Im going to be driving soon, hopefully, and i am curious as to your personal opinions. Im sure most of you will lean toward the slk, but if anyone knows anything about the '04 models of each, please share this info! Im lookin for a sporty car, with a lot of muscle. I also need awesome handling and braking, but since they are both german cars im not too worried. help me out here!

 

Even thought I'm a Mercedes guy and don't like Beemers, only 7 series, I'd go with M3, more of a car than SLK for sure...

 

i dont know though, i know the bimmer has a more manly, rugged look, but i heard that the 2004 slk 32 has a 375bhp engine. Thats incredible! im still tryin to find info on the 2004 m3.

 

375 HP for the 2004? That's only a 26 hp increase. Unless they are increase the torque, that's not gonna make much of a difference.
Not sure what the 2004 M3 is gonna have... but unless they change out the engine, I don't see much more power coming from the current 3.2L I6.

 

im pretty sure the slk 32 is faster than the m3 but the slk 32's look so much like the 230 and 320's. in my opinion, i would definatley get an m3 over a slk 32. they are much more rare and look awesome.

 

Go with the 32 as long as you do not need a back seat. It is much faster, and with the right wheels and suspension it can look just as Manly or whatever. Also, the SLK 32 is much more reare than the M3, though the other SLK models are all not.

 

go with the M3.....slk looks like a girl car..it is pretty fast but so it is the M3.

 

The M3s are more rare than the SLK32s? I'm also in So Cal and I'd say for every 20 M3s I see 1 SLK32... I see M3s all over the place, but SLK32s are very rare.

 

how old are you?? if you are jsuyt learning to drive i would stay away from powerful cars..i started out with a very fast car, and the things i have done in the car were pretty dumb...had i not driven my moms e320 wagon for 9 months before getting into a 300+ hp car i have no doubt i would have totaled it or killed myself. maybe you should start out wiht something less crazy, just an idea...i know how it is i couldnt wait to get behind the wheel of my c43 but trust me having to call for a tow truck because you jsut spun your car is the worst feeling in the world.. get a car that will teach you how to drive fast..

 

you know, youre right, but i wont be driving the racecar (racecar is a palindrome) first. My learning car will be a 03 e320 or a 00 maxima or 99 passat. But after that it might get a little crazy. . .

i agree with you totally on the not driving a super powerful car first.

 

the fact that you know what a palindrome is tells me maybe you are ready for a fast car. but seriously, they are two completley different cars, the c32 is more on pace with the m3 and the m coupe is more like the slk32. the slk32 is less of a drivers car than the bmw but it is faster than the m3. this sounds very strange but the slk32 has a real bang for buck. 4.5 0-60 and a 13.0 1/4 mile. and the fact its supercharged makes it tunable, you could have one of the fastest cars on the road with very little tuning. if you did it right you would be dead on with vipers and z06's all day long

 

We're talking about the 2004 model here, the next generation SLK. We don't even know what it looks like yet, for all we know, it could turn out to be a mini-SL.

 

What kind of climate do you live in and how often do you have to haul more then one other person around.

NP

 

lets see. . .its in east IL, so its pretty temperate, snows every once in a while but not often, usually pretty dry roads. I dont really want to have to give my friends a ride in the car im getting, but i might have to take a family member to teh video store or something. . . we have an s320 (replacing for new s500), a new e320, VW passat, Nissan maxima, and an acura MDX, so i think we have enough room to haul. . . thats why we want the sports car.

 

Can you really compare the two? Maybe you would be better off comparing the SLK32 to a new Z4 M roadster. Or the CLK55 vs the M3.....

I'd tip to the SLK over the Z roadster and an M3 over a CLK.

 

thenoor:

It's a no brainer, right now you don't have a convertable. Get the SLK, it's a blast.

NP

 

Reason 1 for why im getting a m3: It has little more extra space in the back if ur gonna take 1 or more gals for sure they all fit in!

2: More look, turn heads, manly, and aggressive.

3: Supercharged the m3, say goodbye to the slk32s.

regardz,

k-god

 

Sounds like you are getting the M3 for all the wrong reasons. It's a driver's car and you are not. Good luck supercharging your car.

 

i know a bmw is a drivers car, but i will have some experience under my belt, though not much. But i have heard nothing but great things from the m3 owners i know, and i have loved driving one for the short time i was allowed to.

 

An SLK32 ///AMG is much more RARE than an ///M3. Its a hard decision, because I like the looks/power of the ///AMG SLK, but the ///M3 is simply a beast. There are some speculations that the next ///M3 could have a V8 in it....

 

i see toomany moms driving both cars....all amg's and ///m cars should be exclusivley manual cars....im sorry suffer on the freeway i do...if there was no "touch shift" there would be more drivers driving these cars not wives of wealthy business men....amg's and ///m are meant to be driven hard not 35 in a 40 zone sorry i think driving the speed limit in a fast car is the real crime

 

Good point, I agree. I think high-end luxury/sports cars should be offered only in a manual tranny, like the ///M5. That'll add to the exclusivity of the car and the type of people who drive it. You put an Auto tranny into an SL55 or CLk55, then every yuppie will be able to own one and drive it...but if you keep it strictly with a manual tranny, then the car will be limited to those who know how to drive them, appreciate them, and use them the way they should. I'm sick of seeing mom's and women with sugar daddies rollin in cars they have no clue of how to drive.

 

GL with that please let us know how much a replacement engine is going to cost you since you will probably blow that already overstressed engine.

 

I see the cases you guys are talking about. However, look at it form the perspective of the husband who buys the car for his wife. I know someone who drives a Porsche 996 everyday and bought a C32 for his wife. Does his wife care? Probably not. However, if he buys this car for his wife, he can also BORROW it when he needs to. To me, that is a win win situation. The husband buys his enthuisiast car, but has another nice machine waiting for him (and being babied by his wife).

 

I'm not questioning you. If you have the heart, you will learn to drive the car effectively and look at the M3 as your tool as a driver.

I was referring to KurumaGOD buying a M3 to a) pick up chicks b) look cool c) become noticed while cruising d) become more respected. I wonder why he's paying for the engine and suspension at all.