Vehicle
Mercedes-Benz SLK
The folding-hardtop roadster, renamed SLC for its last three years — the same car, which is worth knowing when searching for parts or procedures. Its defining component is the Vario-roof: an electrohydraulically operated folding hardtop with its own control unit, a pump, several rams and a set of microswitches and Hall sensors, and it is the single largest source of faults on the model. A roof that stops mid-cycle usually reports a position or hydraulic-pressure code rather than naming the failed switch, and a leaking ram will drop fluid into the boot. Underneath, the R170 and R171 are C-Class mechanicals — the M271 supercharged and the M272 V6 both being well documented there, the M272's balance-shaft gear wear included.
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Generations
-
R170 1996–2004
The first folding-hardtop SLK; the roof's hydraulics and microswitches are the model's characteristic fault.
- Body styles
- Roadster
- Platform
- Mercedes-Benz R170
- Engines
-
- 2.0 supercharged four-cylinder — petrol · 100–141 kW (134–189 hp) · 190–270 Nm (140–199 lb-ft) · M111 Kompressor
- 2.3 supercharged four-cylinder — petrol · 142–145 kW (190–194 hp) · 280 Nm (207 lb-ft) · M111 Kompressor
- 3.2 V6 — M112 · petrol · 160–260 kW (215–349 hp) · 310–420 Nm (229–310 lb-ft)
- 2.0 — petrol · 100 kW (134 hp) · 190 Nm (140 lb-ft)
- Transmissions
- 5-speed manual · 6-speed manual · 5-speed 5G-Tronic automatic
- Drivetrain
- Rear-wheel drive
-
R171 2004–2011
C-Class mechanicals under a folding hardtop, with the supercharged M271 below and the M113 V8 of the SLK 55 AMG above.
- Body styles
- Roadster
- Engines
-
- 1.8 supercharged — M271 · petrol · 120–135 kW (161–181 hp) · 240–250 Nm (177–184 lb-ft)
- 3.0 V6 — M272 · petrol · 170 kW (228 hp) · 300 Nm (221 lb-ft)
- 3.5 V6 — M272 · petrol · 200–225 kW (268–302 hp) · 350–365 Nm (258–269 lb-ft)
- 5.5 V8 SLK 55 AMG — M113 · petrol · 265–294 kW (355–394 hp) · 510–520 Nm (376–384 lb-ft)
- Transmissions
- 6-speed manual · 5-speed 5G-Tronic automatic · 7-speed 7G-Tronic automatic
- Drivetrain
- Rear-wheel drive
-
R172 2011–2020
Renamed SLC in 2016. Turbocharged fours replace the supercharged one, and the SLK 55 AMG gets the naturally aspirated M152 before the AMG 43 turns to a twin-turbo six.
- CDI (badge, not an engine)
- M157 / M152 5.5 L
- M260 / M270
- M271 (1.6 and 1.8) 1.8 L
- M274
- M276 (3.0 and 3.5 V6)
- OM651
- 722.6 (5G-Tronic) 5-speed automatic
- 722.9 (7G-Tronic) 7-speed automatic
- 725.0 (9G-Tronic) 9-speed automatic
- Body styles
- Roadster
- Engines
-
- 1.6 turbo — M274 · petrol · 115 kW (154 hp) · 250 Nm (184 lb-ft)
- 1.8 turbo — M271 · petrol · 135 kW (181 hp) · 270 Nm (199 lb-ft)
- 2.0 turbo — M274 · petrol · 135–180 kW (181–241 hp) · 300–370 Nm (221–273 lb-ft)
- 3.0 twin-turbo V6 AMG 43 — M276 · petrol · 270–287 kW (362–385 hp) · 520 Nm (384 lb-ft)
- 3.5 V6 — M276 · petrol · 225 kW (302 hp) · 370 Nm (273 lb-ft)
- 5.5 V8 SLK 55 AMG — M152 · petrol · 310 kW (416 hp) · 540 Nm (398 lb-ft)
- 2.1 CDI — OM651 · diesel · 150 kW (201 hp) · 500 Nm (369 lb-ft)
- Transmissions
- 6-speed manual · 5-speed 5G-Tronic automatic · 7-speed 7G-Tronic automatic · 9-speed 9G-Tronic automatic
- Drivetrain
- Rear-wheel drive
Service information
Information, not instruction
CarGeek is a reference, not a service manual. Its pages are written from public sources and from what other people have found, never from a manufacturer's own service information, so they can be wrong or incomplete for your particular vehicle. Some of what they describe carries real risk: high voltage, fuel under pressure, stored energy, hot and moving parts.
Have anything you intend to act on checked by a trained person against the manufacturer's own procedure for your vehicle. Nothing here replaces that procedure.
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