I drove my buddy's 745 around town yesterday to see what it had. I honestly wasnt that impressed. It costs about 15,000 to 20,000 more than my E and in my opinion the only thing it has over the E is size.

I know that you cant do a true comparison because they are in different classes, but I was really happy I bought my Benz after driving the BMW.

Also, I know the performance #s are almost identicle (0-60 , 1/4 mile) but it didnt feel close to being as quick as the E.

 

I too compared the new 745i to the E500 before making my purchase. My goal was to get a sporty sedan with a lot of "zip", and the 745i just felt too sluggish. I even drove one of the newer models with the sport package, that features the toggles to upshift, and it still had no "life" to it.

The E500 was the obvious winner for me.

 

The E is more comparable to the 5 series in my opinion.

I had a 540i before i picked up a E500. The 540 was a joy to drive and had the muscle to move. Sad to see it go, but quite happy with my E.

The E vs. 7 series is apples and oranges dont' you think?

Anyway, the new 5 is ugly as sin and i'm convinced BMW hired a bunch of designers from pontiac to head up their 5 and 6 series line.

just a thought.

 

Read my post

 

I drove a 745 a few weeks back as well and wasn't that impressed. The only think I liked were the passenger seats. I thought they were more comfy than the S class. Overall, I was not impressed with most of its features and was turned off by its other features. I think the S430 or S500 is a better buy. I suspected an E500 with the Airmatic would have also matched the ride in the 745.

Thumbs down for the 7 series.

 

I looked at the 745i when it first came out and was also very unimpressed with it. I hated their single knob interface with all of the systems and didn't like the handling nearly as well as my E-500. In addition, the BMW dealer acknowledged they were having a lot of problems with the new 745's and had bought back 12 of them in first few months for a variety of different reasons. My son-in-law was with me for our test drive and he had owned an earlier model 740il which was quite nice. He put over 100,000 miles on it and then traded it for the 545 M6. He also did not like the new 745i and he's now looking at getting a 2004 E-500.

I haven't driven the new 535 yet but don't care for it's styling so would not consider it at this time. My wife and I both felt the previous Bimmer 5 Series seats were more confining and not as comfortable as those in our past two MB E series sedans.

 

I test drove both the 745i and 530i extensively, will also test out the 545i for the hack of it.

The new BMWs try too hard to be different for its own good. The seat adjustment on the 745i is the worst ergonomic design I have ever seen. It forces you to twist your hand reaching into a hard to see area having to press a series of buttons.

Removing the useful buttons on the dash for the sake of a 'clean look' is superficial and shallow. In exchange for form following function, BMW got the priorities wrong emphasizing high-tech 'look' over 'functionality'.

For those planning on using the car phone in the new 5 series, forget it. It doesn't even a have a numeric keypad and you are forced to turn the pathetic iDrive knob left and right to input phone numbers! Much worse than the old rotary dial.

And the new look of the BMWs, I need not get into as it's obvious they are very truly deeply ugly.

 

DITTO! (ex 540iA Sport)

 

Guys, you are missing my point. The point is exactley what you are saying. The 745 should blow away an E and it doesnt. As I said, in my opinion, the only thing it has over the E is size and maybe a status factor.

 

Wow lots of people compared the 7 and the E... ill add my name to the list as well. The thing i liked about the 7 was the fact that it didnt feel like that big of a car. I just felt the E was too plain, typical benz feel, but i guess since ive always owned benzes i got turned on by driving a BMW.

 

 

I've driven the 745 on a few occasions. As mentioned by the thread starter, this is not necessarily a fair comparison, but I think that it is valid. The 7 had a sporty feel to it, and I liked all aspects of how it drove except for the steering feel, which I felt was way too light. The E's steering feel is much more secure (tracking to the right not withstanding). Overall both are sporty cars for their size, and give good performance from their spirited engines. I give the 7 a slight advantage just because it "felt" sportier, while the E is a little more sedate.

Interior of the 7 was not as bad as originally thought, but no way near as elegant as the E's. Same stereo system in both cars (ie, crap). While the COMAND is no joy to use, the iDrive is horendous at times, very difficult to control the many different functions. Even changing the radio stations is an overly complex procedure. But, given the increasing level of features and personalization options available in cars, such a system is here to stay.

 

like someone else said, you guys are totally comparing apples to oranges.

Your argument is that since it costs more, it should be better performing. Well, what if you compared the E500 to the S500? or even better, the S430. The S's definitely cost more than the E's, so by your argument they should be better as well? Im sure the E500 outperforms the S in terms of power and feel.

I could make the same argument that the BMW M3 costs less than the E500, but that it outperforms it and has firmer, better seats, etc.

I agree with you in terms of the 7's and 5's interior ergonomics... ugly and too radical/simple or whatever it's trying to do. But to try and compare the performance aspects of the two is sort of ridiculous.

 

The reason I compared the 745 to the E500 was that at the time (November/December 2003), BMW was offering some absolutely killer deals on the 7 series to get them off the dealer floors. The cost of a new 745i lease was very close to the cost of a new E500 lease. Even with that in mind, however, I decided to go with the E500.

 

Good point

 

Yes you do have a good point, BUT, I also feel that the E is more luxurious too (In adition to more sporty)

The same cannot be said when compariong an M3 to an E500..Yes it will perform better but will be unmatched in the luxury and amenities and features.

I still think my point is being missed..In my opinion (and it is just my opinion), the E500 outdoes the 745 in everyway...except size

 

Come on! But you wont get a granny dash!!

 

 

For kicks I test drove the BMW 545i. The salesman took me on some back roads with sharp curves as well as highway driving.

Later that day I took my E-500 on the same test drive route.

Bottom line - The E offers a superior combination of luxury and sportiness. It handles sharp curves very well (in the sport mode) and highway driving in the comfort mode is luxurious. The BMW rides hard, doesn't have the feel of a luxury car and too much wind noise.

My 2 cents.

 

The new BMWs are flat-out ugly, and that is coming from a big BMW enthusiast.

 

Totally agree, when I took MY05 BMW 530i and 545i for test drive it felt like you are driving a lower class vehicle (same story with Audi A6). Driving E-Class provides much more pleasure driving and luxurious ride.