amf77

My wife and I have been out car shopping for a car for her! We have narrowed our car choice down to the Mercedes E Class or the BMW 530i. It appears on the surface that each cost about the same, and each have their merits. We have driven and looked at, and ruled out, the Jaguar XF, the Audi A5, and the Porsche Macan (yes I know the Macan is an SUV, but I have a Porsche and thought it might be fun to have 2 Porsche vehicles!........love my Porsche!). We thought about her getting another Volvo (she has an S80 now, but it is time for something different. We thought about an Alpha Romeo Stelvio .....yes an SUV......but reliability with Alpha is probably on the "iffy" side. We looked at, and drove, and really liked the E Class and thought that would be what we ordered (and whichever car we get, it will be an ordered car). Then my wife drove the BMW, and said she liked that!. In either case, once we decide, we will order the car with lots of options and stuff, as we keep our cars for 5 or 6 years. I am curious what motivated other people here to pick the Mercedes; and since this is a Mercedes site, I do expect the responses to be biased and honest, but I want to know why the choice. I will be asking the same question on the Bimmerworld site. Thanks in advance.

PaulE550

Since it will be the wife's car, the only opinion that really matters is hers. Whichever car she likes after test driving both is the one to get. Happy wife, happy life.

Participant

E-Class has the better interior, 5 series has the better driving dynamics. Take your pick based on her priorities.

Or are there any toys that might sway it, such as the full digital dash on the W213 or something available on the G30 that's not on the W213?

Does she need space / practicality, in which case the S213 might be the choice?

Egonvdv

off topic but: Alfa Romeo is back on the US market? - I agree on your reliability comment, which applies to Italian cars in general.

Lanzz

Oddly enough, I feel like the BMW is a better value, the Benz gets expensive quickly because of the P1/P2/P3 options packaging in the US. But I feel like the interior of the E class is far nicer than the BMW, and the exterior styling of the BMW is very "busy" now - as Paul correctly points out, probably worth getting the Boss's buy-in... I am a big fan of my E Class after a year of ownership, and riding in a co-worker's new 5 Series recently did nothing to change that.

dudley07726

Sold our 13 E350 Cab with 23k on it. Cross shopped a 18 S5 Cab and a 18 E400’s Coupe. Never even thought about the BMW. Had 2 of them. Two very different cars.This is for the wife as I have a 16 A6 as a daily driver. Ended up going with the E400. Build quality is fantastic. Obviously more of a luxury auto than a sporty one. It moves but builds up gradually as did my old SC 430. Smooth as silk. Wife always wanted a MB and even though we had one, she wanted another one but was willing to look at the Audi. I don’t regret our decision.

ua549

I own both brands, 535i & E300 and considered both brands before buying an E300. The BMW 530i is not as solid feeling or as well built though it handles a bit better and has about the same power as the E300. I considered the 540i before buying the E300. 530i/540i problem areas for me was lack of Android phone support, the "stuck on the dash" touch screen display that was hard to reach while driving, analog instruments and outdated interior design. The BMW interior is more like a C class than an E class. E300 problem areas included barely adequate power, no spare tire available, difficult rear seat ingress/egress and limited rear leg room. The 530i price is about the same as the E300 with similar equipment and options. My E300 with options was actually $7k less than the similarly optioned 540i.

dudley07726

Participant

For some reason the jump in cost to go 4--> 6 cylinders in a MB is vastly greater than that of BMW. Goodness knows why but I suspect this might be a factor? That and the 220D might as well be a 6 cylinder for 90% of every day driving.

The_Judge

You might find this thread on another forum to be helpful:
https://mbworld.org/forums/e-class-c...-feedback.html

ua549

I would have purchased an E400 sedan if one was available to order last April. I considered the BMW 540i because of the power, but the rest of the car simply did not meet my needs for price, interior design, Android support, build quality, ...

ua549

Not, exactly in the US.
The difference in base cost between an E300 4matic and an E400 4matic is $3,450.
The difference in base cost between a 530ix and a 540ix is $5,300, (53% more).
These numbers do not account for the higher trim and equipment levels in the 6 cylinder cars over what is in the 4 bangers.

amf77

Hi all. Thank you very much for your input. I believe we are on the same track. We looked again at the E class today, and my wife is now leaning toward it! I am glad, although I think she would be happy with either the Mercedes or the BMW. (I like the Mercedes better, but as PaulE550 said, wife's car, wife's decision.....happy wife, etc.). To me the Mercedes feels more "substantial, polished, and upscale" compared with the BMW, although I think the BMW is "sportier".

What kind of "deals" can I expect on an ordered car, purchased, not leased?......and which dealer in Florida works the best deals? Thank you all again!

c4004matic

+1

NFAREVIEW

As for where to buy... I hear Lokey in Clearwater has good service. We ordered my wife's E300 from MB of Tampa on June 22nd....after a debacle of ordering issues we are finally picking her car up this Tuesday....thats over 6 months for a custom order. I would try Lokey or Wesley Chapel before setting foot in MB of Tampa. I can't wait for this to be over and will be bringing the car to other dealers for service.

ua549

Lokey Motors in Clearwater is my recommendation. They have the best customer service in the Tampa Bay area. I've dealt with them for several decades.

400ixl

I wanted another 4 seater convertible that could take a rear passenger who was more than 5' 8" tall. Unfortunately I couldn't get another Saab 9-3 as they were out of business for the year I wanted. Looked at the Volvo, Mercedes, BMW, Audi and Mercedes ranges.

Volvo were just horrible to look at
BMW, 4 series was too small and 6 series was silly money for what you got.
Audi A5 was nice but felt you sat on it rather than in it
Mercedes felt more that you were in the car and looked ok

Nearly a couple of years in and I wish I had gone with the Audi really. Merc is functional, but sooooooo boring, very dead chassis, shows where they have cut back on quality materials and dull to look at from the inside. Is comfortable though, so no real reason to bother to change it.

If you plan to keep it for 5 years I would look carefully at whether the car is going to keep you interested.

BTW my previous Alfa Romeo was more reliable (and better built) than this Mercedes has been, so don't discount them on hearsay and 80's reliability reports.

dudley07726

ua549

Unfortunately Alfa dealers are few and far between in the US. The Giulia sedan is a bit outdated technology wise with xenon lighting, etc.
Back in the '60's I had a Giulietta Spider Veloce. It was a great car!

amf77

Thank you. All very good points. We had many Saab cars in our family! (6 of them at one time!) and never had any real problems......yet everyone we met would tell us how much trouble the Saab cars were......even though they never owned one!. Perhaps this is true of Alpha Romeo; I don't know, and I have never owned an Alpha. Must admit though, the Italian cars in general have a "passion" and "personality" about them that to me that is endearing. That being said, we have ruled out getting an SUV, so that eliminated the Stelvio (and the Porsche Macan) The Giulia is more of a competitor for the C class or A-4 Audi. We had a chance to drive the Giulia......great fun car, great handling and performance, but not very solid feeling.....(rattles, and workmanship, and materials not in the same league as Mercedes or BMW for that matter, in our opinion). However, that being said, I have passed up the "reliable" car on the "high pedestal" of "Consumer Reports" for something fun, and never have been disappointed.......I guess that when you are passionate about something, perhaps you tend to overlook the "dark side"....Many years ago, when Pontiac was becoming a performance car, the head of Pontiac made a very astute comment: "You can sell a young man's car to an old man, but never will you sell an old man's car to a young man". This time, at our house,the car is for my wife. Reliability and her liking the car ......or hopefully loving the car (like her Saab 9-5!......sorry, I had to say that)........prevails. From what I have researched, the Mercedes has a reasonable reputation for quality (after the first year of model introduction), is certainly solid feeling, seems to use good materials, has good performance with the "4 banger", and has an option list with several interesting features.......like a multi-function messaging seat, an acoustic package, cross wind mitigation, ear protection in event of an accident, for example! No car is perfect though. (except for my Porsche)............. UA549: you mention Lokey Motors: We will go there to see how we feel about them. We have been to Mercedes of Tampa (did not get a good feeling about them) and we have been to Mercedes of Wesley Chapel (seemed ok)......but the next step will be getting prices on the car that we spec out. That is when we will really know how we feel about the local dealers! I have read on another thread to target for 10 or 12 percent off out the door. Is this in line with experiences here in Tampa? It will be an ordered car, so it won't be a case of one dealer or the other having something. on their lot that "only they have". Again, thank you all for your comments!

dbldpr

Looked at Cadillac cts and Mercedes benz E350. Both 6 cylinders. MB had more room inside and more trunk space. Ride was about the same. Cadillac was about $10,000 more expensive. Decided on MB.

bellavance

The car you prefer is the best one ... for you, so ... you drive both, and ... you decide.

NFAREVIEW

MB of Tampa gave us $7500 off sticker on our custom E300 P3. It wasn't allocated on another lot but rather built to order in Germany and we still got the discount. It stickered for $72,000.

visualguy

I would stretch for a 540i. Awesome engine/transmission. Handling is significantly better on the 5-series than the E300. Also, better controls and ergonomics, and iDrive is easier to use than COMAND.

amf77

Hello again all.........NFAREVIEW: the MSRP price you mention is about what the one we would order would be. It concerns me that MB Tampa gave you an annoying "runaround".....6 months delivery time is bad, since the process should have taken half of that, at most. No way to do business......I hope they are doing something for you to compensate for this! We are starting the "price shopping" phase now, so we will see what happens. Will check out Lokey MB and MB of Wesley Chapel as well as MB Tampa.....and if we can't find the right "deal" locally, I have plenty of air miles!! My wife likes that car........ so that is the direction we will pursue......and see where it leads!........"happy wife, etc, etc.!"