Reading reviews, it states how comfortable it is in Comfort Mode. Coming from a modestly sporty 5 series equipped with M Sport Mode, will this car in Comfort resemble that or be more harsh? I'm deliberately not interested in a 911 type thing for a daily 60 minute commute. Rather, I'm looking for something really good looking with an nice exhaust note that will still feel close to a E450 or 5 series in terms of ride and not be exhausting for a bumper to bumper drive. Am I barking up the wrong tree? I appreciate your input.

First off, the GT 55 was available with two suspension options initially. A more traditional adaptive suspension with normal sway bars, and the Active Ride Control suspension which replaces the sway bars with a hydraulic system. What makes cars with sporty firm suspensions uncomfortable for normal driving are the stiff sway bars. When one wheel hits a bump, part of it is transferred to the opposite wheel. The hydraulic system manages body roll actively. In normal. mostly straight line driving, it lets the wheels move almost completely independent of each other for better comfort, but then when you start cornering hard, it tightens up to control body roll and keep the car flat. Don't know what year your 5 series was, but the GT 55 with the new standard Active Ride Control will likely be more comfortable, while also providing superior body control when desired.

For some people it's still not comfortable enough. I'm assuming your 5-series wasn't an M5. The GT is at the level of a full M model, so it's about performance first, not comfort. Having said that, I've driven the GT 63, albeit on smooth roads in Germany and the spread between Comfort mode and Sport+/Race was quite amazing. But, I always say if comfort is your top criteria, then you are shopping the wrong cars if you are looking at 55 and 63 models. They do offer a good amount of rest comfort, so you are not completely beat up after every drive, but AMGs and regular Mercedes-Benz are very different in their setup. A GT 55 won't be an E450 in terms of ride comfort.

Comfort is also very subjective. I have no problems driving my C63S Coupe on public roads. It can get harsh on crappy roads, but is plenty comfortable on decent pavement, so the types of roads plays a huge role. In my experience, the AMG 55/63 models ride better the faster you drive. They are tuned and designed for high speeds. Love doing road trips in mine, but slow city road driving tends to be bumpy. I've been saying this a lot having owned my AMG for 6 years now. The 55/63 models are happiest on the open road/highway and fast speeds, but they are not really city and around town cars. They can be daily driven, but that's not their forte. The 43 and 53 models are more suited for daily driving and commuting.

The transmission is another thing that you might think about. As opposed to your 5 series or an E450, the GT 55 and 55/63 models in general don't use a torque converter. Instead they use a multiplate startup clutch. At slow speeds it can get a bit jerky as any clutch, but it rewards with crisp and fast shifting when you are driving it on the boil. So stop&go traffic isn't what this transmission is meant to do. I have the full driving assistance package in my C63, so on the rare occasions that I find myself in stop&go traffic, I just let DISTRONIC handle it. It does a decent job at driving smoothly in traffic, but there's still the occasional jolt. I don't mind that. I didn't buy this car to tool around in stop&go traffic, or to mindlessly commute to work. I'm fortunate to no have to daily drive or commute, so my car is mainly for fun driving and grand touring.

Best advise I can give you is to go drive one yourself on the typical roads that you'll be driving. Nobody here can really tell you if you'll find it comfortable enough.

Thank you very much for the thoughtful reply. I will drive it as you suggest. Do you think an E53 is softer than a GT 55 Coupe?

Absolutely, and for several reasons. I haven't driven the E53, but I've driven the CLE 53 back to back with the GT. What the E53 has over the CLE 53 is that it is a full hybrid, so for daily and city driving you can smoothly drive in electric mode, but even if you drive with the combustion engine engaged, the transmission has a torque converter in the 53 models which naturally makes them smoother at slow speeds and stop&go driving. The CLE 53 was overall just a much smoother car. Part of that is also the inherent smoothness of an inline 6 engine. It all plays together. As a daily, the CLE 53 and the E53 would be high on my list. They have the performance, especially the E53, for occasional hooligan driving, but still offer the daily comfort of a lesser city commuter car.

There are many people who don't consider a 43 or 53 to be a real AMG, but I increasingly disagree with that. There's a point to be made about useable performance. For how most people end up driving these cars in the daily grunt, the 43 and 53 models are the more usable AMGs. What good is it if your typical driving doesn't allow you to take advantage of what a 55/63 offers and instead you only end up compromising your comfort on a daily basis?

Thank you again superswiss. Very helpful. I'll drive both .

I second that the E53 is softer than the GT. That being said I don't find the GT uncomfortable.