gentleman,

i am very close to purchasing an 08 s550. amg pkg, p3, pano, distronic, everything, rear comfort seats.

I am just curious as to if their is any performance differences between RWD vs AWD?

a sales rep told me RWD offers better performance vs AWD but i am wanting to hear from folks who have personal experience.

I will either buy the 08 s550 or a bmw 08 650i coupe, which is 20k$ less than the s550.

please advise.

thank you in advance

 

AWD vs. RD.

I have driven MB since 1988. Ten years prior I drove FWD Audi's.

Started with a RWD E class. In '94 went to S class. In 2000 another S RWD. I now have an AWD 221. I live in snow country Wisconsin. I long for, beg for, wish for, whine for, want, crave, desire, covet and any other adjective for a RWD. This is my first 4Matic and I wish I could "rewind the tape" and make a different decision. I would take the 221 in a blink, as long as it was rwd, not 4Matic. Just my opinion.

 

Em Bee Lover,

thanks for the reply.

i have currently, a 750Li MY '07 and it is a joy to drive. I am wanting the same experience but with an s550. so rwd is the way to go?

I am thinking hard and long of taking the 650i coupe and saving the 20k$, and three to five years down the road, taking a CPOED facelift s class at prices similar to todays market for 08 MY.

it is up to me, and i do love the s550 but is it worth the 20k$ premium?

 

The $20,000 premium is whether you can decide if you can spend that much money to get what you want. The difference between a BMW and a Mercedes is very different, having been in both an S-Class and 7er: If you want the ultimate in luxury, you go for a Mercedes to be suppled and isolated in pure comfort; if you desire some sporty driving and want the most driving feel of the road, you go for a BMW.

My family did not spend the premium between the Bimmer and the Merc when we were searching. It was slightly out of budget. If there was no such budgeting conflict, we would have gone directly towards the Mercedes.

 

I just traded in my 6 series convertable for the S550. I would not trade the S550 back for the 6 series no matter what. If you live in snow area,then I would get AWD if its a daily driver car.If you want pure performance.Get the RWD,but you will deffinatly need snow tires if your area have snow because RWD car won't move in snow.My 6 series would not budge in snow. the S550 is a whole different class compared to the 6 series.It's pure luxury compared to the 6 series which is sport/luxuary.

 

carboy7,

thanks for the reply. I think i know you from bimmerfest forums! i post there as well. i love the 7er your family chose. beautiful.

It is not really about whether i can afford the extra 20$k, it is whether i want to or not.

the 650i only has 24k miles and it is covered until 100k including maintenance.

the s550 has 7k miles and it is also covered until 100k.

so they are both well backed by manufacturer.

i just spent weeks looking for a perfect s550 and when i found it, i was told 4matic is not as good as RWD. i was really bummed because i enjoy to drive agressively with my cars, as i do with my 750Li sport. it is really a joy to drive.

with that being said, the 650i has every option, heads up display, night vision, comfrt accs, hd radio, sat radio, sport package. it is silver on black as is the s550. i am stuck on silver on black right now, it looks great!

phatisfy,

since you were a 6er owner, how did the cars drive? and is there a lot of room in the front of the cabin, i am large build guy, and i am comfortable in my 750Li, will i be as comfortable in the front cabin of 650i?

re: winter use of s550, it is not a must for me to have AWD, as my famly has a number of SUVs which we use during harsh weathers. My choice is simply coming down to performance and aggressiveness.

s550 with amg pkg is such a beautiful car, and i love it. with that being said, the new facelift is even better! if i save 20k$ on the 650i, then like i said, i can purchase a my '13 or '14 CPO s550 or s63 down the road. it is tough, and i hope to make decision within the next week or so, and i will update with decision and of course post pictures.

FWIW,

here is my 750Li

http://www.flickr.com/photos/54521601@N04/5097882624/http://www.flickr.com/photos/54521601@N04/5097882624/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/54521601@N04/, on Flickr

 

Mrkhan---I posted prior and lamented now having the 4Matic vs. rwd MB's I drove for over 20 years. I have had issues with the steering and other vibrations (see posts from me regarding wheel "chatter" while turning and steering vibrations I still have. Plus, I had to replace the motor mounts at 56000 miles which were causing terrible vibrations). I had no vibration or steering issue ever with any of my former rwd MB's.

So, I am a bit negatively biased about awd vs. rwd.

Snow was never, ever a problem for me w/ rwd. In Wisconsin, we know snow. Likely the main reason why there were no issues is I always put on four Blizak snows. They were mounted on separate wheels, so putting on the wheels and taking them off in March was a $25 deal each time. Well worth it. The curb weight of the S and the quality snow tires allowed me to go head to head with any awd or fwd vehicle.

 

Performance wise compared to my 6er and S550 4matic.I think the S550 owns the 6er any day. Im not a big guy at all.And think the 6er is too tight on the inside.Once you recline the front seats back.There is no room what so ever in the back.The outside is long and big,but the inside cabin is way too small.Trunk space is way small also. If you're going from a 7er to a 6er.You will not feel comfortable at all. Best bet is to test drive both and feel how the 2 cars compare?

 

To be honest,the only advantage AWD has, is a quicker take off from stop.
They corner the same and stop the same as RWD (same tires).
I had SL65 Kleemann with 585hp at the wheels that was my daily driver for 2 years in Chicago,regardless of how bad the weather was.
I had a set of wheels with Pirelli Sottozeros and never got stuck or had any problems at all.
With traction control off it was very entertaining though...