Agreed.

I have little seat time in the E39 M5, although I have driven two. The gearboxes are very notchy, way too much vibration into the cabin from the suspension, and overall an overly harsh ride for a performance luxury sedan. The M5 really is for the guys who just can't get away from tracks cars...

This conversation isn't about thw W210 vs E39 though, it's about the W211.

I don't know what to tell you Cyn. I've been in some very, very, very fast cars in my life... ones that have been modified well beyond their chassis' capability, but I disagree with you and your opinion on the W211. It's well within the capability of the chassis. I don't know if you mentioned if you are on the stock Conti's or not, but you may want to try some PS2s on there. Otherwise, the smooth predictable power delivery, the comfort and luxury, and the very conforming handling and braking make this truly the ultimate performance sedan IMHO.

FWIW, while I definitely treat my car very well, I do make use of it's power more than your typical onramp jocket. I also drive the car a lot - 2500 miles a month. So I am definitely commenting from solid experience, not speculation.

-m

 

Thanks to everyone for all of your feedback. I decided to trade the E55 for an ML350 and SLK55. The ML should be decent for driving in downtown DC and on snowy and rainy days. EuroMotors in Bethesda had an SLK55 on the showroom floor. I took it for a drive and was very pleased with acceleration, handling, braking and steering. I considered the new C6 and 911 but I've always an MB fan. To be honest the SLK55 felt every bit as quick as the E55, I know it's not but the acceleration was very impressive.

 

Rake - I think you'll be very happy. The best of both worlds. When my car was at MB for some work they loaned me an ML350 and I and moreover, my family loved it!! We also test drove the SLK350 and I was very impressed, so I can imagine what the AMG version will do!!

Good luck!! mp

 

Then there's something wrong with the car (or get rid of the crappy conti tires if you haven't already done so). Are you saying she wouldn't have woke up in your E500? That, I don't buy. I had an '03 E500. The E55 ride is not that much more punishing than the E500, and in fact the E55 has a much more solid feel to it, especially at high speed. I do agree with you on some of your other issues with the car (handling, steering feel, etc.), but anyone who buys an MB and expects it to handle/feel like a BMW and then is pissed off when it doesn't, well i'm not sure what to think.

 

Not sure what to say. I have an E500 as well and it rides a great deal smoother on expansion joint freeways here in Los Angeles. The SL55 is by far the best riding of the group but it also has a much different suspension system.

As for your thoughts on why MB's are not BMW's... this is exactly why MB builds the cars they do! Customers dont expect them to drive well AND ride well. A 545i rides very well and it will out corner an E55. So why can MB build an equal car? With the looks of the new E350 SPORT set to come out in a few months I think MB has finally figured out that some people was a car that makes them smile (a la SLK55).

 

I am in full agreement on this one. I think that BMW has figured out how to make a car handle superbly without being harsh and rough riding. The black box which is suspension dynamics has been cracked by BMW.

I have owned many BMWs but.......they are trouble, stay in the shop, blow engines, can't be serviced correctly, too sophisticated for the bubbas around here to deal with, and I can go on.

Their interiors suck, they don't hold up, they're not comfortable, they are cold and uninviting and they stink. (One of the things that auto manufacturers ignore is what their cars smell like when new and how long that smell lasts. My E55 is 5 mos old and still smells great, an underrated quality.)

The exterior styling of the 5 series IMO are not eye pleasing and looks like I would have designed it when I was in the 6th grade, cartoonistic and looking like it's pissed off all the time. BMW calls it aggressive. I call it butt ugly.

In a perfect world I would like to have a E class MB with a BMW suspension. Since I won't own another BMW I will have to suffer with my E55.

I also agree with you that the C and SL's have a far superior suspension. It's ashame that we can't swap that setup to the E55. Maybe one of the aftermarketers will give us an upgrade one of these years that will improve both handling and comfort. Body lean needs to be reduced.

One other point that I wanted to address is that you prefer the E500 suspension over the E55, I would like to point out that several times in the life of the W211 MB has changed the settings of the suspension. My 03 E500 which my mother still drives has is too soft in the first 2 settings and is unbelievably rough 3rd setting. I drove in the middle setting because it was the lesser of the evils. Sometime in late 03 or early 04 the settings were improved so that all three settings were closer together and usable. The 05 E55 that I have now is light years better than a 04 E500 that test drove. Sport 1 is what I use 90% of the time but Sport 2 is totally usable and doesn't break your teeth like my 03 did. My point is that all E suspensions are not equal and calibrations may be significantly different from car to car. This may account for the wide array of opinions that this tread has generated.

 

You're right about the varying opinions on E suspensions. My pre-nav E500 was night and day between each of the suspension settings. A few months later when i got my NAV car, I thought it was broken. Comfort to Sport II was almost indistinguishable. Even the different settings in my E55 are very hard to tell apart.

Carvin, I wasn't asking you why MB's don't handle like BMW's. I know they don't. I was wondering why people like yourself who seem to be real car buffs are so disappointed when they get their E55's that they are not M5's in that respect. Believe me, I wish they were to. And you know why MB makes them that way? They want to. I spoke to the head of AMG marketing for the states over the summer at an AMG challenge and asked him this very question. I mean don't they ever get sick of reading every single review and seeing the same complaints over and over and over again? You know what his answer was? That's the way they want it! It's an MB, not a BMW. YOu don't think AMG could build a car that would absoulutely ride on rails if they wanted to? Thankfully, it seems that they are headed in the right direction. Just read a couple of reviews on the SLK55 and they were very positive. The new CLS also has a new steering rack, which will make it's way into the E55 soon. I guess that's the one positive in my "car stalling" saga. If I let the dealer give me a new car, maybe i'll get the new rack

 

Interesting conversation about the E55 vs E500
My .02

Have had many performance vehicles: Mustang GT w/Modifications
Thunderbird SuperCoupe Modified
Stroked Impala SS 383
Lexus GS400 Twin Turbo
And now my E55:

The E55 brakes though somewhat vague I consider excellent at what they do...STOP 4200lbs of sheetmetal very well

The steering I found to be like driving a "car on rails" compared to my last 4 vehicles ie: I was "Giddy" with a big smile the first time I drove the car. The steering is maybe not a BMW M5 but I'll take it over all the other vehicles that are in this niche market. At Hi Hiway speeds and needing to have control of a vehicle tracking...the E55 is Excellent. (How fast the High speeds
are I reserve to keep private)

My Only complaint are the Conti's "growling very loud" after 10k miles and that is not a function of how well this car has been engineered.

Anyone with long term experience at QUIET tires for our E55??

Overall-I've looked at a number of other vehicles(and still looking) and nothing comes even close to this Complete a Package!!

Kudos to the E55!!

 

Cars I've recently owned. M3, 2 M5's, RS6, E500. Folks, it ain't even close! The E55 far surpasses any of these cars I've owned and I've owned my E55 for over a year and that sets a personal record. I'm first on the list for the new M5, but I may just pass on that since I'm still enjoying my E55 so much. With regard to the E500, it's a very good car, but even my wife thought it was boring to drive and IMO the E55 "feels" lighter even though it does weigh more.

 

[QUOTE=Kens-E55]My Only complaint are the Conti's "growling very loud" after 10k miles and that is not a function of how well this car has been engineered.Anyone with long term experience at QUIET tires for our E55??QUOTE]

Do yourself a favor, get Michelin PS2 and you'll love your E55 even more. It's absolutely rediculous that they don't come standard. They are matched perfectly to the suspension and are quiet too. Continentals are junk. Design is flawed, sidewall too soft and they all make a whirring noise after a 1000 miles.

 

Get your SBC reprogrammed. My compain with the brake feel has been reduced greatly after reprogramming.

However, nothing can be done with the steering response. My problem is with not with how loose the steering response is, rather is goes from loose to tight in instaneous and back.

 

this i will agree with. The E500 transmission is not as smooth nor as smart as the 7G transmission. At times I have very hard shift in the 7G but not in the 5 speed on the E55.

However, to this date, i still maintain that E500 has better steering response than my E55. I have stated in many times, it's not the absolute handling number that E500 does better. It's the steering response you get back from the steering.

 

I am not sure what Mercedes you have been driving. But W211 is not trouble free.

May be i was lucky that my M3 did not blow up on me. I had more problem with w211 than I did with my two E39 and one E46.

 

too sophisticated for the bubbas?...take it easy Brotha...LOL


JD

 

.....present company not included, Bubbaboy.

I have had 3 BMWs. 99 M3 was very good but had body and chassis stiffness issues (terrible cowl shake). 02 M3 went thru 2 engines before I traded for 03 M3. The 03 averages a shop visit about every month. Nothing major but just pain in the a-- things like phone glitches, window malfunctions, AC memory control panel, convertible top problems just to start the list.

I have had 4 MB's starting in 93 and none have had any major problems. My 05 E55 had defective Contis which have now been consigned to the dump but otherwise in 7400 miles has been flawless.

I have ignored what I hear about initial quality issues or other bad press about MB. I only go on my own personal experience. I have a 9 year old E320 and it still looks and drives like a new car. No other car on the market IMHO holds up to heavy use the way a MBs does. Until I have a bad experience with MB I'll stick with them.

 

I know EXACTLY what you mean!!! I feel the same way about the w211 e55.

 

If I were you I'd settle with some nice 19' HREs (847 or 547) with PS2s on them and be happy with the beast until it's time to trade it in for the E65!