Mercedes SLK World banner
Status
Not open for further replies.

New to the forum and SLK 350

1K views 18 replies 18 participants last post by  WoZ53 
#1 ·
Hi there,

I’ve been a long time lurker on the forum and now a thrilled owner of a 2015 350 AMG sport. A great car for sure, much faster than my previous 2000 Honda S2000. I love it.

That said, buying second hand cars is never as straightforward as one would hope, so I’m hoping for some guidance particularly around the manual mode on the gear box.

The car shares family duties with a 2018 VW Tiguan With a DSG box. This box in manual mode does everything it is told - upshifts, downshifts, whatever it is asked of it. The SLK on the other hand is less inclined to upshift beyond M3 unless the car is going at a fair lick - M6/M7 seem out of reach on public roads as the corresponding speed would be way too antisocial.

The car also seems too eager when downshifting, doing so more in line with engine speed than operator input.

Normal drive (E mode) is fine as is S mode. I’ve also tried resetting the box, all to no avail.

Is this normal for a 4 year old car with 20k miles, or should I be looking at some sort of service/repair?

Thanks for reading :smile:
 
See less See more
#2 ·
Welcome from Gloucester uk
What you describe is quite normal. The gearbox in the SLK is an auto box through a torque converter where as the DSG is a double clutch manual box. The gearbox ECU will not let you change up a gear unless the speed is correct and will automatically downshift to keep you in the correct gear for the speed you are doing.
In my 55 I use the rule: gear number (as mph) - 10 is when I can change up a gear. Eg I can change to 2nd gear @ 10mph (20 - 10 = 10), 3rd @ 20mph (30 - 10 = 20)etc so to get to 7th I need to be at 60mph (70 - 10 = 60)
It takes a little getting used to but when you’ve mastered it then you will really enjoy using the manual mode.
I hope this helps?
 
#3 ·
#6 ·
Welcome from the Sacramento Valley SLK Enthusiasts!
 
#9 ·
Welcome from Wirral, England.

Some guides on how to use forum features https://www.slkworld.com/forum-operations-help-center/536527-links-how-threads.html



We have a free to enter monthly competition.
Entry is normally open from the 1st to the 15th of every month. You simply post a reply with 3 photos.
After the 15th we usually open a poll for members to vote on their favourite.
Here's the main thread:
https://www.slkworld.com/rotm-submissions-voting/
New members are welcome to enter (and they win too!).


This could be you in 12 months: https://www.slkworld.com/rotm-winner/535415-2018-slkworld-ride-year-winner-simplyslk.html

Really useful links (thanks to ixions cataloguing)
https://www.slkworld.com/general-di...lies-technical-data-locations-parts-slks.html
https://slk-links.neocities.org/ Includes diy videos.
Spare parts: https://slk-links.neocities.org/EPCLINKS.HTM

A brief guide to the forum and how to get the best from it:
https://www.slkworld.com/new-members-introduce-yourself-here/439993-new-wondering-what-do.html

There's a link to R170/171/172's do it yourself threads under the pic below.

Some useful tips in this section for new and prospective owners.
Worth knowing are reset adaptive learning, check list, Spring is here and what is the SmartTop.
https://www.slkworld.com/general-discussion/
https://slk-links.neocities.org/BUYING.html

You can find your region by scrolling down the page on this link
https://www.slkworld.com/forumindex.php#club-regional-discussion-forum

Try driving in manual mode for a trip or two and see what it's like after that.

Doubt there's any transmission/gearbox issue on a 2015.
 
#13 ·
Welcome from just West of London - The R172/350 is a good choice and lucky to find a 2015 model :tu:

When driving My old R171/350, I found that under hard acceleration just lifting off the gas peddle a tad after selecting a higher gear on the flappy pedals helped for a quicker more predictable change.

On the facelift R172 with the 9G box, the gear change is more instant, but no V6 or V8 normally aspirated engines... :frown:
 
#16 ·
Hey folks,
As this issue has persisted during my short ownership, I somehow stumbled upon a remedy, a remedy that has only contributed to raising more questions rather than a definitive answer.

Initially I suspected this was a was weird quirk of the transmission, but it seems that if I apply pressure to the gear stick and hold it to the left (RHD car) the gear box will allow upshifts at will. Obviously this is an issue as once I relieve the pressure the transmission will immediately take on a mind of its own.

Thus it seems the issue may lie with the shift mechanism itself, albeit only when in manual mode.

has anyone had a similar issue?

thanks
 
#19 ·
Welcome to SLKWorld.com from Northern
California



List of Useful SLK Links >https://slk-links.neocities.org/Links.html

PARTS Information on Mercedes SLK R170 R171 R172 >https://slk-links.neocities.org/

http://www.slkworld.com/vehicle-data-card/67706-free-how-get-free-datacard.html
<---------------------


We have a free to enter monthly competition.
Entry is open from the 1st to the 15th of every month. You simply post a reply with 3 photos.
After the 15th we usually open a poll for members to vote on their favorite.
Here's the main thread:
<---------------------

ROTM Submissions & Voting - Mercedes
Benz SLK Forum



Welcome to the forum
Where search is your friend
And the answers never end
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
You have insufficient privileges to reply here.
Top