Audi's A6 is better right now
 

so this is a provocative thread starter... but I got my '17 E300 because it's technology and the car itself was the most advanced in it's class.

But not so anymore. Just saw the 2019 A6 at a local car show. https://www.audiusa.com/models/audi-a6
This thing is beautiful, has 3 high res displays 2 of which are touch with hap tic feedback. The base 3.0 liter has a 48 volt mild hybrid system- which you won't get in the US from Mercedes unless you go for the AMG E53 or the CLS. 0-60 is 5.1 seconds (fast). Leather is standard. And "optioned out" this thing comes in in the low 70's. Good thing I've got a year before getting a new car. And by then... come on MB... better get going!

I eliminated the Audi from consideration based on corporate dishonesty regarding diesel engines and illegal software. That was the second major scandal for Audi. I'm not willing to give them a third opportunity to cheat the public.

That front grille is MASSIVE.

I'm with you on this. VW/Audi/Porsche will not get a dime of my money. I'm sure the Audi A6 does some things better than Mercedes E. And I'm equally sure Mercedes E does some things better than the A6. If someone thinks the A6 is better for them, they should buy one. My money stays with Mercedes. I've never been let down and while they are of course profit driven, as they should be, they've never done anything like what VW did in the name of corporate greed. It was shameful.

The new A6 is impressive, but the E-Class will likely leapfrog it with an updated version of MBUX when the E_Class gets a facelift for 2020 or 2021 model year.

M

Totally agree and in addition VW AG was using Macaque monkeys by putting them in a room, pumping it full of clean diesel fumes for six hours and then killing them and dissecting them to see the effects of the diesel fumes in their lungs and muscle tissue. It was absolutely disgusting as these are intelligent animals. After the whistle was blown VW released a press release saying they will no longer be using animals for testing. I'd never support any company that treats animals like that.

I wasn't aware of that, but am glad to know it now. It further confirms I will never give Audi a dime of my money.

Just my $.02:

Does anyone really want to own the first year of highly technical German car?

There is so much new electronics on the A6. Does it not make sense to wait a year for Audi to get the bugs, (and if the past is any indication of the future) and there will be many, to be worked out.

Buying a Brand New German car is like buying test model!

Also agree that what VW AG did with their diesel cars is reason enough not to buy.

As my wife often says: "The must be consequences for bad behavior"

If they said it was the best executed new intelligent German car EVER made, one will not disgrace my garage.

Guilty as charged!

To be fair, the animal testing was carried out by an organization that was funded by not only VW but also Daimler and BMW. To my knowledge only VW has publicly backed out of future testing.

Not to mention the fingerprints that are gonna accumulate on the screens. Last thing I need is having to wipe with a cloth every time I touch the screen.

I have no desire to have a touchscreen in my car. I'm waaaaaay too OCD to have to deal with fingerprints. And like you, I don't much care for Audi design language these days on the outside.

Correct.

I believe MB is in hot water too over the diesel emission testing too, no?

Also, worth noting MBs history isn't spotless either..

audi is in my opinion a wanna be in german premium cars, they r just Volkswagen in disguise,, (yes u can say the same about ''most'' porsche too)

i would never give Money to audi.. they are a big fraud.. in my opinion..

i've been driving bmw and mercedes all my Life and i never understod why audi got so much attention they did 1 god car the Quattro in 1980, thats it..
in my opinion

Not seen the A6 but an audi is made using the vw parts bin.......i have owned vw and audi cars before i had my first mecedes. The audi interiors were excellent although at that time vw was not bad but owning the audis the impression was of better build quality but the mechanicals were not a lot better and many items had the vw stamp. Here in europe the vw group makes audi, vw, seat (spanish in origin and sporty in approach), and skoda ( origins Czechoslovakia). Skoda are sold as a budget range but today have an excellent reputation for reliability. If you compare the cars across the family you can see the shared parts bin.
The vw make good cars and the audi is top range (excl porsche) but although i think bodywork and interiors are as good ( if not in some way better than older mercedes ) mechanicals are less refined and not according to an interesting article i saw as long lasting as mercedes.
as far as i am aware daimler has not been prosecuted in the emissions scandal despite several investigations. As the earlier table shows all manufacturers failed the real world testing hence europe adopting the new wltp certification which incidentally is causing all sorts of grief for everyone. However i would not consider a vw group product without a lot of soul searching. Trust is easily lost.

Curious. Which has been more reliable?

Agree

Doubtful, maybe when the E Class comes out with a complete model refresh, a face lift usually consist of minor changes