I stopped receiving the auto mags for the exact same reason. Top Gear (UK only) is the only one I'll read through and I love the TV show on BBC America.

Not to mention, the E60 hurt the W211 in sales throughout their production runs. The W212 not only reversed that, but rained on the F10 5-Series' "first year parade" (which is usually the most inflated of all a cars model years since it's a first year design) by significantly outselling it last year.

Indeed. The W212 has been great for MB so far. The one segment where MB handily loses to BMW is in the small luxury segment, where the C-class is losing to the 3-series. Unfortunately for MB, this is where it wished it did better because this is the best selling segment for both automakers. With a new refreshed 3-series, MB (most probably) won't have a chance at outselling BMW here, unlike what the W212 did (and continues to do) to the F10.

Wow. MB "trounced" BMW by 119 cars........NATIONWIDE in the E vs. 5 category! You are right. But I am not surprised that the E is outselling the 5 by a few units. From personal observation, I'm betting the average E-Class driver is considerably older than the average 5-Series driver. Most younger car enthusiasts will prefer performance and quality over comfort and the aura of the 3-pointed star. That may explain why combined sales of BMW outpaced MB by a significant margin. Did you notice that the YTD Change in car sales was -2.6% for BMW and -8.0% for MB? The numbers for March of this year show BMW is up 21.4% while MB is down -8.8%. Also notable, the Lexus GS numbers are up a whopping 494%. The competition is getting tough!

119 units is for the month of March only. YTD (3 months so far), the E has an 1164 unit advantage over the 5. Nevertheless, "trouncing" is more applicable to rest of the competition (A6, GS, etc), where sales numbers aren't even close.

I wouldn't be surprised if the average E driver is older than the 5-series driver. But yes, I would also generalize by saying that the younger enthusiast would prefer performance over comfort. As for quality, that is debatable. Some would say the E is still better made (and/or has higher quality materials) than the 5, others would say vice-versa. But if you also mean reliability/quality, that's even more debatable in favor of the E.

Nevertheless, if performance/sporty driving is what I'm looking for, I would take an F30 3 series over all of them.

Wow!!! I had really high regard for the A7 until I saw these pics... Makes me REALLY GLAD I chose the E... It looks so much sexier than the A7... Although the A7 would definitely appeal to the "sportier" side of me, E wins hands down! -- IMO -- But tell me, is the A7 really a competitor for the E? I would think it would be better matched against the CLS or another similar model M-B...?

No one cares about your trollness Mr. troll.

Majorly agreed. Glad to see more people here who find the E to be as stunning as I do.

Get a sense-of-humor K-A. We're all auto enthusiasts here. No need to get your panties in a bunch.

Nice try, Trolly.

Let's see you show up in any Threads in this Forum to not misguidedly bash the W212 and talk up some other car. I was one of you once, then I saw the light. You obviously come around here for a reason, just get one and join the club.