Went with a friend of mine to a Mercedes dealership he was interested in the 7sp auto for the slk 350 he drove the car pretty hard for about 10mins then on the test drive back he let me drive it I stomped on it all the way down but the car didn't feel any faster than my 5at I know the magazines have these car running 5.3s to 5.4s and 13s in automatic or manual form but if that is so the G is right there with these car in terms of speed but the 20k more gets you little bit better looks, handling felt bit better than my 5at, better interior, and of course the Mercedes name plate. My friend is thinking about buying it 61,000 out the door with navi.

 

61k????? WOW lol

 

the price of true luxury...

 

it seems to me the $20k gets you the m-b name, (maybe) better interior quality (ive never been in it), and the convertible hardtop roof.
i dont think it significantly outruns or outhandles the G, nor do I think it looks better.

 

Just another MB, looks pretty good from the rear though but not as good as G does, too small, only 268HP, G looks much better, G much better value

$61K YIKES

 

For 61k, thats fully loaded M3.

 

if you have the cash though, go for gold heh.

If I had the cash, I still dont know if I would get that though. I havent researched the cars in that price range heh.

 

damn! at least you can say you drove one!!! i've yet to push one of those. i think the fastest car i pushed was a Viper.

 

I didn't realize the SLK was so much. I thought they were like $40k. Are you sure hes not look at a SLK 55 AMG? They start at $61k.

 

Seriously, IF THAT!!! Aren't those the small puny "mini SL500's" lookin car in the previous years??? 61K is outrageous, even if that includes tax. I'd def consider an M3 at that price.

 

Check my edited post right above your post.

 

I dont like the looks at all.... for that money you can buy a better car!

 

either your friend is getting a huge mark up from the dealer or your friend was looking at the slk55 amg. i met a guy at the track a few weeks ago who had the first slk55 amg in florida. i think he said he payed $66k out the door. but it was a verrry nice car. the interior was beautiful.

 

The SLK350 finished third behind the Corvette convertible and the Boxster S in the Car & Driver comparison test in their new issue. If my memory serves me right, the SLK350 they tested was something like $51K. Still a lot of $$$$!!!!

 

Base on the SLK350 is around 46k$, but you can definitely option one up into the mid 60's. That's a big difference with MB and BMW vs the Japanese luxury brands. Most of our standard or value-package equipment for Infinitis and Lexi are a-la-carte options on the German machines. One benefit is that you get just what you want, plus many options from the German automakers are not even available on ours. That makes the point of entry closer to the Japanese brands, but you're not going to get the same interior equipment. Just the MB "designo" trim packages alone pop another 8,000$ to the price tag.

I really was considering a C320 and a 330ci when I got my G. The base prices were about the same. However, once I added similar equipment to the machines, I was looking at a 7,500$ difference for the MB and 9,000$ difference for the BMW.