K-A

Avoid Maserati. The GT is beautiful, but a POS.

The Quattroporte is a notorious POS. Always breaking down, interior bits fall apart. I sat in one recently and the plastics had turned into this DISGUSTING sticky "rubber" feel, as if someone spilled Coke all over it. It's a problem that plagues its sister Ferrari plastics as well. The leather inside the QP is beautiful, but otherwise, horrible interior quality.

IMO the Panamera is the best 4-door blend of exotic (unique, exclusivity) and mass manufactured (dependable, backed by a big corp, dealer support, etc.) for the price.

brauhaus313

If I had to do it over again, I might have gone this route. Quite nice and low d-bag factor. I actually like that you can tuck the nav screen away if you'd like.

hyperion667

wow, look at those wheels!


wait, our cars don't have the D-bag factor do they?????

K-A

Audi's actually are getting a big d-bag factor ironically due to the smugness of a select stereotype of owner who subscribes to the notion that they by choosing Audi are now the "anti d-bag".

Nobody has a heavier d-bag stereotype than BMW though, every time someone's driving like a moron on the road..... it's a BMW!

I think Audi's reserved and simple/clean styling is aesthetically less shouty than M-B and BMW's more fussy current designs, therefore making it aesthetically appear less "look at me"! i.e less "d-bag" to some, however one thing that just kills it for me is the FWD architecture and proportions. I just have a hard time spending over $20K on a FWD car, or AWD car on FWD architecture.

brauhaus313

uhmm...ok. Up to you if you want to discount the merits of Quattro, especially in it's newest iteration.

brauhaus313

Haha, no not at all. I didn't realize how what I wrote may have read that way.

I'm talking more about BMW's and P-cars (to a lesser extent). I'd still rock a 911 anyday, all day, everyday.

K-A

Quattro is awesome no doubt, I'm speaking stylistically and architecturally, the A6 is still a FWD proportioned car, which is a huge no no for anything but an Economy Car in my book. Audi has gone through great lengths to give their newest cars very RWD proportions, but they're still showing too much FWD proportionally to my tastes.

As far as driving, I don't even ever wanna drive a FWD Audi. Quattro is the only way.

hyperion667

very glad!
I actually have never really liked BMW........and the people driving them DO always seem to be kind of smug.......and I have not seen anything but smug-ness exude from Porsche guys eitherthis is from my personal dealings with them at C&C in Cary.....

I am anything but smug.....I wave back to people......make faces, try to flirt with chix and Moms.......and of course, when I see a nice car I always
give respect.......
I also think our cars are percieved as kind of snobbish......you guys think so?

brauhaus313

I can see that, but in the "grey poupon" sense, not the d-bag sense. For me, more than the smugness, it's the goatee/stunner glasses/straight brimmed trucker hat E46ers with gunslinger attitudes revving up on everyone.

hyperion667

hyperion667

nyca

Read reviews and the forums on Audis - A6/7/8 - the brakes are horrible. Mushy, long pedal travel, bad feel, hard to modulate. Nice cars, nice interiors, test drive the Audis before buying and note the braking. BMWs all have run flats and don't come with a spare of any kind.

leapingpoint

porsche makes everyday cars.

maserati makes show cars.


at the end of day, cars should make our lives easier, not living hell.

BenzE350

Yes, no cars are perfect - and all have some issues.

Most complaints about the BMW 535xi are centered around run flat tires, throttle tip-in, and steering feel (compared to the former E60).

Most complaints about the Audi A6 are centered around brake feel, seats, light steering, pop-up nav, and poor Bose audio.

BenzE350

Finally made a decision. I purchased an Audi A7 Premium Plus in brilliant black with cold weather and side assist.

Looking forward to picking it up next week.

BM2BZ

congrats! even we are not audi forum but we certainly don't mind to see some pics and hope you'll still swing by every now and then .

waxking1

Congratulations and nice choice. I've enjoyed this thread and have an X5(wife's car) lease ending in about 4 months. Mostly considering the E550 now.

MBNUT1

You go boy! Complete stunner. Most excellent choice. If I had the bank and wasn't a Mercedes loyalist due to my Dad's corruption 50 years ago, that would easily be my car of choice.

hyperion667

sounds premium!
has rear thorax side airbags too!
hope it's fun too!

BenzE350

I will try to get a shot of the A7 next to my E350 (both are black). I have always enjoyed K-A's comparison shots.

Thanks!

Thanks! I can't remember the last time I was so excited to pick up a new car.

DieselNY

I am thinking of jumping ship myself, my last 2 cars have been an E350 so instead of getting a 3rd one just to be annoyed when the new body comes out soon (my lease is up in late Jan 2013) I decided to look at BMW. I am leaning towards (75% chance) of a 535i Xdrive w/M sport package. I always thought the 5 series was a bigger car but its pretty much the same body length, I was hoping for bigger though but yeah pretty much convinced I am getting the BMW then maybe after 36/39 months come back to Mercedes and get into a CLS 550. There is nothing wrong with my E350, just looking to try something new. Sadly the best part about the BMW is that shifter is back in the center console, man I missed having it there. I know such a stupid small thing but will love to have that thing back in my hand when I am driving.

BenzE350

I was also leaning towards the 535xi M-Sport but changed my mind for a few reasons: run flat tires, better engine / transmission on the Audi, desire for something different (having owned an E60 535xi). I am also looking forward to checking out the next generation E series in 3 years.

If you get the 535xi M-Sport consider Alpine White - it looks great in this color.

DieselNY

Yeah I am trying to learn more about those RFT, seems a lot of complaints and people say to get the wheel and tire insurance. I am not mechanically inclined in any way, if a car looks sharp and has some pep then I get it...I am not always familar with all the technical details.. so the 5 series looked good to me. Is the problem with the RFT's is that they just suck at dealing with pot holes and are expensive? We have way too many potholes in my area and almost always replacing tires on my W212 and have bent rims.

Also interesting you mention Audo... I saw an A7 in the parking lot the other day a white one and I did not know what it was, looked sharp until it got to the rear, I thought it was a Jetta so the backend completely turned me off.

Also I have an addiction to black cars, though white looks nice on the BMW I hate the black diffuser in the back and it turned me off to that. The jet black looks sick on the 535 so I will go with that with a cinnomon interior or maybe black. The only time I ever considered white when I was recenty looking at a CLS 550 but I think I will wait on that until I am done with my next lease which will probably be with the 535.

BenzE350

Yes, the RFT get complaints from poor ride, bubbles, blowouts, and expensive replacements. If you have experienced problems with your W212 I would recommend the tire & rim insurance.

Yes, looks are very subjective. Some people do not like the rear, however, the power hatch does provide for some amazing cargo carrying possibilities.

LOL. I have the same problem. I also look at every possibly color option but always seems to end up with a black car.

BenzE350

A few pics...