some questions on the E
The way the control wheel slides up when you start the XF adds to the experience. Same goes for the vent designs flipping over and being an integral part of and flowing with the dashboard where in the new E the vents stand out as a main design future that does not look very well designed at all to me.
If they wanted to make the E feel more luxury/limo like then that's fine with me. But then why offer a sport package version while keeping the inside the same as the luxury version? They should have used the seats and the shifter design from the new E coupe in the sport version. If one wants the bigger Mercedes that's still 4 doors and is sporty, one has to go with the CLS. But the kicker is that the 2011 CLS, being a sport sedan ALSO has the shifter now moved in to the steering column

I don't think Ian C. is a flawless designer, but he seems to be on somewhat of a roll so far (all things considered).
I'm curious to see where Jag goes. I like that they're saying they want to go back to being "exclusive, sexy cars", and cut out the mass-produced stuff. I wish M-B and/or BMW would stop whoring themselves out so much, but oh well. Major issue with Jags future, is how "Tata" will do with them. That's enough to keep me away for now.
My .02.



Ford brought better quality control and hopefully Tata will bring financial strength - retaining the British luxury and independence.



Ford brought better quality control and hopefully Tata will bring financial strength - retaining the British luxury and independence.
I personally think the W212 and F10 designs are superior designs, but all are great in their own ways, it really depends on who's approach you prefer. Good thing is everyone is doing what they've historically done best: Jag building sexy cars with feminine beauty qualities, Benz building sharp, prestigious and confident cars, and BMW building smooth, sporty and slick cars (albeit still too "fat"/bloated, but better than the gen 1 Bangle designs).
Regarding Jag, I hope that Tata does well with them, as their designs deserve to get more road-time. I'd love to see more XF's on the road, taking away sales from M-B and BMW, as it makes for nice variety.

something about the Benz just drew me in......I didn't know anyone with one, I had never driven one, had no experience with them, it kind of just seemed like a perfect choice for me. Although I still admire Jaguar's a great deal, the recent change has left me longing for the xj's from just a couple of years ago.....
...but I'm definitely a MB guy now I think.....
The Best of Mercedes & AMG

something about the Benz just drew me in......I didn't know anyone with one, I had never driven one, had no experience with them, it kind of just seemed like a perfect choice for me. Although I still admire Jaguar's a great deal, the recent change has left me longing for the xj's from just a couple of years ago.....
...but I'm definitely a MB guy now I think.....


Believe me, I know this very well.
After driving BMW's for several years I decided to try the new MB E350. After 2 years I might look at the newly redesigned Audi A6, improved 535, updated Jag, etc.
IMO life is too short to keep driving the same line of cars - even very good ones.
It all just depends on the person. To me, as much as I kicked and screamed toward the W212, I still ended up with one. I think that it's just something in my blood, like a family effect.

I wouldn't want to own 2 M-B's though. Essentially, I'd like to have my M-B as one car, and have another revolving-brand car on the side, perfect scenario for me (or revolving "cars" even better).
Certainly if M-B dropped the ball enough that I genuinely didn't like their product/s, I wouldn't just buy one for the sake of it, or for the name, that wasn't what I was saying.





