Jakez

So this is the first "top of the line" real luxury car I've owned. And I'm quickly realizing why Mercedes is.. Mercedes. The E55 ride is 10x smoother than the 300C SRT8. And just feels more "prestige" and refined all around.

Question is.. do cars like Rolls Royce and Bentley put Mercedes to shame? If I drove a Phantom or something similar from the same model year would it make my E55 feel like a Chrysler 300C in comparison? Or are Mercedes and other exotics equally maxing out the luxuriness (yeah I think I just created a word lol) and build quality that is possible?

infantry

You buy a Rolls Royce or Bentley for prestige and coach factor. All hand built. You don't buy any for performance, and I would never spend my money on a Bentley nor Rolls just because I like to drive my own cars.

AMG is the epitome of racing. My 07 E63 is track ready, right from the factory, with 2 piece front rotors to shed the heat away, down to the huge motor to put the power down.

You can't do that in a Rolls Royce.

Jakez

Oh of course, I like to drive the hell out of my cars, that's why I buy the top performance version of anything. I would rather own a Neon SRT-4 (I used to have one, and it was probably the FUNNEST car I've owned yet to be honest, way more FUN than the E55 but certainly not a better car) any day over a Mercedes C320 or something (no offense to anyone!) base model. I don't know of any real performance cars Rolls or Bentley puts together.. but what I'm talking about basically is build quality and refinement. I only say E55 because it was the top of it's class for it's time, and it's a Mercedes so I figure they put everything they had into it. But is that quality and feel equal to what others like Rolls and Bentley could put out at the time?

I just want to know if the seriously high end luxury cars have more tricks up their sleeve than Mercedes? Or are they just a name with a few more bells and whistles and a high price tag?

Hopefully someone understands what I'm trying to get at

e500slr

Comfort isn't just about build quality. It's about setup. If you have a soft air suspension that is setup like a mattress with good shock absorbtion, chassis, tires and seats then you'll feel nothing. If you have coilovers set on stiffest on Toyo R888s, bucket seats 4mm thick you WILL feel the road. I've ridden in some junk cars that were very "comfortable".

I've never been in a Rolls but I've driven the Continental GT and that is a VERY comfortable car, the materials used in the interior are very high quality as well. You can feel it. I wouldn't say the E55 is behind though, it has a very well built, laid out interior. I went to the dealer and sat in a new W212 E63 and the seats felt stiffer than mine, the interior also felt "harder" and very cold (not temperature wise ). I would take my interior over a W212 any day. The E55 is a very high quality car, the interior is just mind blowing, for me the E55 interior is nicer than the Bentley's and even the Rolls. I would never buy anything other than a Mercedes for the interior. BMWs feel cold and clinical, so do Audis although I would say Porsche interiors feel warm and nice and Aston Martin....that's just another league

GT-ER

I personally like cold interiors. I hate wood in MOST interiors for example ( and thus why I eliminated the wood in my interior ).

That being said, I think the E55 interior is still amazing even when compared to some new cars. I LOVE the 2012+ W212 AMG interior though.

maxwerks

Take a close look at the wood interior of the Phantom convertible !!!! there is one where I get my car washed and every time I am there I just stare at the craftmanship of that interior , but I am sure it is like driving a barge ! I love my benzes all of them