Those pictures are more flattering to the 5 than the ones that started this thread. Still not feeling the center console in the 5, but, holy crap, that screen is huge.

Similar to ESIX3POWER's point, the wood in my E looks a lot better than in that one - darker and shinier. That's a Euro model, yes?

 

Bye Bye 5er

 

Man that's nice.

JD

 

Yeah it looks hot! Do you have the 211 or 212 E63?
Post some pics, would love to see the Beast.

 

I have a 2010 and I have two pix that suck. I'll take some good ones give me some time. The car has been in a lot in Manhattan for all but 3 days since I bought it.

JD

 

Now check this out, BMW's new 5 is a bigger car but judging from these pictures there is more space in Mercedes
And that guy looks happier and more relaxed in E...

 

they both don't have enough room in the back IMO. these mid size sedans such as E, 5, and A6 should come with a little more room in the back. I remember my chrysler 300 had a good amount more room in the back. same with my friends infinit m35.

 

To be fair, the Sport E-Class has to be compared to a M-Sport 5, everyone keeps comparing their AMG Sport 212's to the bland base official pics of the F10.

LOL on the slammed into a flat cement wall comment, have to say I agree.

I have no doubts btw, that an F10 with custom wheels, and an M-Sport pack, will slaughter that 212 in that pic. The 212 has a couple angles that look just right, the straight up side profile like in that pic (way too busy, Japanese inspired, and clunky-ish for my tastes still), and the straight up front profile. Again it's a very angular car, it sacrifices many angles for the "just right" ones. The F10 looks good from every angle.... Thanks to it's cohesive and non-angular design....

.... Well the straight up frontal pic isn't looking too hot so far, lol. Hopefully the M-Sport Package fixes that.

No prob, glad you dig it. We may not agree on some things when it comes to these cars, but credit to you for proving to be objective here.

 

Ork1: I'd hope to believe the E has a more comfy and "user friendly" back seat, M-B's always have the edge there, it would be pretty catastrophic if the 5 took that from the E. BMW's are more driver oriented, nothing new there, I never have people in my back-seat so I don't really care. Also, the rear roof-line of the 5 really slopes down "fast", also it has a very compact back window, so the E will probably have more rear headroom.

 

Yeah it's a Euro model. I think all US models come with either of the glossified woods.

 

Forget design for a minute and think PERFORMANCE.

The 550i/M5 is, and always will be, a better driver's performance car. The E550/E63 is, and always will be, a better (Autobahn style) comfort car.

That's the difference, imho. MB will never sacrifice the comfort and softer ride, and that numb steering of the E Class. Sure, they've now acknowledged that perhaps it's a little too much on the soft side and have attempted to get the E Class a bit closer to the C Class, but never will they go so far as to make it similar to the BMW chassis. Hey, then what would all the taxi drivers, old fart real estate agents, and blue-haired ladies drive? j/k

So, it's a fine line for them to get it just about right and not betray the MB ride. And it still has to be an E Class and not quite a C and not quite a S.

As much as I like the E Class chassis as a DD, I also found the W212 not to be that much different over their W211 chassis (and I did the El Toro Airfield track day AMG invite with the W212 where we could go WOT and really abuse the car.) And that's a good thing if you want a plusher comfort car for a DD.

But for performance, as in a car to drive aggressively and toss around, the BMW chassis will always win hands down. Plus I'm assuming the choice now will be the DCT over the SMG. And don't forget BMW still offers three pedals, too.

Since I wasn't impressed enough with the W212 in both design and in performance I'll be eventually going back to BMW. But I do appreciate that MB softness, esp in city driving and on long distance freeway trips. It's the quintessential comfort cruiser. And the AMG tuned suspension and motor is very much appreciated.

BMW driver's engagement is too much of a lure for me. And even if MB goes with a TT in the E550 and E63 (which they will soon), the 550i/M5 is the choice, imho.

 

Yeah many people, including myself, haven't been even bringing that up. Design is such a hot topic right now since both cars just are launching, and since the E and 5 have switched roles in regards to how how the last gens were, style wise.

The F10 is going to be a handling and performance monster, the E60 is still a class leader in many ways, however in the past 7 years the competition has really stiffened up on it and in some cases, surpassed it, even handling wise. BMW has put a lot of effort into getting this F10 to reclaim its stronghold, and considering they have to look 7 years ahead, the fun factor will not be a comparison between the E and 5.

Looking at both cars side by side now, not only does the 5 appear younger and more agile/athletic, but its performance will doubtlessly be the case.

 

This just in...being objective means agreeing with K-A about the 212. Someone should alert Merriam-Webster. haha

But seriously, enjoy your BMW when you get it, K-A. Hope it's as good as you expect it to be. Sucks to be disappointed with a vehicle purchase of any level, but for $50,000+, it'd be even worse.

 

I don't think he will enjoy his next BMW at least 2-3 year more, until first after lease low mileage cars will get to the market....so ...be patient he'll be here for awhile )))))
He is probably a nice guy in real life, who's just trying to justify his ownership of W211, while new models (MB and BMW) are out and no possibility to get either of them....

 

Na, being objective just means giving criticism and complements where deserved, nothing is perfect.

Lol. Yeah I like to buy my cars cash, and don't like buying new. In reality, if I like it enough, I'll have no choice but to grab one much faster, but gotta wait for the M-Pack to come out.

See it as you will, not trying to justify my ownership, simply sitting in a 212 does that enough for me to be honest. If you're talking about "affording" a car (not sure if you're implying that), I think we should know better than that, especially considering most people here Lease cars, and I usually buy mine outright. If I were in the Leasing game I'd probably look a bit higher than an E350

 

Man, look at the seating angle on the 5....

Same thing as the current one - horrible back seats...

 

[QUOTE=K-A;3843371]Side by side pics. Sorry guys, this to me proves how much more athletic and youthful, not to mention cleaner, more cohesive, and elegant the 5 looks. The E just looks too tense, staunch, square/boxy, and serious, and the best angle, the front, is too overly cartoon-y, something the American makers have been doing for almost a decade now. The rear of the E looks a bit frumpy next to the 5's. I will say, although I'm not a fan of the E's disproportionate headlights, the front of the E is the only angle that beats the 5's IMO. The 5's front is its weak point it seems, much like the E's butt. Not to mention the 5's interior looks more luxurious and classier to me as well, which is a first.




Good thing they put the "luxury" version e against the sport 5...

if the e was in sport and in a dark color, as opposed to the ugliest color the offer, i think the tables would turn a bit...

 

[QUOTE=WWMIndy;3845727]Ummm... that IS the sport (AMG body) version of the E, LOL. I want to see the M pack 5, that would be nice.

Ya, current 5 series back bench is quite uncomfortable on longer drives for a $45k+ car.

One thing that has bothered me about Benzes for a while (see pic with seat switches) WHY does ONLY the S/CL/SL come with seats that the thigh section extends out vs a BMW 3 series even has that option.

But one thing that completely is a negative for me on the BMW rear is the muffler. Why is there only 1? Why? Can ANYONE at BMW explain why they go with this route? Even the 535 AND 550 have are single sided. Every MB comes with a dual muffler look. So much more cohesive IMO. And what's with audi a4 now a single muffler as well.

 

>530d has dual. Like it's on the GT.

 

I believe Gaazmon was talking about dual mufflers and not dual tips.



Here's the 7er with the dual mufflers and squared tip look:


And a PS version of what dual mufflers (and dual tips) would be like:

 

Yeah the back seat doesn't look too comfy or relaxing at all, the E has always been more catering to the comfort of all people riding.

Actually, that IS the regular version of the 5! It is completely identically comparable to what package the E has. The E's out here all have the AMG Packages as stock, which is an unfair comparo technically against the F10's we've seen released, as they're NOT Sport Packages. Fact is in regular guise, the F10 looks a lot more Sporty and "special" IMO already, once you put the (hopefully good looking) M-Pack on it, not only will it enhance the cars looks, but unlike the AMG Pack E's which are going to be Standard, they will be (M-Pack) unique and exclusive-ish. We'll see....

 

I gotta be honest, I don't think the color is really hurting the E here as much as everyone is saying. Sure it's "Gold" which is a color I as well hate, but I think it actually works for the car against the plane jane silver on the 5, I think it enhances the "elegant" factor for the E if anything, as I think if it were an identical color as the F10, the 5 would shine even more.

 

The AMG package is NOT standard on the E. There are Sport and Luxury versions. Surely you know this. You can add the Wheel package to the Sport, which has AMG wheels and a 3-spoke steering wheel. The E may have a natural sport styling to it (even in the Luxury), but it's not stock with an AMG package. You've told me that the old AMG packages pretty much made the car identical to an actual AMG. Look at a 350Sport and an E63 and clearly they are versions of the same model, but they don't look identical to me. So even though many E's will be Sports and look sporty, if one wants the car to look just like the AMG one must actually buy the AMG. If you want exclusive-ish-ness (new word!), then buy an AMG. Or an SLR. haha

All that being said, even if the AMG package (or a version of it) was standard I fail to see how that would be a bad thing. If the AMG package makes the car look better, then it's a win for consumers that they don't have to fork over another $5,000 for it. If you have to pay more to get the same effect in the BMW, then the Mercedes is a better value. Again, if you want to be exclusive, then there are plenty of exclusive Mercedes available along with a host of smaller manufacturers. Or you could move away from California to a place where every other person isn't driving a luxury vehicle.

 

Gaazmon, I don't think that's the Sport version of the E. Per the link to the write-up you can see it has 16 inch rims. Even the Luxury in America comes with 17s. Also notice the monochromatic interior. The Sport version has black on the upper and lower part of the doors. So, either the Europeans get the worst Sport version ever, or it's not the Sport. If it's the former, well then I feel badly for Europeans. haha

But either way, that's not what a Sport looks like in the US.

 

That is what we in Europe call the Elegance version, and it comes with 16" wheels. We also have the Classic and Avantgarde version. Classic is the base version, which looks horrible. With all of these versions you can add the AMG-package, which is similar to your Sport+Wheels.