Sometime this year I will be getting ready to change my e89, currently there does not seem a great deal of choice in what to change too, for me the list of convertibles consists of: -
• BMW 28i Z4 @ £33,645
• Audi TT 2.0TFSI Quattro @ £32,130
• Mercedes Benz SLK 250 CDi @ £32,250
and a possible
• Mercedes Benz E 250 CDi Convertible @ £36,570
There is absolutely no point in looking at the Boxster as at 25,000 per annum servicing costs are prohibitive.
So over the next few months I will be test driving all of them and the first, yesterday in glorious sunshine was the SLK.
I have to say the new SLK has grown on me in appearance, the car I drove was almost the same specification as I desire, except this was a sport, but had the red leather interior and black ash trim. Overall impression sitting in the driving seat was good, different to the zed but for me at 5' 7" nice and cosy and it was definitely easier to get comfortable. The seats are significantly better than my standard seats and I would say on a par with the e85/e86 M sport seats. The only downside is that the facia is a little more cluttered than the zed, on the whole its a nice place to be.
The vario roof is fabulous and a must, the cabin is much lighter and looks bigger because of the extra light, this means that I don't have to have a light interior to compensate hence the red leather option for me, quality of the leather is significantly better than the zed.
Starting the engine, no push button here, just a key on the right side of the steering wheel. Car comes with an electronic handbrake, however you just need to pop it in drive and move off, no fuss at all, there is also a great feature with the foot brake, once stopped continue to press the brake down further and the handbrake is applied, great for traffic lights.
First thing I noticed was how quiet the engine is, for a diesel, background clatter was none existent even when coldish, once warmed through I would have struggled to tell that it wasn't a petrol engine at all, even with the roof down. I haven't driven an automatic since my A3 2.0 Tdi and first impressions of the 7 speed auto wasn't particularly good, very lazy when in economy, things improve dramatically when in sport, however it is nowhere near as good as the VAG DSG/s-tronic box. The flappy paddles are a must to get the best driving experience on the twisties given the nature of this four pot. Performance I have to say is very good, joining the motorway from the slipway was effortless to 70 and was not significantly slower than my 3.0 but with 369 lbs/ft of torque that's not surprising. Top down cruising at 70 mph is similar to the zed, probably a little quieter but just as blustery. I also have to say that the noise under acceleration is pretty good too, quite deep and throaty, never thought I would say that about a diesel.
And so to the drive on some decent A-roads, first thing that you notice is the suspension, BMW take some beating here I think, the lowered sport suspension is not well damped at all, curiously there seems to be a resonance between the suspension and the auto box, so when you accelerate and hit an uneven patch of tarmac you get this slight kangaroo feel through the whole car, must disturbing it is. For me the stiffer sport suspension is not good and its a shame, turn in and feel is much better than the zed with a good weight and balance to the steering.
During the drive the general manager, for whom I had the privilege of driving for two hours came to the same conclusion and was not what he expected, it was his first time too. It seems that there were to many compromises made between marketing and engineering and the result of hard suspension and 18" wheels is not good at all.
For me I prefer the look of the standard model over the sport and I will be testing another as soon as they can find me a non sport model. Funnily you cannot have 18" wheels without the lowered sport suspension so it looks like I will have to have 17" wheels again if I go down this route.
My concluding thoughts were that I really liked this car, it does most of what I want, but I couldn't live with that firm and badly damped ride for the rare occasion of the hoon, the auto gearbox though I can live with as long as it has paddles.
• BMW 28i Z4 @ £33,645
• Audi TT 2.0TFSI Quattro @ £32,130
• Mercedes Benz SLK 250 CDi @ £32,250
and a possible
• Mercedes Benz E 250 CDi Convertible @ £36,570
There is absolutely no point in looking at the Boxster as at 25,000 per annum servicing costs are prohibitive.
So over the next few months I will be test driving all of them and the first, yesterday in glorious sunshine was the SLK.
I have to say the new SLK has grown on me in appearance, the car I drove was almost the same specification as I desire, except this was a sport, but had the red leather interior and black ash trim. Overall impression sitting in the driving seat was good, different to the zed but for me at 5' 7" nice and cosy and it was definitely easier to get comfortable. The seats are significantly better than my standard seats and I would say on a par with the e85/e86 M sport seats. The only downside is that the facia is a little more cluttered than the zed, on the whole its a nice place to be.
The vario roof is fabulous and a must, the cabin is much lighter and looks bigger because of the extra light, this means that I don't have to have a light interior to compensate hence the red leather option for me, quality of the leather is significantly better than the zed.
Starting the engine, no push button here, just a key on the right side of the steering wheel. Car comes with an electronic handbrake, however you just need to pop it in drive and move off, no fuss at all, there is also a great feature with the foot brake, once stopped continue to press the brake down further and the handbrake is applied, great for traffic lights.
First thing I noticed was how quiet the engine is, for a diesel, background clatter was none existent even when coldish, once warmed through I would have struggled to tell that it wasn't a petrol engine at all, even with the roof down. I haven't driven an automatic since my A3 2.0 Tdi and first impressions of the 7 speed auto wasn't particularly good, very lazy when in economy, things improve dramatically when in sport, however it is nowhere near as good as the VAG DSG/s-tronic box. The flappy paddles are a must to get the best driving experience on the twisties given the nature of this four pot. Performance I have to say is very good, joining the motorway from the slipway was effortless to 70 and was not significantly slower than my 3.0 but with 369 lbs/ft of torque that's not surprising. Top down cruising at 70 mph is similar to the zed, probably a little quieter but just as blustery. I also have to say that the noise under acceleration is pretty good too, quite deep and throaty, never thought I would say that about a diesel.
And so to the drive on some decent A-roads, first thing that you notice is the suspension, BMW take some beating here I think, the lowered sport suspension is not well damped at all, curiously there seems to be a resonance between the suspension and the auto box, so when you accelerate and hit an uneven patch of tarmac you get this slight kangaroo feel through the whole car, must disturbing it is. For me the stiffer sport suspension is not good and its a shame, turn in and feel is much better than the zed with a good weight and balance to the steering.
During the drive the general manager, for whom I had the privilege of driving for two hours came to the same conclusion and was not what he expected, it was his first time too. It seems that there were to many compromises made between marketing and engineering and the result of hard suspension and 18" wheels is not good at all.
For me I prefer the look of the standard model over the sport and I will be testing another as soon as they can find me a non sport model. Funnily you cannot have 18" wheels without the lowered sport suspension so it looks like I will have to have 17" wheels again if I go down this route.
My concluding thoughts were that I really liked this car, it does most of what I want, but I couldn't live with that firm and badly damped ride for the rare occasion of the hoon, the auto gearbox though I can live with as long as it has paddles.
.
