Rachmunas4Life

The Anticipation;

So I was highly anticipating the new SLK to hit the Mercedes dealorship by my house. One finally came in so my friend and I went to take it for a test drive. They only had the SLK350 because that will come out way before the new SLK55. Which is the car that I was very interested in purchasing.

The Review;

The car looked just as good in person as I saw in on the internet. I bet the SLK55 will look like once badass ride!!! When I sat in the car there was actually a decent ammount of room for your legs, so height isn't a concern because I'm 6'2. However your left arm will be a little cramped when driving unless you drive it like a low rider.... The interior wasn't that refined and felt a little cheap looking for its market segment. The convertible hardtop was awesome and very fast at operating, but the storage was pathetic, but just enough to put your small breifcase in which is all in needed. The seats were the reason why I am not going to buy this car!!! It was like sitting on cardboard with no support. My friend and I are trying to recover from out strained necks/backs with some Advil... We just couldn't last in it for over 15 minutes.

The driving however was pretty good. It was nowhere as thrilling as my M3, but the power did it's job. I'd say a lot of you should save your money if your worried that this car won't have enough power and have to upgrade to the SLK55... I was interested in the SLK55 and I can only imagine how that will perform!!! The handling gripped whatever I challenged it to do. But I didn't really give it much challenge because where I live there aren't too many turns.

My conclusion;

Test drive this car before you order it!!!! Especially if you are considering the SLK55 AMG because those seats are just killing me!!!

dinko

Thanks for sharing your opinion!

SLK55_AMG, no need to be offensive

Rachmunas4Life

I'm just letting you know what I thought of the car I really wanted... No need to get offensive.. You must be real young and your father is buying you the car. If not then it's people like you that gives the U.S. a bad rap!!!

SLK55_AMG

just because you sounded good now, i'll delete what I have posted

good boy!

SLK55_AMG

Dinko, thank you

Mercedesfan

Well I drove all across Germany practiically nonstop and had no problem with the seats whatsoever. Of course the car was equipped with the comfort package which allowed for adjusting the seats at will. Then too I am not 6' 2" so it is possible that the seats are molded for an average percentile driver. As far as support they were the perfect balance between firm and soft and induced no fatigue whatsoever.

EWCIII2001

I own an E55 but just test drove an automatic SLK350 because the wife really wants one. I'm sure the power is nice but after the E55 and without the fun of a stick, it was a ho hum ride. The seats were wide enough, a big issue with me, but after owning two luxurious Mercedes I was struck by how unluxurious these seats were. And I'm 6'1 and tried to adjust the seat various ways to see if I might find a truly comfortable position, but in such a small two seater with basically a wall behind you, there ain't much adjusting to be done. Nice car though, absolutely gorgeous styling, and if we end up with one and it's a stick, I'm sure I'll get my share of enjoyment out of it. Now, if I can get to at least sit in an SLK55 we might be talking something else altogether.

dosers

...and for what it's worth, I test-sat the SLK55 AMG seats for a while (though the car was stationary the whole time :-( !) and found them very comfortable. Too me, a little to get used to fairly broad side supports, but I forgot about them in a minute. I have driven the 350 for a while, and here to, no complaints, frankly. Now, I am only 1.71 (or about 5.8) so I had it 'easy'. Are they the best seats I have ever been in ? Probably not - but I don't think they are any 'worse' than the ones in my current car - which I count as very good, probably not the best ever, either :-)
Cheers,
Daniel

EWCIII2001

The side bolsters are the big thing with me. In our C32 I found them too confining, and oddly enough not equally confining so I constantly felt I was sitting crooked. In the E55 they are better, but nowhere near as wide and comfortable as the CLK55 seats. My major pet peeve with Mercedes. I will be calling several dealerships to alert me when they get an SLK55 in just so I can check out the seats.