So my buddy has been lookin at gettin a BMW 3 series for a while, and this weekend the big dealer here was hosting a fund raiser thing (for every test drive they donate $1 to cancer research). So we figured we would go out and take a look around. While we were there i saw a new 2013 550i, decided to take the competition out for a test. And i gotta say....im impressed.

The cabin felt so much more high tech, heads up display that projects your speed as if its hovering out infront of the bumper, the screen was about twice the size of ours. The computer system itself was much more advanced, able to tune and view so much more through it then COMAND. Bumper mounted cameras to see around blind turns, heated front and rear seats. And the Bang and Olufsen sound system.

Not saying it was all good....The ride felt notably rougher then the E does, even on comfort mode. And no panoramic roof. And while im not positive on the engine specs, it felt slower then my E even though its roughly the same HP. And its sticker was about 11k more then my E, and mines loaded....


Overall i gotta say its a nice car, and i may give it a sereous look when i trade next time.

Has anyone else driven the 550i? thoughts?

 

i think a few members here have it in their garages. i was a long time bmw guy but i didn't even look at it this time. i just didn't have the same excitement when i first saw the f10 as the e60.

 

Hmm. I had initially ignored BMW the last few years, body styles were too soft and not aggressive enough for me, hence my C and then E But I gotta say if i was ordering a new car today, between the two....im leaning more to the BMW (pending seeing what 2014 has in store for the E and S class)

 

that's why i didn't even go test drive any bmw before i bought my w212 .

 

Ive tried it once but the old 550i e60 version it was nice but not A MERCEDES, though I have tried racing my buddy with my e550 and a 2012 650i but man the N/A kicked the turbo out
yeah so we raced 3 times and I won 3 times

I like how BMW designed their cars but I hate when every thing hooked with the screen.

 

To be honest, I prefer F10 to W212. I'm driving both cars. They are both great cars, but if I only had the chance to buy one, I would buy F10 for sure.

 

The 550i is a much better car than the E550.
However when I buy cars I have to enjoy looking at it when its sitting in my garage.
That is virtually impossible to do with the 550i... not even the M5 can do that. The design of the 5 is boring!!!

The lack of power you speak of must be the turbo lag that I experienced when I test drove it. The power is roughly the same as the E but the 550i has terrible lag thus making it feel slower.

 

one is a benz, one is not.............enough said......

and how big of a command screen do we need?
the one's in my cars are just fine

 

The BMW 550i might be more high tech but I would not trust BMW with reliability. My husband has a 2008 535 xi that pretty much lives at the dealership now. I would rather have a Benz - all cars have problems but I think BMWs have more than their fair share as they age.

 

I think the 550i is a fantastic car. The reason why I went with the e550 is because I could find a reasonably priced 2010 CPO for a good price. Whereas the BMW 550i is only 1 year old.

 

Why? Ill admit im a huge nerd so having a really high tech setup is a bigger deal to me then most. But id think in general being able to adjust so much more of your car would be a plus.


Totally agree, the E looks MUCH better then anything BMW makes, theres a new white M3 coupe and a silver M5 in my work parking lot and my E catches many more eyes then they do.

I've never driven a car with a turbo before so wasnt sure why it felt slower, though that makes a lot of sense. I prefer my NA V8 any day :p

 

I purchased a 550i when it was first released. It was the previous body style. Looked good without having to change a thing. The new body style sucks imo.

 

The new 550i body is grossly boring in comparison the W212 and I have to agree on the reliability mention. Yes, the BMW is much more advanced but all that crap also leads to way more problems and BMWs are just inherently less reliable than Mercedes. Not even close actually... I guess the one benefit of owning the 550i would be since it's in the shop so often you won't be forced to look at that boring/ugly *** design as much. LOL.

One area the 550i schools the W212... Transmission. 8-speed and man does it shift fast compared to the W212. Not even close.

 

To close up, my friend got a NEW 650i coupe convertible about 3 months ago, since now I see him getting used to drive loan cars he actually likes it hah. first it was popping noise, then right window doesn't close as the driver door, next an air blow in with high speed...etc

GET A BENZ

 

MB has really fallen behind on in-car electronics. Have you driven an Audi lately? Their interface for dialing a phone number could not be any simpler. You just spell out the person's name on the touchpad without ever taking your eyes of the road and voila you are talking to them. Also it is a shame that MB has yet to integrate a heads-up display for speed and navigation information.

And if you drive on busy urban streets and constantly pull in and out of parking lots the ability to see around the corner with a bumper mounted video camera is invaluable. Every time I inch out of a tight space I'm playing Russian Roulette as few DC drivers will stop for you. This technology has been available for many years and Mercedes is again late to the game.

The OP makes a very valid point.

 

^^^^^^

hhhhh like for the Russian Roulette, still mounted video cameras has never been helpful as I used to have it on my lx570 and my brothers fx50.

A good driver who uses his eyes as video camera LOL

 

hehe, well, one of my familys houses pulling out of the garage into the alley is really narrow and you literally can not see if anything is coming from either direction, so i have to slowly creep out and hope no one flys into me. And at teh other, when you pull out of the alley onto the street people have a tendency to park so close to the corner you cant always see wahts coming. In both places having those cameras would be great!

 

HHHHH creep out ! yeah well get ur self an F10 and enjoy the side view JK I do respect ur point of view as it conflict with mine

But I still don't see the purpose of it???

 

well, i suppose im just a sucker for little extras. But say your in a parking spot, between two SUVs. as you try to pull out its almost impossible to see if there are cars coming on either side. so having cameras on the bumper so you can instantly know if someones about to run into you..... defiantly helpful!

 

but what if I ran on onto a piece of metal which doesn't appear at the Video Camera?
or what if I got so mindful with Video camera but not the road?

the point is, people drove cars for almost 300 years without complaining about being in between two SUVs and a Video Camera isn't really a comparable feature.

As long as the car drives comfort, handles good, and move fast that's what concern me when choosing a car. And it must be either JAPANESE or MBZ

 

dear god please say you are joking...........

 

I think most potential buyers compare the E550 and BMW 550i. Especially now that both have twin-turbo charged engines. The BMW is more tech-oriented and handles better, but the Mercedes is easier to live with, in the long-run. It seems to be more reliable than the BMW and a more comfortable ride. They're both great cars, and a lot of it comes down to brand preference/experience.

 

lol, pulling a total obama/romney.....We went without electricity for hundreds of thousands of years without out complaining about it. Just because we used to do without something, dosent mean we cant have it now!

 

I agree with that. The 5er can look very striking with M Sport, a good color, and some slight mods, but in basic form, albeit very elegant, it's just too boring and homogenized with not only every other BMW nowadays (can't tell a difference between them sometimes) but all the other cars that are now copying BMW's trademark look. Rear-end wise, however, I think the F10 trumps the W212 easily.

Other than that, it's hard to say that the E is an objectively "better car", because if you drive both, the 5 just seems like a higher level, more expensive car, and the interior actually feels like you're sitting in a very expensive car, as difficult as it is for me to say that.

With the E you get a more unique look (other than the rear), and IMO a more exciting exterior from the get-go, whereas with the 5, you need to "wake it up" a bit. Also, the E gives you vastly better reliability-quality and probably long term durability.

I've had 2 W212's, and am not gonna keep this one after the Lease as I had originally somewhat-intended, so if I had to return it today, I'd go with the 5er to try something different to see if I like it more.

 

I was looking at the 5 and E when I was choosing my car. I have to admit that the 5 looks a lot more boring(the front looks like a pig) than the the w212. But then again, we sacrfice our interiors for the exterior i guess.