Last weekend, I made a quick trip to local Best Buy to get some computer stuff.. and on the way home decided to try something wild.

Leaving the shopping center.. I exited from the "back side" which travels the length of the shopping center back to the Parkway. Of course, there's no traffic behind there, and at the time of day.. no deliveries or pediastrians to worry about.

I had my car in SPORT 2 mode.. and tore it up down the back end of the shopping center.. It had a few swoops and dips, and a few quick switchbacks that required some quick steering at speed. Of course going from a BMW 5 series to my E500 I had a good idea of what a good sport sedan could do. I tried the E500's potential.

All I can say is WOW! After the little sprint.. the acceleration is BRUTAL.. the handling sharp and precise. The feel is NOT "BMW like" but once you adapt to the car.. it's not as important. Handling? The E500 could handle every bit as good as my old 5 series.. no question. I didn't have the feedback like in the bimmer, but the car never made me nervous.

W211Observations: I did notice at high speeds (I managed to get to 90 mph behind the shopping center.. ) and the Airmatic set to SPORT 2.. the car seems to "hop" if the road isn't totally smooth. Probably better suited to autocrossing or real race tracks (i.e. high speed driving school). In other "spririted" high speed driving.. SPORT 1 might be better suited. Less "hop." Also, maybe it's me.. but the throttle response seems BETTER and sharper in SPORT1 than in Sport2? Any comments on this?

And tonight, I took a pal of mine for a spin in my 500. He just bought a Jag XJ8 after looking and wanting an E500. He now says he's made a HUGE mistake.. and SHOULD HAVE gotten the E500. He commented on the Sport 2 setting saying it felt like his Corvette did. Just FYI!

Sorry for the rant...

Peter

 

thanks for the rant..........great to hear your E500 vs 5 series comments

 

Nitro,

What kind of tires came with your E500?

 

Its the adaptive ECU. It seems to improve throttle response if you accelerate aggressively.

Also, Sport 1 seems to be the ideal setting unless you're going for a larger wheel combination. Sport 2 is just too rough and not very forgiving when it comes to road conditions.

 

I find the throttle to be more responsive in II rather in mode I or the comfort setting.

I also don't like how the car tries to adapt the throttle response to one's driving style. I think MB should keep the throttle response quick at all times. A driver can also get use to the response of the car. That way when I want the power it would always be instant instead of having to wait for the car figure out that I want to punch it, or having to change the suspension mode. Just my opinion. Not that big of a deal but it makes the car feel like it is hestitating before taking off.

 

I have the non-sport package. I have the ContiTouring 17's on there. They are the stock 245/45 17's.

They do OK. But I've had better.

 

Well, I wonder if I confuse the car by using TouchShift.. and other times I don't. Seems to red line even with touch shift if I am really hammering the throttle.. so maybe I'll test the "modes" response without the TouchShift.. I also seem to get better launches in D mode too.

 

If you are really hammering the throttle then the mechanical kickdown overides the touch shift.

Now that my car is broken in (1200 miles) I have been playing with the touch shift and love it. It gives you so much more control! And I love the feature where you hold it to the minus side for a second and it downshifts to the optimum gear for torque.

I have not played with Sport setting but will now to see if the throttle respose is any better.

 

I didn't know that. Good tip. Thanks. I'll try that on the way home.

 

If you are in a lower gear using touch shift and you push it over to the plus side for 2 seconds it goes all the way to Drive. (You don't have to shift it up gear by gear.

 

Last night on a TGI Fridays run for some wings, and dinner... I gave it another shot...

I had the car set to Sport2 Airmatic mode, and left the tranny in D. I didn't mess with the TouchShift. I felt the tranny very responsive and it hauled thru the gears.. and shifted pretty much ideally. It held each gear about as long as I'd hold it till wanting to shift.. and it did it at just the right time. I have noticed with touchshift, when I want to change gears under hard driving.. it decides to shift near redline... maybe the "D" mode reads your foot better. I dunno...

Anyways, I had one occassion where I coming up quickly on someone.. needed to brake hard (not panic stop), switched lanes quickly and got back on the throttle.. Much to my surprise.. the car.. kept the gear I was in.. and I was able to dissappear from the idiot who nearly cut me off. I zipped by so fast.. I don't think he saw me flipping him off. :p

Also, with all the "press" and comments on the SBC brakes.. I find them excellent. They don't "modulate" unless you ease onto them.. in a hard forcefull press (late braking for a hard turn).. then brake very nicely, hard, and accurate. All that "hard to feel" garbage the mags say I think is related to the "SoftStop" SBC feature.

Rant off for today =)
peter