vhl71

Deliberating between 2012 A6 - 535 X drive and E350 4matic.

Test drove all of them

535 - very nice drive - particularly the steering. You feel the connection between the steering and the road (very similar to my Cayenne in terms of feel)

E350 - didn't particularly like the old classic style. Drive is very smooth. Don't feel the bumps on the road when you drive. very comfortable. Very spacious inside.

A6 - actually I drove the a7 which is exactly the same as a6 except for the shape.
Steering felt very light. While it was comfortable to drive, don't have the joy of driving.

So I'm confused between three of these. Prices are pretty close between all of them

Any advise or Opinion?

ghstudio

[QUOTE=vhl71;4923786]Deliberating between 2012 A6 - 535 X drive and E350 4matic.

535 - nice drive but not exciting. Fixed seat belt height on the B pillar ruled this car out because it cut at my wife's neck (she's 5'0").

A6 - I enjoyed driving the A6 and it was one of my final choices

e350 - I'd driven diesels in Europe this past year, so I tried the bluetec. Since I prefer to lease and short leases, the residual on the bluetec made this a much cheaper option. But the real reason I bought it was that it rides so well, has all the pick up I need both in town and on an interstate, and my wife hates cars that use premium gas. Since the bluetec is about 25% more efficient than the gas e350, even with the price of diesel fuel, it's much cheaper to drive than a car that takes regular fuel. Easy decision...and I love the car. I've had BMW's a few infiniti M's and this car is far better than all of them. No, it's not a porsche turbo...but I don't do that kind of driving.

Of course you are looking for 4wd...so you might rule out the bluetec (unless you want to jump to the S)...but throw it in the mix...what the heck

MCF

Interesting... I have read MANY MANY places that the steering on the 535 is dead and the worst thing BMW has ever done. Google 'BMW 535 steering problem'. Notorious problem with the car drifting to the right due to electronic assisted steering. BMW is actually buying cars back from people due to the on-going problem (and alignments, strut replacement, etc. etc. doesn't solve the problem - its a computer glitch).

K-A

I think I said this awhile back, in the same chock, but the F10 has a fixed seatbelt position? That's shocking. The cheapest Econ Cars in the world have adjustable positions.

CEB

This thread may help.

storm10

Hey K-A, did you black out the front apron on your E - a la AMG? I can't tell, or it's just a shade on your photo?

K-A

Yeah, I blacked it out (Vinyl wrap).

CedarZ4

This is an MB forum so answers might be biased but... here's my take.

Both cars are dime a dozen. They are all fantastic luxury MID level cars and gives great bang for your buck. However, Audis never change their styles... so 2012 A6 looks exactly like the 2000 A6s... except you have LED DRLs. Boring.

BMWs are really nice car, and I definitely have considered getting an 5 series. However, the thing with BMW is, they look nice, but are too plain. This makes it even worse since they're all over the street to begin with.

Now for the E. Not only has it had a completely new design in 2009, it also has a contemporary styling. I can see old classic styling on the W211, but definitely not on the W212. But, it is a hit or miss car. Others will think, WTF just happened, and the rest will just fall in love. However, even though they are a dime a dozen, at least it looks unique and IMHO, not bad unique ever. It's like a quarter and the gold dollar. Yeah, gold dollars are everywhere... but they're GOLD and quarters like every other coin (Except pennies) are silver...

And... I just special ordered my own 2012 W212 today so biased opinion. I don't know where I saw it but there is this really good comparison of a BMW 5 and E350 next to each other from different angles. Really gives prospective.

Arrie

I have never owned any BMW or Audi A6. I have driven and been riding in several of them and did own an Audi Q7.

I always thought that Audi and BMW have developed to make as good quality cars as MB until I had my first MB driving experience. When I bought my current E350 it totally changed my thinking, Audi and BMW do not make as good quality as MB.

There is one thing I can thank Audi and BMW though - Due to the competition they make it affordable for me to own and drive a Mercedes-Benz.

ngerstman

All nice cars. Have heard reliability issues regarding BMW. A co worker's rear end went bad on his 535 after one month! He had to wait six weeks for the part. I have been driving Mercedes for 20 years and my e550 is the most solid feeling of all of them. Almost one year old and no problems or rattles so far. I'm surprised you describe the design as old classic, my take is that it is modern and evolutionary of the e class, I'm very pleased with the design. Don't have much to say about the Audi other than nice interiors and great stereos but they also have a sketchy reliability history. You might check out the nitpicks thread in this forum to get some more color on the e's. I'm sure any of these would be great and give you much satisfaction assuming that you don't get a lemon. As was pointed out, you are on a Mercedes forum so we are biased, but it does seem to me that the new e's are generally pretty trouble free. Best of luck. Ned.

CedarZ4

If I'm not mistaken, this was about 10 years ago BEFORE Audi buckled up and started being competitive. In the past 10 years, especially past 5, they have been coming up with extremely competitive and reliable vehicles as a whole. But someone do correct as I'm not a big Audi fan and don't follow up on them.

As for the W212 being generally trouble free, yes. However, you must also consider this. If you are getting a 2012, it will have the new direct injection engine. Some people say never buy a car in it's first year of production especially if it has had a major change (engine) so the kinks can be worked out in later updates and other's have experienced problems with DIs in general (not just MB, but Audi, BMW and VW) because of clogged valves by carbon build up. However, this isn't a "deciding" factor because if I'm not mistaken, the new 5s are DI as well. Not sure about the Audis.

stemags

Im not going to try and compare the Audis n Bmws to the Benz,but here's my take on why and why not. My 1st Benz maintained its solid feel ride and agile handling til the day I traded it in,105k and 9 yrs 10 mos.(NYC roads) To be fair I used the advice of some $$ guys who drove them all and and what I kept hearing is real nice but....or lots of toys but...NOT a Benz.
If its bang for your buck thats important to you rest assured you'll get it with the Benz,in fact I received over book value for my 02 E,,nearly unheard of.The insurance I pay dropped as well. Hi on the saftey ladder and never seems to forget to consider the driver et al.
And dont forget you only pass this way once,,so why waste time settling or second guessing.Im not saying any car is perfect but I find myself driving the "long " way more with this car as if it was my first.
Someone mentioned because of the competition in todays euro-luxury cars the price is more attainable for more people,,I believe it. Just think what you could afford if the dollar comes back.
All these things only scratch the surface,,looks, finish,smoothness thru the gears,power when u want it are all part of the equation too. IMHO dont settle

hyperion667

Mercedes!

Arrie

Just a comment on the dollar and its puying power.

At this moment the same German cars cost close to double in Germany (and other European countries) to buy. A big part of the cost, of course, is taxes but I personally checked the price of an E350 (close to same P2 Sport as mine) at the main MB dealer in Stuttgart right at the MB head office (build together with the museum) and its price out the door from factory was 59 000 Euro, which with todays exchange rate translates to $79650 before taxes. In Germany I think the only addition is the VAT at 19% but other countries can have way higher car taxation and usually do.

It is just amazing how these cars are sold so cheap here. If dollar gets back I think pricing stays the same as the German and other foreign companies have been selling under prized due to the market area. They can't just up the prices by 60% what exchange rate swing would warrant compared to early Euro days to now (exchange rate chaged from about 0.83 to 1.35) so to keep selling (and I'm sure they still make goooood profit) they just must keep market area pricing. I don't expect the prices come down even if the miracle of our dollar getting strong again would happen.

K-A

With Europe in such a disastrous mess right now, I wouldn't be surprised if their Euro tanks akin to how the Dollar did.

threeMBs

That is the reason they make you sign a waver not to export a new car outside the US for one year. That "rule" is in effect for the last twelve years (at least). All (foreign) cars I bought in that time frame had one of those mandatory. Could be longer - I just do not remember past 12 years.

CEB

What Euro?

Unless they figure out a way to fix that mess, the next generation may just ask "mommy, what's a Euro?"

K-A

True. I'm just sick of looking at the Market at some point in the day and thinking "WTF happened", then reading the now-redundant articles about how "Everybody's fearful about the Euro disaster". I'm over it, as far as I'm concerned, it's already hit the skids, time to accept it and move on! We have our own problems....

CEB

Huh? I've bought audis, VW and BMW during that time and I've never heard of that.

CEB

What's even sadder is our "Dutch tulip bulb" mentality when it comes to the markets. On any given given day the market is rising because Greece is "stabilizing" then the next day (or later that same day) the market falls and that is blamed on Greece's instability. Feel free to replace the word "Greece" with the names of a host of other nations. The Eurozone is being held together with spit and promises - neither of which lasts very long.

K-A

Ohh man, you really hit the nail on the head.

Today: "World ending! Euro exploding! Greece about to be eaten! Investors jittery/fearful, selling everything at discount! Fire sale! Stock up on Gold, the worlds about to end!".

Tomorrow (or later today): "Sentiment up as Greece stabilizes, baby Jesus seen shaking hands with Greek leaders, Markets rally".

And so true about replacing "Greece" with anything else, once Greece becomes "old news" (boy do I wish for that to happen). As someone else said, the Euro Zone is designed to fail. If it ain't Greece, it's Italy, etc. etc. It's a Market manipulators dream, all rumor, no fact, just change the headlines around and the Markets will react. When will investors stop being such scaredy cats?

Ahhhh, this is very O/T, but the venting is necessary.

threeMBs

Realy? Strange.

1. There is a difference between buying (getting a title) and leasing (no title - no waver).

2. It definely applied to every MB I bough in the last 12 years. Starting with my first one in '08, a '99 CLK, I was shocked to sign anything like that. It was explained to me that due to MBs being a lot more expensive abroad, MBUSA made every new retail purchase (not lease) to sign a 1 year non-export waver. I'm preaty sure same happened when bought '05 A8.

3. If memory serves me right, you ordered a W212. When you'll be taking a delivery, as long as it is not a lease, but a retail purchase, you will be signing this waver. No questions about it.

CEB

I've always bought my cars and have never been asked to any sort of document like that. Such a document would be totally unenforceable and absurd. I'd venture a bet that a large percentage of MBs sold in Florida are exported to Germany or Canada within weeks of being purchased.

Has anyone else heard of this?

threeMBs

1. When was the last time you purchased (for cash only, not loan - remember loan issuer has a lien on the car, so can't export) a new MB and where? There are a ton of papers to sign - do you care to read everyone of them? Normally, there is a duplicate of almost everything one signs, however this paper is not one of them.

2. I'm not an expert on how it can (or can not) be enforced, so I'll pass on that.

3. Many Florida residents are foreigners - maybe it does not apply to them (just a wild geuss).


More improtantly, I'm a pothalogical lier and have nothing else to do on a beautifull Sunday morning in FL than to spread bs here, so please ignore everything I said.

CEB

You sign documents you don't read and then you don't even keep copies of all of them?

I'm thinking you might be mistaken as nobody else here has jumped in with confirmation.

I should be able to verify in a week or so when I get my car. If I order one then it'll be a while, but I'll ask the dealer in a few minutes when I meet with them.

Maybe it is something only for "pothalogical lier" from Florida.