K-A

Oh and just to add, she had an '04 E320 before the 525, and always states how she sorely misses the Benz and wants to go back to M-B after her Lease is up. The reason she went to BMW was because M-B stopped doing free maintenance and she didn't trust their reliability (the reason BMW basically took over the Luxury Car Sales crown during the recent year/s).

She also states her least favourite part of her Bimmer is the RETARDED process to have to get the car started: Stick the key Fob in, press down the Brake, press the Start button (why they make you have to stick the "key" in is beyond me if you're gonna be pressing a pointless Start button anyway), the shifter toggle is also a little annoying IMO with the Park button at the top, etc.

gaazmon

Ya, I told him to at least get a 530i, they perform quite well as my friend has one. I drove a 528i and it was pretty quick (230 hp), but the interior left a lot to be desired. He really is looking for power so I told him to not sacrafice that just as I did (really wanted a 500). I told him he'll regret it everytime he gets on the peddle.

Ya, the starter system is retarded. My sister's Land Rover LR2 has the same thing (uses same technology as BMW, I think they share a lot of stuff now). However, I think the reason being is that the key has a rechargeable battery that's why you have to stick it in. Again, stupid though.

K-A

Yeah very dumb starter situation. Imagine if you're running from someone in a panic and need to cohesively get your *** out of dodge QUICK.... You'd probably fumble around with all those stupid steps to get the car started and be screwed. M-B has the best Keyless Entry I'd say, since you don't even have to take the key out (like you do with Nissan, etc.)

Definitely tell him to stay away from the 525, he'll be very unhappy with the power if that's what he's looking for. I'd even skip the 528 and go for a 530 (how much HP does the 30 have?)

gaazmon

Like 250 or 255. Interesting how they pushed the extra 50 - 55 hp out of the same engine as the 525, since they are both 3.0L I6 engines. And interesting how the 528 is the same size engine as those two and produces 230 hp. How did all this happen?

cleankutazn

I recently had a nissan maxima and infiniti g37 sedan loaner car, both of which did not require you to take the key out.

Dema

I think that MB has the best keyless technologies, since
1st you still can use it as having regular key completely ignoring keyless
2nd keyless uses touch buttons when BMW uses touch sensors which very unstable

K-A

You have to pull it out to lock/unlock the car though, with M-B's you just get close to the car and it unlocks as long as you have the key fob on you.

mescaline

lol, you couldn't pick a better topic to post on mercedes forum, you should actually take this and post it on bimmer forum because you are not gonna get anything useful here really.

Anyway to the point...I own an E 320 CDI I6 with Brabus box, so around 250hp and insane amount of torque...I test drove an 530D a few weeks ago and I can tell you right now that 530D felt a lot faster than my merc with brabus box. It handles a lot better...seats were awesome...just a simple tip to original poster...there are around 5-6 different seats versions in BMW or any other car so complaining about seats is a bit dumb.

The only complaint I have about 5 series is dash board, it's very ugly...my wife complained about it and I had to agree..it is ugly... but anyway BMW is a drivers car. They have totally different approach from Mercedes... they are different cars. I guess if you are some 60 year old granpa...you want Mercedes, if you are a younger person that likes to take a few corners a bit faster on the way home...BMW is a car for you.

SolanNo1

Tread lightly, my friend. You are in the MB Zone.

I wouldn't want to get flamed, even though I agree completely with what you said.

mescaline

There is nothing to get flamed for, i OWN mercedes and I paid tons for it. There is nothing wrong with it lol...

What I learned so far is that you can not mix comfort with handling, one of those gotta go.

mspaul

That is exactly my point, I totally agree with you, BMW is an ultimate driving machine, but I would still prefer MB for long drives. I would prefer driving my Lotus when I have an urge of driving a precise handling car.

K-A

I'm a young dude and the ride of a Benz is what I'm after, I could really care less about handling (as long as it can handle corners in real world driving I'm fine). I have an intense, loud, and exciting job, when I drive my car, I want it to be as serene, solid, luxurious, and stylish as possible, that's what excites me. I guess that's why Bimmer's just don't impress me much right now (aside from the new 7-Series.... If the new 5 looks anything like that, I might switch over as the newer M-B's aren't to my liking).

Marshall_K

I agree with this. The seats are not comfortable. The handling is great but can't compare to a Merc on a road trip. Great cars and I respect them. I wish my E was a little sportier sometimes...but then at night as I'm cruising down the highway and the E is wisking me home none of that matters. The car really just feels great to drive.

nychokeyplaya35

I am a BMW guy but and a 525i is the cheapest and worse 5-series of course it is gonna be wack.
Performane=BMW
Comfort=Mercedes
AMG VS M thats a whole other story...

gaazmon

Ya, the handling is enough for me. I drive 4 miles in canyon driving just to leave my house and the car handles extremely well IMO (I guess it's the airmatic in sport 2). It actually feels like it handles better than our 02 CL500 (maybe it's the wheels: CL is 225 E is 245, idk maybe it's just me).

mescaline

You guys make it sound like BMW is a bicycle to ride in lol..it's not, it still makes a very good long distance car, better than most other cars on the market...maybe not as good as mercedes but it gives you something else in return so you have a bit of both worlds.

K-A, you must be a very very boring guy...you're young and yet you don't like taking a few corners a bit faster? Is that why you're turning your E class into an AMG wannabe? What the hell are you doing on an internet car forums then? lol

Mercedes drivers tend not to care very much about cars, this is why mercedes community ...sucks.

gaazmon

Um, not cool. A MB doesn't give you something in return? How about just the fact that it's an MB (just the engineering alone of MB's are great).

And about the young comment, not cool either. I'm also young, actually younger than K-A, by about 5 years. His car is not an AMG wannabe, it has the AMG sport package fyi, it comes like that from the factory, a very rare option on pre 08+ e-classes actually. And that doesn't qualify as boring just cause he likes an MB over a BMW.

MB community sucks??? Hmm, surprising since I find many people on this forum very helpful in so many ways. There are many BMW drivers who don't care about their cars. They just buy it cause "it's a BMW. I can smoke your benz's a*s. It's a true sports car." Blah blah blah, I've heard it all.

K-A

Mescaline, you're response speaks in volumes about credibility toward your views.

First off, get some education on an M-B before attempting to act like you know anything about them or the community. My car is an AMG clone from the factory, i.e AMG Sport package. It comes with a sportier and lowered suspension stock and is indeed is not very common nor easy to find at all.

I've street raced and track raced enough to get all that out of my system, I've gotten a fraction of a second away from smashing one of my old Drag cars (with no bumpers for weight reduction) into a GT2 Porsche during one of those races. I've spun out numerous times hauling *** on turns way out of my league, one of them totaled my 2nd to last car.

I just know the thrill isn't worth it to me nor what I crave anymore. Plus I can assure you my job and life is far more fast paced and loud, exciting, etc. than that of 99.9% of average folk. When I get in my car, I don't need it to compensate for what I'm lacking in my everyday life, I'm a car enthusiast but performance isn't where my enthusiasm weighs heaviest.

mescaline

I owned many cars and been part of lots of communities...mainly VAG community and trust me MB internet community is the worst community there is. Just because a few hundred people post on this or other TWO forums doesn't make it big community. You should visit vwvortex forums for example.... 458168 users, 4178889 threads, 53124801 posts. Now that's a big community...

So you want me to enjoy my car because it's an MB? lol, days of stupid theories like this are OVER. Nobody cares today if it's an MB or anything else... mb ruined this themselves, i am from Europe... I am telling you how people look at things over here. People today want quality and want the most for their money...MB is slowly slipping away when it comes to giving people back things for their money. I just hope very much that new W212 will change this but it's gonna take many years for MB to gain peoples trust again.

K-A, you're now contradicting yourself. First you are saying that you don't like fast rides...and now you're telling us that you actually love fast rides but you can't drive and that you got scared for your life and you moved on to MB in hopes that it will save you

K-A

Actually I think the M-B Boards are full of some of the more NON delusional owners. I've visited BMW Boards and some of those guys are out of their mind in their fanboyisms, but that goes for many car Boards.

I didn't contradict myself, re-read the post. I used to be into racing, now I don't care for it. Sure I appreciate and sometimes crave a fast car, and sure sometimes I'll take a turn fairly "spiritedly", but it really does nothing for me. I've driven and owned many cars as well, and to me, the better M-B's, and the W211 has one of the best and most refined interiors and build quality/attention to details out there. The new Gen of M-B's have picked up in reliability and enhanced solidity, but the elegantly refined sleek designs are long becoming a past-tense for them IMO, giving way to a new, sharper and more durable look.

Anyway, you seem like a troll so I'm done stating any points here. I'm assuming your E320 isn't a Sport? I guess all that pent up aggression from driving what to us in the states is the slowest, basest, and softest form of a W211 is forcing you to take it out on the people here.

mescaline

My E 320 is CDI, I6 avantgarde package 30mm lowered suspension, brabus tuning and lots of other goodies. It would basically smoke your E 350 on any possible way :-)

Anyway when you say Mercedes over here you think comfort, you think reliability you think refinement. Mercedes lost two of of those things, it lost reliability, it lost refinement...you know yourself that W211 design hasn't been updated since...forever. When I bought Mercedes i did it because I wanted a car that I can forget about, a car that is there and that will take me on some long journeys I make twice a year or so... somehow I ended up putting more money into Mercedes because it was breaking down then I do on my 2nd car which i tripled power on. So what do we have from Mercedes now? Comfort...and a name, nothing else. Is it worth the money? Not on my book, I demand more for my money. If you are satisfied with it then something is wrong with you. I am not one of those persons that will always say that the car brand I own is the best car in the world...when it's not, i am realistic...car is just that...a car.

K-A , you are calling me a troll? As i said before you're contradicting yourself. I have yet to meet a man that doesn't like fast cars. They all do...some of them ***** out, like you did...that's all. You can keep lying to yourself if that makes you happy...but one just doesn't go racing one day and second day say it does nothing for me. You chickened out... you opting for AMG package is a proof of that.

Anyways what I am saying is that we boys like fast(er) cars, and therefore BMW might just be a better option for us since they have different approach on driving, BMWs are sportier, it's a drivers car...that's why male population might enjoy it more...because it GIVES you more.

K-A

That's a RIDICULOUS statement. Suure, the reason why we don't drive fast cars is because we're chickin sh**s

You're a riot man.

The W211 got a face-lift in '07 BTW, M-B's always run for 7 years with one face-lift. Fact is the W211 has passed the test-of-time test extremely well stylistically, better than most M-B's on their last year.

I'm no fan-boy, I put M-B down more than I give them credit in fact. However I am a realist, and to say the W211 is unrefined is a pretty ludacris statement, I don't know what you would call "refined" then. You want to see an unrefined M-B? Check out a W204 C-Class, the W211 is one of the more elegantly-refined M-B Sedans ever made IMO.

mescaline

E class is a midsize sedan, all mid-size sedans look good. This is a fact... this is why W211 survived as long as it did. You see I personally feel dumb to shell out twice the money for an face-lift version if i already own an pre-facelift car even if I really want that 7G gearbox. If it looked differently I would certainly think about it but since there is very little difference in looks...I feel like I am paying twice the money for 7 gears instead of 5 and V6 engine over I6 but essentially its the same car. In my opinion that facelift should have been re-designed E class.

K-A, you said yourself you chickened out man...you almost totalled some car and you decided to give up on racing, READ YOUR POSTS or just try to think before posting. You say one thing now and then later something totally different...


It's not worth it for you anymore, you're scared...you would like to but you chicken out

K-A

If I must point out your most recent gem here I'd have to go with:

"E class is a midsize sedan, all mid-size sedans look good. This is a fact..."


Maan, I bet all car manufacturers pray to the car Gods every night that all consumers would share those opinions.

I'm gonna go find a Dodge Avenger and swoon over it, as I never realized the fact that it being a mid-size Sedan, it induces the utmost of automotive sexuality.

mescaline

Midsize sedan is a platform for "utmost of automotive sexuality". With midsize sedans you would have to be total idiot to go wrong with design... now if car is too large or too small..that's another challenge.

Anyway this will go to another direction. What we discuss here is BMW vs Mercedes and bmw's increasing popularity just shows that Mercedes is doing something wrong. BMW shows that you don't have to go for AMG to have a casional sporty car or to shell out insane amount of money for that matter which covers very large range of audience but most of all youth male population that tend to like spiritual driving. This is where BMW gives you more for money than Mercedes does. You may argue this all day long but this is a fact and this comes from an Mercedes owner... now if you are in your 50s with couple of kids and you wanna drive them around comfortably you may opt for Mercedes but it doesn't mean you can't do the same with BMW. This is why I am saying that we as Mercedes owner should demand more, days of Mercedes being just ...Mercedes should be over, we should get MORE...because other manufacturers are doing their job and giving their customers everything once only Mercedes could give. At the end we are just gonna end up with name Mercedes, would you pay extra for the name? I wouldn't.