The first SLK had all the core constituents most people sought in a Mercedes convertible: it was a Mercedes and it was a convertible. Showing to the world one's level of disposable income while concurrently serving as a rolling display for one's pretty face seemed to count for everything, especially since such an opportunity could finally be seized at half the cost of before (previously, it was either the $80,000 SL or nothing).
Viewed as a car, though, the SLK initially forgot to include a couple of things: acceleration, a manual transmission, an engine that sounded better than a lawn mower, steering that could match the precision and feedback of a Hyundai Elantra, etc. Dismissed as "definitely not a sports car", a "sprinter in 20-pound shoes", and other such accurately harsh summations, the first SLK's specialness pretty much ended after its power retractable top.
For the new SLK, Mercedes kept the top but reworked everything else right down to the bottom. The body grew a tiny bit - just enough to increase comfort. Steering and (front) suspensions made switches in fundamental design, and all three former engines got dropped like Oldsmobile. Figures for torsional and bending rigidity (a big deal with open cars) hardened up by 46% and 19%. Finally, the new look is sharper-edged in a mini-McLaren sort of way, possibly in the hopes of finally attracting some handsome faces in addition to the pretty ones.
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