v12driven

In my case, the W212 has done almost the opposite of 'growing on me'.

From the initial test drive to now, my experience is that the car continues to impress me with value that far surpasses my initial expectations prior to first seeing it in person.

v12driven

K-A: by the way, although we must apparently agree to disagree, I thoroughly enjoy reading your posts nonetheless.

K-A

Thank you for taking to this healthily.

I feel like the people who get bent about what I say, take what I say too much to heart. These are just cars, after all, I like this one, you like that one, what's the problem?

Fact is, we can have passionate debates about which car is better without resorting to taking it personally. Tell me the 5er sucks.... all good! I'm not going to lash out at you for it, I'll just rebut with why I think otherwise. That's what makes forums interesting.

stale-bread

K-A, in these past few months are people bashing the 5er? I dont think so. Yet you constantly bash the W212. People are annoyed with YOU. Why can't you admit that?? Gosh, you appear to be so self absorbed...

fintail

Sport does seem to be in the minority for F10 - which makes the majority of them somewhat bland, of course - the base wheels catch my eye from some distance. I don't know if the non-sport model is luxury, or just a bigger lease special 3 series. I have a P2/pano/Bluetec car, I like having something relatively unusual, too.

When I first drove a W212, a lower spec cloth car in Germany, I thought "W124", and I still think that - and I think that model influenced the interior. Some of the plastics are old school, but I don't think they are cheap per se.

K-A

Good points. Unfortunately, M-B are going even further with the "one sausage" theme now, as the W205 C looks literally like a sized down S, sans the corporate "Star grille" change. The lines and forms, lights, etc. are identically shaped to even further degrees than the 3/5/7 or even homogenous Audi Sedans.

I think that the W212 (pre-facelift, looks wise) harkens a W126 theme, of course with M-B's modern styling themes/gimmicks/what-have-you's taken into account. But I can see the W124 harkening inside. The W212 interior is very 80's-esque, and I don't mean that insultingly, I think M-B made a purposeful effort to do that, to give a mental lineage from the robust 80's cars. The materials I don't think are cheap in the sense where they aren't durable, quite the opposite. However, I do think they lack in overall soft touch luxury flair, which the F10 has in spades as does the W211 even, for that matter. Though, perhaps that wasn't the W212's intention. The interior is very Germanic in the sense where it's rigid, to the point and of durable materials, though they aren't necessarily coddling or "warming" per-se. Like it's not trying hard to impress you. I enjoyed the sensical approach to my W212's interiors, very calming and secure environments, though always admitted that it didn't feel "expensive" like a luxury car sense-of-occasion kind of way to me. The 5 Series interior comparatively goes a longer way into dazzling and feeling more special inside, to me.

The facelift did warm up the interior a little bit though, but it still stays true to the original W212's inside theme.

Airmousam

I like a good debate too, but with KA its the same stuff over and over.......and over......and over....no new content...

instantfob

Random thought as I just switched cars with my wife this week.

As I drive my F10 ActiveHybrid5, I really miss having the Panoramic sunroof in my W212 which BMW doesn't offer unless you get X3 or X5.

However if you have rear passengers then the optional 4-zone climate controls on the BMW is really cool feature to have. (I keep my dog extra cool in the backseat of the BMW)

Benzinini

I really should have taken this into consideration before posting. Funniest quote ever... This guy is just not going to quit until he leases the next greatest car ever.K-A you just don't get it, you are the very definition of a Troll!Its just that apparently you don't seem to realize this and the need is felt to point this out once in a while. Like I said, we get your opinion, you made this clear 1000 posts ago.This is what annoys so many here.Speaking of your "growing on me" rant,please don't make me go dig up your opinions of your now beloved F10 when you had your 2 W212s, I just don't have as much time as you seem to spend on here for that. I have concluded that your only beef with the E is that it is" heavily discounted" so now not only you can afford to lease one but every "Tom , Dick, and Harry"...oh and let's not forget the "old grannies" with their souped up Es....I'll just step out of the mud now.

Tjdehya

I am sorry but it seems that the only person that doesn't "get it" are the idiots that keep responding to him. He "gets it!" He knows he is a troll, he is enjoying trolling... that is what a troll does. Duh!
The only thing more annoying than trolls is the moron/s that keep feeding them. It is not a discussion, it is not a difference of opinion, it is trolling!

This forum is by far the worst forum when it comes to dealing with trolls.
I assume its the fact that 90% of you are too old to understand trolls and don't know how to recognize or handle them.

He only trolls the E and S class forum, because the younger guys in the C class forum treat him like a troll (they ignore him) and he gets no attention from them.
This forum is both comical and pathetic!

stale-bread

I just tried the ignore list. This works great!

And we are not "morons" Tjdehya.

thefisch

Have you been to the AARP forum? Troll city!

Some people like to feed the trolls. It's like feeding the animals at the zoo. Sure they may bite your hand and throw feces at you, but at least it is virtual feces on the interwebs.

Benzinini

No Tjdehya, this is not Jr high... your repeated quotes about "idiots" and "morons" that respond to him are what validates him and keeps him going.. I am just stating my opinion as you just did. Yes I may be older than you and your jr. high buddy but I can still choose to state my opinion. Now you can go recopy and paste your last quote somewhere else. And also FYI, dont falsely assume the C class forum only comprises of immature kids and the E and S class "old farts".

fintail

I don't know if anyone can take the "one sausage" theme further than Audi, and BMW is really in it, too. W205 vs W222 isn't much different than W203 vs W220 if you look at it - where the E was still differentiated from both. Nobody will confuse a W205 from a W222 due to sheer size - but from a distance, the BMWs and Audis can be a little harder to discern. As long as the E can have some uniqueness, the plan shouldn't be a disaster. If the E becomes a W222 clone, then there might be an issue. But as historically it has been a little unique, this might not happen.

Being reminiscent of the 80s is probably the nicest thing anyone can say about a new MB, as that the high water mark for the brand. Cars like the E are primarily intended to attract traditionalists IMO - repeat buyers who don't want something as showy as an S, but something nicer than an C. People who might relate to the design and materials. Would using more soft touch (and it's not like the E dash is hard) materials that might not have superior longterm durability help sales? I don't know if I'd bet on it. I don't need to be coddled, I want something high quality and unpretentious. I have no complaints about dash materials in my car. If anything, that same material should be used on the rear deck. I've spent time in an F11 in Germany, what I liked most was the "chime" sound - MB should come up with a corporate tone like that.

Best feature of the facelift interior is the use of metal on switches.

ngerstman

No new posts today. I guess K-A has worn us out!! You have to admire the energy that he has to write all of those mini-tomes about how vastly superior the 5 series is versus the e class and how bad our e's are. Power to him!! My final word on the topic is that there are many quantitative as well as qualitative things that go into deciding to spend as much on a luxury sedan as we all do as opposed to buying a Honda Accord that would serve the identical function for a lot less. It is definitely a total package kind of thing that in the end also has an emotional aspect that is impossible to quantify. I know that I could afford to own either vehicle and at the end of the day the e class is what I chose to buy and continue to own very happily. When I add up the plusses and minuses, the e class is the better vehicle to me and no one can tell me otherwise. As compared to the Accord, nicer design, better fit and finish, better performance, more solid, better parts, nicer paint, higher engineering tolerances. I don't think anyone would argue that. Obviously the same would be said about the 5 series as well. So as far as comparing the e to the 5 series, lots of subjective stuff and it all comes down to which total package appeals to you. They are both the next level up. Thanks. Regards. Ned.

SnakeDoctor

Different strokes for different folks. Thank goodness for options and competition.

Personally, there are some BMW models I think are great. I just don't like the 5 series in particular. At first, the 5 looked very plain. Every one I saw was a non-M packaged one. Then they started putting (or people started buying) the M package on all their cars which seemed like a facelift to me since they started showing up everywhere. It caught my eye, nice looking car. To me though, it got old fast. On the flip side, I think the facelifted E looks great (especially in 550 coupe form ), and it doesn't "grow on" me, it just continues to look better and better.

I had options available to me after deciding to move on from the 2010 E350 sport sedan. The 5 and 6 series (and M4) in it's various trims were among those options. I think I stated this before somewhere, but I just felt better at the MB dealership. After all, that's what it is about right? How you feel, while shopping, during the purchase, and as you drive the car. MB does it for me. The BMW dealership seemed very uptight and I got the "are you lost" vibe from it. I didn't even want to test drive a car at that point.

v12driven

This ^^ Life's too short to be driving a beemer!

K-A

I agree. Who'd want to drive a motorcycle around all day anyway. That's why you get a Bimmer.

Wig

In the UK a BMW car is a 'Beemer'. The word 'Bimmer' is meaningless. I don't know if there's even a nickname for a BMW motorcycle.

I realise it's different in North America.

MBNUT1

+1 The true essence of a Mercedes.

K-A

The new S Class goes far into fluffy-dome though. Perfume dispensers, Strip-Club like neon changing interior light, etc. The interior is quite British to me, actually, such as the little circular A/C vents, etc.

SnakeDoctor

I have to agree with K-A on the smelly things and lighting...come to think of it, it probably is going for the strip club feel.

K-A

Totally. I've seen some really tacky colors used in there, giving this awkward wanna-be "Vegas Afterparty(Strip)Club at 5AM" feel in what is an elegant and somewhat (tastefully) old-fashioned interior theme. It's stomach churning really. I'd keep it a neutral color, if it was me. Also, the perfume thing is IMO definitely something M-B should avoid. Just let the leather do the talking.

Choices are good and very necessary, but never give the consumers tooooo many choices. Otherwise you'll have the current state of certain S Classes striped in neon purple or hot pink interior lighting. (Karl Benz and Gottlieb Daimler would NOT APPROVE! ).

v12driven

I also agree about the gaudy interiors, preferring the basic black with the burl walnut in the W212.

Unless the perfume dispenser is M-B-leather-scented, it is useless.

Anything that interferes with the unique M-B leather scent is sacrilege.

fintail

You notice the smell too? Every time I go to an auto show or the dealer and sit in a new highline model, the smell is intoxicating, so sweet and clean. My W212 might have 1/10th of that - or I am just used to it now.

W222 is something, much of it seems to be extravagant and overdone just for the sake of it - think Homer Simpson's personalized talking astrolabe. But at the same time, it seems like an amazing amount of machine for the money - it's head and shoulders above the other mainstream luxobarges, and closer to a Bentley (especially with the diamond pleated upholstery) than close to the others. I suspect rumors of an upcoming BMW 9 series are simply to have it competing with upper range S-class.

To me, the most tasteful interior in a modern model is in a W126 - the late run 89-91 models specifically. Spartan by the gaudy mcmansion tastes of today, but clean, timeless, elegant.