Mercedes-Benz SLK 350 Review
Published: 16th July 2005
Mercedes-Benz SLK Class
How It Looks - Interior
The interior design reflects the SLK's exterior elegance with a beautifully crafted cabin. The new instrument cluster features black-faced dials surrounded by silver-painted trim rings. Silver-painted magnesium trim also features on the door handles and parts of the armrest.
Fabric upholstery is standard on the SLK 350 but our test car was equipped with a number of options from the designo programme which allows you to individualise your Mercedes-Benz.
The sumptuous interior of our test car included designo two tone Mauritius blue Nappa leather upholstery (£2,140 option), designo Anthracite Alcantara roof lining (£950 option), designo two tone leather steering wheel and gearshift (£350 option), designo leather covered trim parts (£290 option) and roll-over bars covered in designo leather (£480 option). These options came to a combined total of £4,210 and in our opinion are worth every penny because they turn an off the peg car into a haute couture experience.
In Car Entertainment and Satellite Navigation
Our test car was fitted with Mercedes Benz - Cockpit Management System and Navigation Display (COMMAND APS) incorporating an RDS radio, single slot CD/DVD drive in the centre console, with DVD Navigation in the luggage compartment (£1950 option).
You can watch DVD's (region 2) whilst stationery, and when you move off you still retain the sound. We enjoyed the odd episode of 'Hectors House' as you can see above. Even when a DVD is in operation you retain European DVD navigation, with a moving colour map as there is another DVD drive in the boot.
The navigation system is very useful and makes map reading arguments a thing of the past . We attended a wedding in Liverpool, with separate venues all over the city and not once did we need to consult a map. The navigation 'commands' are both visible on the colour TFT moving map and optionally on the driver’s LCD panel between the speedo and rev counter, there are also voice prompts giving you guidance ahead of turnings.
Our test car was also equipped with a six disc CD autochanger which is mounted in the glove box (£350 option) and the Harman/Kardon Logic7 surround sound system (£500 option) which includes eleven speakers with 380-watt output.
In our opinion the audio option not only sounds fantastic but enhances the driving experience.
The COMMAND APS system can control the hands-free telephone system (£420 option) which will work with a number of compatible mobile phones.
The audio and cockpit management system controls are located on the steering wheel for ease of use and safety.
Rivals
What We Liked
- Kudos
- Performance and handling
- The electro-hydraulic vario-roof mechanism
- Optional Bi-Xenon headlamps
- AMG and designo styling packages
- Overall package
What We Disliked
- Rear wing mounted aerial spoils the otherwise beautiful exterior
- Manual gearbox can be heavy going around town in stop/start traffic
What We'd Like To See
- Apart from one in our garage, some of the options really should be standard on a car of this price
