been kind to my SLK!
Just did an oil change, which started a series of unfortunate discoveries when I couldn't bolt the plastic sump cover/guard back in place - spinning and snapping rusty bolts in rusty holes... that lead to having the bumper off and finding out just how much was rusty.
I knew about the wing brackets already, and have all the parts (except the wings) to replace. Mercedes advised that as it was corrosion started from the edge of the panel, it's not covered by the warranty (what is, really??) so the only option is the replacement of both, and colour matching of the doors, bonnet and bumper... not a cost I'm willing to accept yet.
The rust on mine hasn't yet spread enough to be visible outside, so my first attempt will be to stop and convert what has rusted, and then try and seal it, maybe that will give it a couple more years. Most worried about how badly the rust has affected the structure, but I'll know more next weekend hopefully!!
The rust issue with the front wings in non Florida cars is due to muck being flung up from the road resting on the plate that joins the front wing to front panel. The moisture sits in the muck and waits for a stone breach to begin the corossion advance. Its a design fault that should have been spotted and engineered out before tooling commenced. My views anyway.
That rust does not look good & would possibly skip this one, as getting 14 year old paint to match is also an issue..??
There are a lot of well looked after SLK's out there, so the right one will come up:
If You see any R171/55's for sale in Maidenhead/Windsor/Ascot area or North Hampshire, I might be available to cast an eye over them before You travel:
(Send Me a PM, though You need 15 posts to use this function..!!)
Looking at buying an SLK55 and have looked at 2005 car which has some bubbles under the paint at the bottom edge of the wing where it meets the bumper ahead of the offside front wheel. Not sure if this is caused by movement between wing and bumper removing paint, or from crud getting behind the wing.
I’m used to having much newer cars so don’t have any rust issues - do I need to calibrate my expectations of how good a 14 year old car will be?
I’m thinking it needs sorting sooner rather than later - Does that look repairable? Any idea of what sort of cost?
That is repairable. Best to address it now by a Very good body shop. If you live in the rust belt then you need to keep it washed more and put a coating on after 30 days of having it painted.
Looking at buying an SLK55 and have looked at 2005 car which has some bubbles under the paint at the bottom edge of the wing where it meets the bumper ahead of the offside front wheel. Not sure if this is caused by movement between wing and bumper removing paint, or from crud getting behind the wing.
I’m used to having much newer cars so don’t have any rust issues - do I need to calibrate my expectations of how good a 14 year old car will be?
I’m thinking it needs sorting sooner rather than later - Does that look repairable? Any idea of what sort of cost?
I had mine done but waste of time few months down the line came back which I was told would happen , it's a fault on Mercedes side with this problem,
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