Anybody have a chance to sample the competition? After getting my E63 serviced (dealer made good on taking care of me here if you remember I'm the guy who couldn't get pull forward ... service was $1200, paid $145), I had some time to kill and decided to sample some of the competition. All along Rt. 1 in Edison, NJ MB competition is available.

First stop, BMW. Since I am going to order an E550 4Matic Sport, its competition is the 550i XDrive. There was no car available to test drive unless I waited for a while. I once drove a 540 a few years ago and did not notice the so called sportiness of a BMW. I really did not want to wait, but I did look at a 535 on the showroom floor and discussed my current situation with a sales rep. Short story is that a similarly equipped 550i will cost be 5000 to 7000 more then the E550. Its HP rating is a little better 400 vs. 382 and is rated about 1-2mpg better than the Benz, possibly to the smaller engine displacement as it is TT with an 8 speed transmission. We all seem to know about the TT possibilities for 2012 and beyond for the E class. I could extend my lease and hope that the 2012 model comes with the TT, but that is stretching it a bit. But the real deal breaker against the BMW came from an unlikely event. Leaving the driver's seat I go to shut the door and it seemed like a feather weight. I proceed to open and shut the door a few times and I see the salesman off in the distance with a quizzical look on his face. He did not approach me given the fact that I guess he felt like he had gotten mugged after I grilled him about the details of the auto. So light and flimsy despite the weight of this auto being about 300 lbs MORE than the E550. I wonder if that is the weight used given nearly a full tank of gas, something which BMW does. I immediately went outside and proceeded to do the same on my E63. The door felt heavy and tank like and gave the reassuring thud when closing. So it was off to my next stop.

I went to see the Lexus GS460. Having owned 2 Lexus cars back in the 90s I am well aware that these are reliable cars, probably more so than MB. Still just looking at this car I felt it was a step backward. First the style seemed to be dated. It is less money also, but the car is fully equipped and has an 8 speed transmission. Also it lacks AWD in the GS460 (it is available in the GS350). Not sure if the HID lamps are xenons. I did the door test and it was better than the BMW, but not as good as my E63. It's HP rating is less than the E550 342 vs. 382 and the car weighs 300 lbs less. The driving experience seemed dated. It was back to the days of my Lincoln Town Car or Cadillac Deville with that soft American ride my father loved and the one I shelved 20 years ago. Salesman was nice, and new to Lexus, so he did not have all his facts together.

The next stop would have been Audi across the road. I am not an educated consumer on this make of automobile, so I decided to skip it and went to Wendy's for lunch.

After lunch I went back to the MB dealership and made a bee line for the E class on the showroom floor. My salesman and some of the women know I am a new car junkie, just like when I was a kid sitting in the new cars. They don't seem to mind as they know I have already gotten 3 from them with another soon to come. I did the door test and got my expected results. The new E class was just as solid as my current E63. When I sit in the driver's seat I also feel at home even though the W211 and W212 are vastly different cars.

 

I tested a 2011 BMW 535i. I actually bought one. I was trading in my 2008 MB and the MB dealer offered me such a low trade in price, I went next door to the BMW dealer. I kept the BMW for 3 months and traded it in for a 2011 E550. Went to a MB dealer in another city.

To me there is no comparison between the two cars. The E550 rides much better, looks much better, and handles just as well. When we first drove the E550 my wife commented on how much better it rode. I trade cars so often that she shows little interest in a new purchase. With the E550 she has commented several times on how pleased she is that I traded the BMW in on it.

 

With the E550 she has commented several times on how pleased she is that I traded the BMW in on it.
scfishnman


big thumb up here!!!

 

I was considering the new 550xi with M-sport package, but the rear bumper kills the looks of the car. There's two much plastic in the rear and its grey, which doesn't match the car at all. Why did BMW make such an ugly rear bumper for the M-sport? If the rear bumper was body colored then I might consider getting one. Most people are getting white which reflects the ugly rear bumper even more. Also, the 550xi rides higher than the regular 550i and with those 19inchers, I assume the ride quality is even worse than the 535i you tested. So E550 WINS!!!

 

Remember that the rear valance for an E550 sport is not body colored also.

 

I'm talking about the rear bumper. You're talking about the rear diffuser. For the most part, most of the E550's rear bumper is body colored except for the rear diffuser, while most of the BMW F10's rear bumper has that cheap looking gray plastic which does not resemble a diffuser.

 

Baldrad.... I feel the same when testing out the competition.
I've had Lexus and yes they are dated.
Bmw... I did not feel what all the hoopla was all about. Can not stand the IDrive interface.
Audi to me is a bit on the boring side, in terms of drive. The interiors are also boring to look at. Excluding the R8 of course.

I'm glad I went with the E550. And yes... I am a new car junkie as well.

 

I test drove the 535 Sport today, this time it was for almost an hour.

I am not sure why but the comfort seats in the 535started bothering my lower back after 20 minutes into driving the car, I adjusted in various angles etc but still I did not able to make my lower back comfy. I then test drove E350 4matic, the transmission in the Merc does not shift as fast as the one in 535 but the E350 feels lighter on its feet, comfy seats, the center console looks clean and simple, handles as good and E350 is a better looking car


IMHO the new 535 Sport has one of the best rides, very good auto, good power but feels larger and heavier than E350 4matic. The Headsup is nice, nav screen is large and hi def but somehow after the drive today the comfort seats bothered me

 

I didn't sample anyone, I knew I wanted a benz, so that's what I got myself....

 

I have a 2011 535 Xdrive on order after testing the above cars you mentioned. To me, the BMW feels much faster than the E350. The 535 seems to have much smoother shifting when driven hard, as it seems that the engine is working less hard and it is harder to feel transmission shifts. Also, I like the superior fuel economy of the 535. I am purchasing the car through the Europeon Delivery program which puts the BMW at well under US invoice, making the car quite a bit cheaper than the E350 counterpart. The BMW Europeon Delivery program is almost like "double dipping", where it appears you can negotiate a better price on a W212 at a local dealer than you can through their ED program (which is 7% discount). Now, I did also compare the 550i and E550 and felt they were a much closer comparison in terms of engine performance. Ultimately, I wanted the better fuel economy of the V6, but it would have been a much tougher choice had I been going with the V8.

Looked at the Lexus GS, which overall is a fine auto, but it seems to do everything "less well" than either the BMW or MB. Except perhaps reliability. But, its fatal flaw is that my head bumps up against the sunroof, which is incredibly annoying (I am 6'1", not that tall). Not sure who the car was designed for, but it wasn't me!

All that being said, we are now shopping for a new car for the wife and will likely get a W212. She likes the exterior and interior styling of the MB, and puts less emphasis on some of the other things. So, looks like we end up with both (a BMW F10 and MB W212). Either way, they are both fine automobiles. In my opinion, other than possibly reliability/repair costs (which we have had very good luck with on our E46 BMW), both brands offer vastly superior cars to the competition. Good luck!

 

If you believe Edmunds (insideline.com), real-world gas mileage on the E550 (19.3) blows away the 550i (16-ish). The 550 is not supposed to be substantially worse than the 350. I currently get about 20-21 on my '07 E350 4MATIC. If Edmunds is right, then it's only about 1-2 MPG worse on the 550 compared to 350, which is consistent with the EPA ratings.

 

Totally agree with the first part.

Would be interested in your opinions if you do end up getting both.

 

To each his own.

I don't really have any strong brand preferences. I always test the competition and buy the car I like the best.

 

The seats are obviously very important. If you really like the 535 I would suggest you take another ride. One if the problems with the sport seats is that there are so many adustments that it takes some time to find what works for you.

Good luck with your decision.

 

What exactly did you not like about the iDrive interface?

Where do you feel the COMAND interface is better?

 

The new F10 uses aluminium in the doors reducing weight by 50 pounds.

BMW claims the mean body strength and stiffness is 55% better than the previous model.

 

BMW must of not realized that most people perceive quality, integrity, and durability of an object by it's mass. We as consumers generally as a 1st impression judge this from the door of a car. As many of you may not know, this is a major problem in the consumer industry as a whole. Many companies fabricate casing and whatever they build out of heavier metals to fool the customer into thinking it as a higher quality item, whether it is or not. With so many plastics and cheaper products that have been made of the last few decades, it's of no wonder we judge the quality of a product by it's weight and feel. Products today are generally lighter and of less quality than the products they have replaced so why would buyers assume cars are any different. Maybe if BMW was going to shave some weight, maybe they should of thought of another area.

 

Indeed, door sound is "engineered" to some extents.

That said, the BMW's doors feel kind of flabby and generic, and I LOVE the M-B "throwback" feel of the W212's "clink" sound.

 

My front doors make the reassuring thud that I expect from the E-Class, but strangely my rear doors are not the same. They sound as though something is loose inside the door. One passenger remarked that I had a window open when he shut the door, as I guess the rattle sounds like a loose window might.

 

I love the new E550. Ride quality is much better than my old BMW X5. Steering is lighter, yet handles better. The X5's steering was way too heavy for normal driving; good for highways though. Power delivery is smooth and everything feels solid. I guess that's why they call it a Mercedes-Benz. I used to be a BMW guy, but now I'm a Mercedes guy. This new E class feels like its 3 or 4 generations ahead of the W211. The interior is luxurious, sporty, comfortable, and better than the F10's in my opinion. The F10's interior although simplistic and modern, didn't feel like it was in the same class as the Mercedes and more in the class of the Audi A6. I have not driven the new F10, but power delivery is strong and smooth in the E class. This new E class feels more like an S class and attention to detail is incredible. I've seen couple of W212 on the road, but I have yet to see a F10. Maybe the F10 is new but I have not seen one on the road yet, which seems that everyone is hopping on the Mercedes wagon.

 

That's weird. Mine sound perfectly fine I'm pretty sure.

 

Interesting comparison between an SUV and a sedan.

 

I was very disappointed in the seats in the 2011 BMW 535i that I had. Unlike the seats in the Mercedes, the BMW seat bottom extends as a separate section leaving a significant open space between the two parts (a great place for all kinds of debris to collect) and it looks terrible. Also, the seat massage is an irritating lifting of one side of the bottom part of the seat at a time.

As for the IDrive: its operation is not intuitive as is that of the MB Command system.

 

Like a lot of things it comes down to familiarity and personal preference.

I'm a fast learner so getting comfortable with the iDrive, COMAND (or Audi MMI) is easy for me.

Having said that, there are some things on the iDrive that are extremely beneficial. You can program the "preset" buttons to control any function. For example, you can use preset #1 to automatically switch to NAV and select your home address destination. You can select preset #2 to automatically switch to satellite and select your favorite station.

With the COMAND you would need to select NAV or radio and then drill down the functions until you get to where you want to go. This requires extra steps and takes your attention away from driving.

 

The doors may use lighter weight aluminium but they still close with a reassuring "thud" and the quality of materials inside and out is befitting of a luxury car in this class.

If you are concerned about safety, the new 5 series was one of one 2 cars to earn the 5 Star safety rating for 2011.