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AMG; Poser MB SLK 200 Kompressor

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1.3K views 17 replies 6 participants last post by  luckeyd60  
#1 ·
Hello Everyone:

I live in Germany. In town there are about 13 SLKs of various models. My house is about 50 miles or less from the factory in Sindelfingen. Did a tour of that factory and was also invited to tour the AMG factory.

AMG: This is what is on Wiki.de translated to English;
Mercedes -AMG GmbH , also known simply as AMG , is a subsidiary of Mercedes-Benz AG and is responsible for the group's high-performance vehicles. The Mercedes-AMG headquarters in Affalterbach are about 20 km from the headquarters of Mercedes-Benz AG in Stuttgart-Untertürkheim . Hans Werner A ufrecht and Erhard M elcher founded the company AMG on June 1, 1967. The third letter of the company name stands for G roßaspach , the original company headquarters in Aufrecht's birthplace.

In Germany, AMG is a line of car upgrades, or a specific model totally setup in the AMG line.

Poser: I own a 2004 Crossfire, 230HP, Silver US Specs. Sits in Maryland at this moment. It has the typical 6 banger but was tuned by a High performance garage in Mannheim. I used to have to take it to MB for anything other than normal service maintenance. MB stated it was actually a MB SLK280 with Chrysler Sheetmetal and cheap Interior components stated by the Chrysler garage in Mannheim. OK, but coming back from Italy in 2014 it hit 300KMH (186 MPH)on a long down hill open stretch of Autobahn south of Munich. This was verified by the off duty police who were testing a new radar system for speeders. It was planted on the roadway and I believe i was more nervous than the car was. It will kill you. Enough for me, I drive it slower now. Police said two thumbs up but go slower, and no ticket as the radar was experimental. This was at a rest stop a few miles later where i calmed down.

I have a 2006 MB SLK 200 Kompressor with the upgraded "call back" rear axle in my drive outside. You may want ask about this call back for yours. I use it monthly on a drive to Grafenwoehr training area where i also have a house. Plenty fast for me, but slow on the pickup in comparison to High Performance cars even with the factory upgrade to 200HP. Everything is factory, and it has AMG components, which include the typical added (changed style components) and suspension which is common on most AMG badged cars sold over here. This is even included on sport models such as a MB C250 Sport purchased thru the Canadian PX system and picked up at Factory in 2013. Grandson drives it today going to school in Iowa.

So AMG is NOT only style, but also other items to provide a hint of what AMG is all about. Folks like the A model with over 300 HP. Like the style, but some have too much HP and I would try to use it. Tires and brakes costs are extremely high. They DO NOT HAND BUILD each engine. They assemble by hand each engine. There is a difference, if you talk to a Rolls Royce engine builder. There is no lathe to turn parts in the assembly areas. They MIC each part in question and send it back if not as expected. Not much is sent back as QA is critical. Each fastener is hand torqued, and some components are assembled using special air torque wrenches. Each engine is hand tuned, and both signatures go forward with the engine. Then they are packed and shipped to Sindelfingen for the automobile marriage which I had to see. Each AMG 63, for example, goes into the rolling wheel and is tested to exceed expected specifications. So on A8 Autobahn at Dusk traveling at 200 KMH(124MPH, at 4800 RPM) I get passed by an AMG 63 passing me as i am standing still just after the A7 crossing. My wife wanted me to buy these automobiles before we no longer can get in or out of them. She has since passed away. I go to S&G (one of the largest MB car sales companies in southern Germany) looking at an A or a B model 9 Jan at 1300 because of this very thing. I will hang on to my SLK as it will be a classic next year. I want to drive it on the Autobahn after 2035 with the top down as then, we are no longer able to buy a gas/diesel engine car, only electric cars. Have a line on an SLR 500 but the guy in the next town won't budge on the price. Use this link Gebrauchtwagen und Neuwagen bei AutoScout24 and I recommend translating it to English. Google Chrome does this easily.

We try to keep things factory, as imported Chinese components may look great, but they do not hold up. We have a safety inspection that will part you from your car if it is not up to factory specs. I no longer sleep well due to too many deployments to war zones so I will do this and check weekly. There are differences between US Specs and Specs here in Germany. You are even able to squeeze a larger engine in a car as we are not.

If you have questions, just ask. I will tell you what I know and have seen here in Germany. I have been around a lot of stuff in 70 years. My dream car is a Silver MB SLR McClaren but I do not have a half a million just laying around to blow. Till later
 
#4 ·
I believe AMG has to do with what is written on the legal papers. I have even seen a Golf, standard model, with AMG on it. Folks will do anything. My legal papers say nothing about AMG, but factory invoice says it seems to have AMG suspension. OK, did not know till I read the papers, and had the car in a shop. If you use Google Chrome and go to S&G car sales you will find a lot of AMG and it has to do with styling and a couple other components maybe. Sales thing. You learn something everyday.
 
#5 ·
In an effort to increase sales, MB decided to go to AMG line.
Not an AMG, but with AMG features and styling.
This muddied the waters.

Whilst I agree on due diligence being key, I see that presenting anything as something it is not as fraudulent.
Yet they continue to get away with it.

If you sell 'line' then fine, but if you sell as AMG, then it is wrong.

As for VW, or Jeep (a member badged his AMG for a laugh, I think he got a few 'wow! I did not know AMG did Jeep' comments). It is for play, not profit.
 
#6 ·
Avel Du: I wouldn't let posing bother me. People do everything imaginable. Ever see a Jag horse on a HUMMWV in a war zone? Yep, I did in a fire fight just before an RPG took it out. The factory makes the stuff, we the customers buy it. You know what you have, you feel good about it, driving it feels good, and it turns heads. Cool. I do not believe they will start putting the badge "REAL AMG" on the AMG line automobiles. Yours is possibly getting ready for being registered as a classic like my lady SLK200 as they label it here. Register it as a classic and get a Lambor or a 911. No one mistakes those. You may want to do that before you wind up like me and hurt to get in and out of the thing like me an my SLK. Getting old hurts on some days but that SLK stays. :)
 
#7 ·
Posing doesn't bother me.

Selling does.

Can I say that I never customised? No.
I loved my Capri with gold flame, pinstripes & wheels (which were staggered) and jacked rears.

If we all did due diligence, then the confusion would disappear.

Pick up, or 2 seater cabriolet?
Car Bumper Car door Convertible Hubcap
 
#8 ·
Myk: The photo hurts. WOW, poor guy, and I hope they made it OK! On the AMG thing, Strongly recommend seeing the papers.. Unless you play with many items of the AMG line, inspecting for what you believe you can do your self is not always 100%AMG. MB garage inspections are also not always 100%. The Oh Boy what a car should be after it is legal, safe, and in your drive. My wife loved the top down, in her Hermes scarf, driving to the local ALDI. At 200 KMH of course. I can fix it was her state of mind. My sources on info are now dying off as they are old like me. I used to know assembly line folks to the EOC of MB, but hey have mostly changed or died. Wife's mother used to be on their racing team before the war. We owned about 12 different models and they were usually in the 200 or 300 C,D,E classes. I'm keeping the 200 SLK as I just love driving it. Not the fast car, but the fun car, with music. This and my wife wanted me to own one. She is now gone and i care for our daughter and the mini tower wants me to keep it. In 2 days i get a new A200 or B250, paying cash, and will promptly start dismantling my SLK to make it new like factory. Gotta make it to 2035 and drive it on the Autobahn as they can only buy electric cars then. If you want I'll post PICs and how to. I'll be on a time crunch as I will have TUV safety inspection in a year. I will post parts and costs. I do old school, as I have those tools and is a usual most owners have that play on their own. I'm the geek who learned to do everything, including molding an engine block. Got the Master Cert on it as well. That one is from CAT. Mine is 100% factory SKL200, 2006, German Specs rust free (now) but it has OFS like me. Old Farts Syndrome.

Hey, I will try to answer what I can, or assist who want to be assisted. A/C systems I will teach or recommend a Garage due to the EPA nuts and our rock in space. Did this on line to Soldiers in remote FOBs for 20 years. I was the answer man for the ARMY and deployed 11 times to every FOB we had as a DA civilian after 25 years active. I was only allowed to chopper in to most. Some things only a garage can really do right; costs, knowledge, regulations, tools and so on. Manpower, time, tools, equipment, as we learned in the early 80s in the military academy as i made Warrant Officer, Combat Engineer after writing an MOS for the ARMY as an E7. (GEEK, Special Forces), Turbine generators and environmental system 52F (no longer exists)to launch rockets at the Commies. Sorry Old Cold war guy, Expensive toys do cost coins, but the experience is for ever. I can now afford them. I will find a silver McClaren SRS 722 some day. Only 670 PS at 350 KMH hindered (see internet). I can bump that up a bit. Tree hugger's want a speed limit on the Autobahns though. AMG, stay home then. The guy in the next town will sell some day. I'll build him a Kitchen maybe or a bath. Rheinstetten is today the yuppy place for Karlsruhe. They start at 400s model dependent. 200s like mine are for the wife to go shopping at ALDI with the nose in the air. I do not have those coins for a car. I got PO'd as Officer wives asked my wife if she could afford her new pocket book at the PX as we climbed into our Ford Fiesta. I said let's go get another. Unless they were a GO level I did not care. She declined. I had that Fiesta set to over 300 HP at that time with a V6. I just returned from deployment and stated on the way home after a ring purchase the story of the heat seeking missile coming at our chopper while arriving to Organ-E In Afghanistan. I'm here as it ran outta gas. She cried. The next day I bought the crossfire. The ring and cheap butt $700.00 Pocket book made things even. Happy wife, happy life.
 
#11 ·
OK. Mine sits on tires and goes down the road daily. I'm good. Personally I do not care what the other folks do as most times it is not required, or not intelligent. I fully understand the need to get to the destination quickly, and follow speed limits when they are present. If the autobahn is empty, and open with no limits, I may go until I feel no longer safe. My car knows if it don't I'll tear its little heart out. So my car and I have this understanding. Machines talk you know, you just have to listen to them. It knows it gets frequent oil changes and i put good gas in it, Not the cheap stuff, and it runs its behind off. Good Car I tell it, petting the dash. It knows the alternative. Daughter thinks I'm nuts, but loves the feeling on A6 going to Ramstein. I even pull over when somebody wants to pass at over 150 MPH. A5 with no limit is just a couple clicks away. I do good and am a good driver as they stated after teaching over 10,000 Soldiers to drive any vehicle the ARMY owns for the past 47 years including internationally.

If unintelligent wants to advertise his Volkswagon bug as a 911, Good for him. Buyers should be few and far between as they know better. So should folks buying an AMG that is NOT. Read the papers, it will say so on them. Here is one trick you can use:
MB has a data base on every automobile they make, sell and who owns it last entry and all service records they have done worldwide. Take the VIN to your friend you made, foot stomping, at an official MB garage and they can run it and in a couple minutes you have all info on the build. OK, that costs a beer now and then or a BBQ visit. You will never get who or anything else. You can even find out if that SLK has had the call back rear end on that model. Even if it is on MB, it still costs to have it done.

A 2013 C250 has had the immobilization box on the steering column called back. I had mine done. No matter how old it is or milage. They also set up your tracking on the road after that rear end job. In Germany, unless you know the owner of Joe's garage, the costs of a MB garage is about the same as at Joe's, Opel or Ford. Chrysler , Lambo, McClaren, are all much more expensive. I'm a cheap B. Didn't spell it Ha Ha, so I do most work myself or what I am allowed to do. In Maryland, after your first safety inspection, you can do anything, as long as you stay inside their rules available at MVA on lights, noise, safety equipment, and emissions.
 
#12 ·
luckeyd60 said:
OK. Mine sits on tires and goes down the road daily. I'm good. Personally I do not care what the other folks do as most times it is not required, or not intelligent. I fully understand the need to get to the destination quickly, and follow speed limits when they are present. If the autobahn is empty, and open with no limits, I may go until I feel no longer safe. My car knows if it don't I'll tear its little heart out. So my car and I have this understanding. Machines talk you know, you just have to listen to them. It knows it gets frequent oil changes and i put good gas in it, Not the cheap stuff, and it runs its behind off. Good Car I tell it, petting the dash. It knows the alternative. Daughter thinks I'm nuts, but loves the feeling on A6 going to Ramstein. I even pull over when somebody wants to pass at over 150 MPH. A5 with no limit is just a couple clicks away. I do good and am a good driver as they stated after teaching over 10,000 Soldiers to drive any vehicle the ARMY owns for the past 47 years including internationally.
Click to expand...
I have fond memories of the A67 just north of the A6 split from my runs from Heidelberg to Wiesbaden.
 
#13 ·
It is still there. Repaved, but the A5, A3 and A67 exchange by Darmstadt is still messed up. I give it another year. Last summer A6 and A5 were half way redone. I expect another year before they are all finished the entire way. A6 still has issues just after Waldorf towards Wiesloch. The A67 is usually full of cars so best to drive sane on this one. The blue SKL in your pic looks cool. If planning a vacation I recommend using Google Maps and click on traffic and review expected routes in the countries you plan to drive in. You know what to expect then. Drive safe.
 
#15 ·
I kind of confused with this post. However, the Crossfire was based on the 2003 SLK320; Daimler used the discontinued R170 for the Crossfire and offered it in a coupe and roadster. The base motor was the M112, NA 3.2L. You could get it with auto or 6spd manual (NA only). Later they built the SRT6 which was an M112K (kompressor) and the auto only....basically the SLK32. I am not sure if the "SRT" motors were leftover AMG builds or not but the cars were completely built by Karmann and were tuned a bit slower than the current SLK so to not show up the Benz. Chrysler designers did the body, wheels and some interior bits. Otherwise, it was about 80% R170. Tidbit: Notice how the stock wheels mimic the Karmann logo.
Cool car...I had an '04 NA coupe with the 6spd for a spell. It was an R170....
 
#16 ·
On the cross fire note: There were also 8 cars built with a V8. At that time the opposition was making a TT and it was decided to stay with a 6 after testing for many reasons. Conversation over coffee in my dinning room is the source from an insider. Not long after it all came undone and the same source was relieved to rid themselves of a headache. Today they are part of Fiat. In any case, fun to drive, goes down the road, all safe and sound. Today there are other things out there. In the end, the pocket book, and availabilities dictate what one is in the driveway. I wish all safe driving, and a little fun once in a while.
 
#18 ·
Over here in Germany, these things still cost a wad of money. The higher the HP the better thus the more it costs. At the time it was cheaper than the MB 300 SLK series it was based on. Opposite than the States as there is no market. Mine was tuned at a garage in Mannheim. It gets a bit more than the factory 230HP with a remap. It sits in Maryland. Only tire change, Magnetic Pickup, Plugs, stabilizer, and Battery were ever changed . Over here, I have a 200 SLK year 2013 with 28,000 Kilometers on it due to be serviced 8 April. In winter I drive a B200 as it is easier to get in and out of and haul a few things. I have a son living in Iowa who wants the Crossfire but not yet. The thing has a lot of plastic in it Vs the MB it was based on. My wife loved it and drove it faster than I. Fun to drive. Does well on US roads. Well, this is supposed to be about SLKs and not a Chrysler made up thing based on a SLK. I wish everyone a wonderful driving time in their SLKs.
 
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