kshams

Hello,
Hoping to get some help from the wise members of this forum . I test drove a 2003 SLK32 AMG yesterday (50K miles), and I fell in love with it. The owner got it at 30K miles roughly 6-7 years ago. The car looked like it was in a fantastic condition, but I noticed two concerns:

1) During the entire time has had had it, he has only changed the oil once. I guess he changed it once at 10K miles, and the current service is due.
2) The car did really well initially on fast acceleration, but near the end of the test drive, it did not seem to have any steam when i pushed the pedal at 70MPH. Possible supercharger overheating issue?

I think I can get a great deal on it, but I wanted to get your thoughts on the two issues. I am weary of getting such an amazing hand crafted engine that hasn't been taken care of. For what it is worth, the car had plenty of oil when I checked, but I worry about the oil age.

Thanks!

latemodel21

the intercooler pump is not running. the IAT (intake air temp ) gets too high and causes the ECU to cut the supercharger (SC clutch signal more specifically) this is a common failure and relatively inexpensive to repair. Check the fuse first ... I seem to recall that the fuse was originally a 5 amp and later changed to a 7.5 amp. If the pump needs to be replaced, they can be found for as little as $110 new.

While 3 years or so between oil changes seems less than ideal, If he is running Mobil One (as he should be) you should have little to worry about.

Cheers,
Chris