DrComputer

Just picked up my new silver SLK 55 last week. Love it so far, but I decided to try the manual mode on the second day and went to press the downshift paddle on the steering wheel and it fell off. Made driving a bit difficult with the paddle dangling by a wire. Called the dealer the next morning and they told me to bring it in. They removed the broken paddle and have ordered a new one—told me it would take about a week to get. Has anyone else had a similar problem?

My primary car is a Lexus and had always stayed away from Mercedes because of questionable reliability. Is this a precursor of what I should expect or just a one-time quirk?

SLK55R

I've heard of this happening once so far. It doesn't seem to be a common problem.

Good luck.

yogibear458

Yes this happened to my 07...it was also the left paddle. You may want to check the right one because the right paddle on mine was also about to come off. The dealer replaced the entire steering wheel - shipped from Germany.
Other than the intial squealing brakes and minor rattle from the left rear, my SLK55 has been a joy to drive. It has just about 4000km. Too bad winter is coming and I sure will miss the fun since it will go to storage.

DrComputer

Dealer had to replace the steering wheel too. The brakes also squeak. Is there a way to fix that?

dsb

Brake harder... might reduce the squeal.

The composition of the brake pads will cause squealing from time to time. It comes and goes. Recently, mine were REAL noisy, now nothing.