LNL

November Car & Driver did an objective comparison test of the Lexus GS450h (hybrid), E550 (Sport), BMW 550i (with Sport package and Steptronic) and Infinity M45 (Sport) in the November 2006 issue. Here's the results:

#4. Lexus GS450h (175 points)
#3 E550 Sport (197 points)
#2 BMW 550i (209 points)
#1 Infinity M45 Sport (210 points)

The E550 was the fastest of the lot. 0-60 was 4.8 seconds, quarter mile 13.4 seconds (106 mph). The BMW was second, with 5.2 seconds 0-60 and quarter mile of 13.4 seconds (104 mph).

The E550 lost points primarily on the back road "twisties." C&D commented: "A chassis that had seemed competent on less-challenging roads felt a little flacid on this more demanding environment, and the air spring suspension simply didn't do a good job of controlling body motions compared with the Bimmer and M45."

Lou

AndrewAZ

As long as you beat lexus thats all the matters. The BMW has a problem that it will never overcome and thats how ugly the 5 series is.

bm75204

Agreed. My E350 replaced a 2003 540i 6-speed, which was an awesome car, and I would've gone for another BMW had the E60 5-Series not been such an eyesore. I recently garage a friend's new M35 Sport for a week when he was in Europe and I was very impressed with most of the car, including the power, and it wasn't even the V8. The interior felt a little cheap, though. But it's the interior of the Lexus that I'm most impressed with...the rest of the car mostly registers a 'blah' in my book.

I stopped by the dealer today after seeing that 4.8-second 0-60 time and thankfully they had sold all of their E550s or I probably would've taken one home.

parkums

Interested to hear your thoughts on your E. I came from am E39 sport as well, and am very underwhelmed with the handling and overall ride of an 06 E350 sport. So disappointed that only after 5 months I'm going back. Fortunately, it will soon be my wife's car and will be ordering a 550i.

Personally as an owner of both great cars:outside of looks, the MB loses in each category. Most importantly, cost of ownership (depreciation, maintenance, etc.) and ride quality.

Turtle25

Where are you from where a BMW rides better than a Merc? =)
I can say that, at least, since we own both cars as well- while the E550 is nowhere near as plush as our old S-Class, it's still a league ahead of the 5 in terms of ride quality. I am aware of the harm the 18-inchers do.

For me, the E comes ahead in terms of appearance and feel, inside and out. Unfortunately, it's a little cramped, and the steering and controls will always lose out to the Bimmer even with the new CLS rack. But for our purposes, going around town and on highways, the more sensible and luxurious E wins.

But for Car and Driver, it loses. Shame about that... it's worth noting that the Lexus has all of the E's bad points... only worse.

bm75204

I have to honestly say the 2003 540i 6-speed was the best car I've ever owned (of 13 cars). It beats the E350 in every performance category and while driving it I felt like I was an extension of the machine rather than just a pilot. A friend has a newer 545i and loves it, and I have no doubt it's every bit as good as my E39 was and then some w/handling, braking, ride, etc. The E350 is more practical as a business vehicle for me, but has also had some minor irritations (squeaky brakes, some rattles, problems with the satellite radio) where my 540i and previous 2001 530i were flawless. It would've been a no-brainer to get another BMW if not for the aesthetic factor. But I'm planning to get a manual-tranny Carrera S within the next year, so the Mercedes serves its purpose plenty well and I'll soon have the toy to serve as an outlet for my need for something sportier.

nantucketsleigh

Other than price, I can't see how anyone could pick M45 over E550 or 550i. Before I bought my 2006 E500, I drove and compared all three cars. The M45 was clearly out of its class compared to the MB or BMW. While it may have posted similar numbers, the ride was crude by comparison and the quality of the interior as well as exterior fit and finish seemed cut rate.

sklasse

C & D does a good when they docomparisons and I tend to agree with them.

To each his own, but I think that the current 5 series looks very nice, especially in the silver or silver variant colors, just put a some nice wheels and a package on there.

To each his own with the driving style, the e-class has a different driving style, its meant as a cruiser and for that , there is not equal in that category, but when you take a benz and compare it with cars whose emphasize is on sport, what do you expect ? Benz was designed for a different buyer and people who buy them don't care its not the sports equivelent of the 5 series. They like them because it drives like a benz. SO ultimately I would say this comparison is meaningless and doesn't help you unless your wanting a sports car. ( they should have included a porsche)

AndrewAZ

I think for the most part you are right. BMWs are very fun to drive but if you want a car that is relaxing to drive for both short and long distance the E class wins. I have never driven the older 5 series but I can tell you that M3 after driving it for a long time you get out of the car tired same with the new 3 seires but both are very very fun to drive but after a while that sport suspension gets to you. The E class may seem to be lacking in performance and what not but its not fair to compare a 540i with a V8 to a 3.5 liter v6.


As for quality so far on my parents E class no rattles and nothing has gone wrong, it will be 1 in november or december I cant remeber. On the BMW I have rattles and have had weather stripping fall off a few times along with the radio needing to be replaced. So far no brake noise on the E.

Overall I prefer the E class, it looks good, it has the perfect balance of comfort and performance its a car that shelters you but does not isolate you totally from the outside world. I still think the E class is a timeless design along with the older bmw 5 series and 3 series and the newer 5 and 3 are going to be "fad" styles along with the CLS.

Cal

Agreed. I find the E class to be an excellent cruiser and long trip machine. It gobbles mile after mile without a sweat, and the driver and passengers feel relaxed and comfortable. However, on a spirited drive, track drive, or just to drive for the pure enjoyment of it, the e60 5-series is the better choice.

Cal

Agreed whole-heartedly on the design comments as well as the driving aspects of these cars.

55fanatic

Does anyone else think its kinda a shame that when magazines do there comparisons of "luxo cars" they can never really identify anything that we wouldnt of already known for the most part... Lexus and merc... NOT SPORT CRUISERS... BMW- DRIVER CAR... Infiniti-Great substitute for the money

I think we have these discussions over and over again and people just dont get it... if you want to cruise in a car, and have a little more luxury then sport, you go Merc, if you want ALL luxury you go Lex if you want sport... you go BMW...I would put audi somewhere in the middle of Merc and BMW... being the most balanced of the luxos

edspider

Good point about how magazines keep re-hashing what most of us already know. I often wish they would give more details in their reviews and less of the obvious and suggestive stuff. For example, I'd be interested in knowing the cabin sound levels (dB) under various conditions. How is a destination entered in the NAV system? What's the maintenance schedule? How useful is the trunk space? Does it have an audio in jack for iPod, etc.

But also realize that kind of stuff will not make for a very interesting article, people like me who read this forum are not the norm. The magazine's need to write to a lower common denominator.

DWP

The C&D article, for what little it's worth, is now up on the C&D site:

http://www.caranddriver.com/comparis...benz-e550.html

Good point about how car mag reviews are getting skimpy and superficial. They seem to be written for people with the attention span of a caffeinated hummingbird. I'm old enough to remember when C&D or R&T would write for several analytical pages about a single car.

55fanatic

Its a shame but thats why I read the tuning mags these days... They all talk about where a car started and how it got to its current stage and all the mods and why they chose them, bla blah blah

1SICKLEX

ROTFLMAO!