franksun1984

Any ideas??

Configuration (United States):
A5 COUPE:
3.2 Auto,
Prestige,
S-line,
Drive Select,
Driver Assist
Price: 55,000

E350 COUPE:
Auto,
Premium II,
Appearance,
DISTRONIC Plus
Price: 61,000

GOODs:
A5 COUPE: the look
E350 COUPE: pillarless design

BADs:
A5 COUPE: some issue with steering wheel and 3.2L engine (not sure though)
E350 COUPE: sunroof slides outside, tail looks like a honda, iPod interface

Any idea would be greatly appreciated!!!

K-A

A5 wins in the looks dept IMO as well, and unlike the Coupe it looks good in all angles. M-B will presumingly be more Luxurious and comfy, assumedly (let's hope) better durability/quality, even though the Coupe does use a very much modified C interior. The first year or two you'll get some "recognition" in the Coupe as it's a new design which is polarizing (sparking intrigue and controversy), however after that settles, IMO it'll just be treated like the prior CLK's.

I've heard Audi has horrible customer service too, so that's something to take into consideration.

Sporty wise, the A5 will be a lot more fun to drive.

franksun1984

Thank you for the opinion! I also post this in the A5 owner club forum. The results so far are about the same.

The ipod interface in MB sucks. But I didn't test it in an A5.
Do you know if A5 is integrated with bluetooth tech so that I can make hand free phone calls? MB has a good one IMO.

mac911

Frank - the new iPod interfaces are pretty good. They let you use the central control knob, to navigate. Very easy.

I say get the E 350 Coupe as I love being in a Mercedes. Nothing feels better to me, and I do love the new E Coupes.

ipp

I can't believe what I'm seeing here... The E-copé, in a heartbeat! Even though the E-coupé is built on the C-class the C-class is a much nicer car than the A4 which the A5 basically is a 2-door version of. MB has put much more effort in making the E-coupé into something more special. Look at the lovely seats for instance.

omgitselaine

Wow .... was i surprised when i first saw the results of the poll after voting one would think since we're on a MB forum the E coupe would be out in front but for the moment it's 8 - 4 Audi don't get me wrong i luv the Audi but it's been out for a little more than a year already and the MB is both elegant and very sporty so my vote went for the E coupe but that's just me

BLKCLK550

A5 hands down.

aeggroup

A5 looks much better than E-coupe... it's my personal taste.
In general I preffer MB over Audi...

MBNUT1

A5. There a black 09 for sale at a Honda dealer near me. It looks both wicked and luxurious at the same time.
To me the styling of the new E Coupe is in the same league as the Honda Accord coupe., which is a great looking car. but the A5 coupe is in another class altogether. It looks like a much more expensive car than the E coupe.

BLKCLK550

Yeah A5 is a great car i was going to get one before i got a good deal on my clk550.
A 5 interior is so nice feels like a spae ship, but it lacked the power my clk550 has, and for an S5 they wated and arm and a leg.

rieger

A5 is definitely a way better looking car. The new E looks ok from the front but the rest of the car is definitely polarizing. The A5 is definitely the class of this segment of 2 door coupes. It's very simple look at BMW and MB forums in regards to this segment and you will see the S5 usually comes out on top. I will also say that in a few years the S5 will still look great while bet you that the new E will not age as well.

ipp

I think this must be a EU/US thing. I can't think of one of my friends or anyone picking the A5 over the E-coupé. The cars are in different leagues in the opposite way of what I'm reading hear. And I'm not even a MB man, my last 3 cars have been BMW E60's.

But then you don't see as many low end FWD 1.8 litre A4/A5/A... over there...

K-A

Not a prob.

I think the results here weighing highly toward the A5 on the M-B E Forum are are a testament to that design. E-Coupe is the newest girl to sashay into the room, but the nice-on-the-eyes A5 keeps us all interested . To note, I'm not a big Audi fan, and am not really in love with the A5 all that much, but I think it's a nice and well designed and proportioned ride.

ipp

90% of the A5:s I've seen looks like this, the E-coupé simply doesn't get that basic. But I guess the ones in the US comes with bigger wheels and quattro.

rieger

The A5's in North America definitely don't look like that. I think there are probably more S5's here than A5's. Go to audizine and look in the forums and look at the S5/A5 and they are much different.

BLKCLK550

yeah A5 in north america look very sexy!

franksun1984

I guess it is different in the US. The interior is much better here IMO.

franksun1984

Can anyone points out something that A5 is worse than the E-coupe?
I like MB more. So I don;t want to turn to Audi easily...
But IMO A5 is the 'peerless' coupe in this class, not the E.

ipp

That's my point! Trying to help you realize what kind of budget VW clone is hiding under that shiny surface .

Rowrbazzle

I disliked the non-opening sunroof in the Audi (tilt-only) and the smaller backseat in the Audi (I could never find actual backseat dimensions for the Audi, but it sure seemed smaller). The A/C controls on the Audi were rather annoying - had to push multiple buttons just to change the fan speed or temperature. Although you seemed to have a few more climate options in the Audi. Likewise, I liked the steering wheel controls on the Benz better than the Audi controls. Both coupes look very good, but I preferred the functionality of the Benz.

geoaero

I too looked at the A5 before buying an E. The biggest styling downside of the A5 is that the look from the front and rear are great, but the side view of the A5 is simply boring in my opinion. Lacks any visual pizazz from the side....

AMGFREAK

Yawn on the A5 interior....

rieger

Same thing for MB then since in Europe they are used as taxi cabs. Atleast the VW's/Audi's aren't used as such.

rieger

Could it also be because you are coming from a Benz hence you are use to it already that is why you prefer the functionality of the benz in general.
I do agree with you on the fan control button though. I rather have it like on the Benz with one push the fan can go all the way up or all the way down.
Sunroof is also useless on the S5.
That said the interior quality of the S5 is still superior to the E-class especially the two tone leather recaro seats in the S5 cabriolet. At night though is where the Audi interior looks really nice when lit up.

rieger

What you like stale interiors that MB puts out? Come on everyone in the industry knows Audi makes the best interiors. Don't tell me you think MB interior is better. Next you are going to tell me MB handles better than BMW also. I agree that some functionality of the MB interior may be better like the fan setting for example but overall Design and Quality Audi is King and I think that is the industry consensus. I have yet to read one magazine where they say that MB makes the best interiors while many if not most reviews always say Audi makes the best interiors.