Just curious as to your decision.
For me, I just missed the V8 feel. Price difference wasn't too drastic between the two. Also somewhere in my mind, I felt that resale would be a bit better on the 550.

 

I'm not certain about the "better" resale, but there is no substitute for 382 HP and a fat torque of 391 ft lbs! The adjustable suspension is also a big plus in my book. The E350 felt sluggish to me when I tested a 2010 model. The E550 was in a different class all around

YMMV

 

+1 on that..

 

No resale better. I can’t sell my old E430 better than E320. Say more people will prefer to take E320. Using powerful engine is useless in an area where I live, too crowd roads. Any Civic will be faster than E550 or E63. Friend of mine was ashamed in his E63 since I could find a better spot and won our race. So paying even little more just complete waste, unless you want to show I am rich. But take S class in this case.

 

+1 on the 350 feeling sluggish. Granted, I'm coming from a C63AMG. A 550 seemed like a nice balance between the two. The difference in price was pretty minor over the life of the car.

 

my thoughts on how I arrived at the V8:
-In context of the auto universe - the V6 is a great engine and certainly powerful enough...its only "sluggish" relative to the larger engines available for this car.
-I enjoy driving powerful cars and feel that I am able to use the power on sufficient occasion to justify the added cost and fuel/maintenance expense. The way I drive I felt a very big difference between the V6 and V8. The blast onto a freeway/occasional high speed run on an open empty stretch of highway/passing on 2 lane roads - it makes a big difference.
-I plan to drive the car well over 100k miles so resale was not a big driver
-Didnt get the E63 because I needed 4matic and think the added premium is excessive.

 

I agree, I felt like I need a V8......too many v6's out there LOL......

 

Resale will definitely be a lot better on the E350. Even taking into consideration the E550's premium when new, after a few+ years, the E350 can even sell for more in the Used market.

Price was the main factor for me. I already stretched myself way past my chosen budget on this car, so the P2/Pano was as far as I wanted to push it.

At the same time, I drive like a Grandma, and never use the power on tap on my V6. And when I do, I'm usually pretty satisfied with it.

Having that extra power, and not using it, whilst being in SoCal's congestion, just made it a not-too-big-a-deal. MPG's aren't my biggest concern, but I'm happy with the better mileage.

My main fear of V6's are the potential weak sound, and the un-refined feel compared to a more balanced V8. I find the 3.5 to be as smooth as it gets for a 6'er, and also it sounds great for a 6'er, so that helped as well.

2 other things are slightly better insurance prices (again, I'll take it, but definitely not a deciding factor for me), and if keeping for the long haul, with the pot-hole ADDLED roads out here, I'd hate to have them tearing up the Airmatic. At the same time, I could use the extra smoothness of it.

Anyway, if I bought the car used, I would have gone E550. New, I went E350, and am more than happy and fine with the decision.

 

I went from a Lexus V8 to the MB E350 4M P2 DP MY 10. I drove the 550 and the 350 and liked both. I just could not envision my ever using or needing the 550's extra power. After looking over both cars they "appear" the same, externally. MY 350 has more than enough power for me. The sound is fine as I accidentally hit the left paddle shifter at a light once and then "pushed" hard on the gas peddle - car "took off" with a very nice muffler tone. I was surprised in the difference in the car and and now know it has a "reserve" of power whenever I want to "show off" (which I doubt will happen very often).

 

Sure...I'd rather have a 550, but I am more than happy with the 350. When I need a little extra juice or wanna drive more agressively I just go to paddle shifters. Just my 2 cents.

 

I have yet to drive a car with too much power, but I have driven them without enough. For me, there is nothing like roaring onto the freeway with the 550. Plenty of power to spare. Resale on the V8 will absolutely be better, as 350's are everywhere, but I am not too concerned about resale. Cars are horrible investments.

Drive both and pick the one that makes sense to you.

 

Historically, MB V8s have always suffered the highest % depreciation compared to V6 or diesel models, made even worse during periods of rising gas prices.

As for cars being "horrible investments", this is so true, especially for MB models which have the second highest rate of depreciation next to Porsche.
The only way I can justify buying a new W212 is to keep it for at least 10 years; that's why I will likely buy an E350 BT. Over a span of 10 years, the diesel version will cost about $15,000 - $18,000 (fuel cost savings & maintenance) less to operate compared to a V8 with airmatic suspension.

 

My reasons for E550 vs E350.......#1 reason was Ventilated Seats....then #2 torque of the V-8......I don't drive many miles so mpg was not a factor for me.

 

Cars aren't 'horrible investments.'

They aren't investments, period. Unless you buy a true collector car, which can appreciate in value, cars only have value in their 'use value.' And it's that 'use value' that we pay for. The purchase price, cost of ownership, and depreciation over a period of time is what we pay for as 'use.' If you want to buy an E550 over an E350, then you're simply paying for the 'use value' that the E550 gives you.

Some people feel the 'use value' of a Honda Accord is fine over the more costly 'use value' of a Porsche 997TT. Or an E350 over an E550. That's okay. 'Use value' means different things to different people.

 

Well said. I've been leasing MB's for years. I only have to pay what I use, not the residual value or some other trade-in number. The insurance on my 2011 E550 was LESS than what I had been charged for my 2009 C300! The ventilated seats work really well, BTW

 

No they dont. They suck!

 

When I buy/lease a car, I just look at it like the money is going down the drain/into something that I want and will "consume" (like food, etc.). The fact that I could get something back for it, is a perk. Some people do drugs, alcohol, etc., I do cars. If I was buying a car for only an appliance, then I'd definitely pinch more in terms of making sure I always make the only the wisest choice, financially.

I went to a Classic Car Dealer once, and asked how they're doing in this Economy; the guy said: "Great! When the Stock Market crumbled and people lost all that money, some sold and bought Classics, which were investments that at least won't depreciate, and can bring some emotional return". Could have been a selling point, but it sounded good to me.

Oh, and the E550 or any V8 to a V6 variant (at least M-B wise), will depreciate much worse than an E350, etc. The reason there are little E550's out there is simply due to supply/demand, and believe that it shows when these cars can hit the used market.

 

Correct! The air blows out the back of the seat. I can feel significant cooling effect on my back within minutes of turning on the seat fans.

 

The ventilated seats is a feature I wish I had here in Florida on my 350 oh well, I'll live

 

I love the E550 especially on the highway driving. I also enjoy the airmatic suspension. The problem is that I have started driving faster (and thus getting more speeding tickets) since upgrading from my Acura. You just don't notice the higher speeds as much since this thing can flat take off. Especially like how it leaves other cars in the dust on uphill portions of the highway.

 

I went with an E550 4matic because for $5000 more over the E350 you can get a 5.5L V8 engine and an airmatic suspension. I have 2003 BMW X5 4.4i that I have driving for 8 years. Once you go V8 you can never go back to V6.

 

I think the term investment means something different to you than it does to me. When I allocate my money towards the purchase of property, I am making an investment. I am not a car dealer, so I have never made money on the resale of any car I have owned. Therefore, I consider cars bad investments.

It's 'use value' to me is something entirely different. I understand your concept, however my MB dealership sold me a car with its price determined by the sum of its components with premium tacked on for the badging. They didn't price the car based upon my subjective 'use value' so I didn't pay for that value. How can you pay for something that you can't quantify? I paid for a beautiful chunk of steel, rubber, glass and computers. The 'use value' is incidental to the purchase.

 

In the context of my post, we need to look at the actual definitions of the terms "investment" and "use-value." Then perhaps it makes more sense.

If you use another definition of your own, then of course what I said doesn't make sense.

Investment: "Investment is the commitment of money or capital to purchase financial instruments or other assets in order to gain profitable returns in the form of interest, income, or appreciation of the value of the instrument."

Use value: "Use value or value in use is the utility of consuming a good; the want-satisfying power of a good or service in classical political economy.[1] (In Marx's critique of political economy, any labor-product has a value and a use-value, and if it is traded as a commodity in markets, it additionally has an exchange value, most often expressed as a money-price.[2] Marx acknowledges that commodities being traded also have a general utility, implied by the fact that people want them, but he argues that this by itself tells us nothing about the specific character of the economy in which they are produced and sold.") Classical economists (eg Adam Smith) used a "theory of value," (or price) to understand what propels economies. Value theory covers various ways of understanding how, why, and to what degree humans value things.

You do pay for use value, in the cost of that commodity. You're paying for the use value you feel the E550 gives you over the E350. They are both cars and their utility is the same (transportation) but their satisfying power is different.

 

I think we are saying basically the same thing, however I consider any 'use value' to an intangible and unquantifiable portion of the cost of the car. Obviously people value things differently - in terms of pure cost, use value and likely a varying combination or ratio of the two.

Like I said in my first post; drive them both and pick the one you like (or that has the most 'use value' to you ).