530xi vs E350 4 matic

OK, I know I may get flamed for posting this on a BMW site, but I'm looking for some feedback on the comparison between these two cars. We have a bit of a family dispute, I prefer the xi, SO prefers the E. We drove both today, and I have to admit the E is a very nice car. It has a much nicer interior feel than the xi, though the dash is a sea of small buttons. That said, we both agree that the xi was a bit more fun to drive, though again the E was no slouch. I consider myself more of a "BMW" person and I will be the primary driver, but I need to hear the pros and cons for these two cars. It appears that the E is more price competitive at this point given $3000 additional cash if you finance with MB credit and steep discounts off MSRP, but no Bluetooth, older 5 speed automatic, no free maintenance and "much worse than average" reliability rating with Consumer Reports. I plan to post the same query on a MB site as well.

Thanks

John

Reply » 530xi vs E350 4 matic

Quote:

Based on the last few lines of your note therein lies your answer. You are a BMW guy, and MB is offering all of that extra stuff because of pressure by BMW. If they are worse than avaerage (which is becoming more obvious) why would you want to touch it especially without free maintenance. The MB will be more of an isolate from the road approach and somewhat more "stodgy" in my opinion. Now don't get me wrong still a nice car, but my 530 XI is my first BMW, I was considering MB but once I drove the 530 I was done. Have more fun get the xi

Reply » 530xi vs E350 4 matic

I've owned 3 Benz's, all purchased new during the past 24 years. First a 300E (wife's), then an S500 (mine), then an E320 Wagon (wife's). I was on my way to a 4th for myself, (the new ML500) and switched to my first BMW. Why? Reliability.

My 2001 S500 was plagued with electrical problems for the whole 5 years of ownership. Frustrating. SUCH a nice car - great handling, power, feel, style, awesome interior & sound system, and an absolutely fantastic long distance cruiser. BUT... the reliability issues were a nuisance. I went to the benzworld forums to read about the new ML's (which are a significant improvement over the first model), and found very similar electrical issues showing up. NOT comforting. The wife's E320 Wagon is a little better - not nearly the quantity of electronics as the S-Class, but still an unsatisfactory number of electrical issues from a much simpler car. So, I went to our local dealer's service department who sells both brands to see if mine was an isolated case. They say there are twice the Benz's in their service bays as BMW's. That sealed the deal for my '06 530xiT. Love the Benz, hate the reliability!

Reply » 530xi vs E350 4 matic

We have a 2006 550i on order (Nov. production). When we were car shoping, we seriously considered the E500 (as well as the A6 and the M45). My wife really liked how the E looked and definitely preferred the design over the 5. We took a long test drive in the E500 and the feedback from both of us were the same: nice car, good power, very refined and smooth, felt solid throughout, more luxury than sport but definitely something we could see ourselves driving for the next little while. My wife thought we were sold on the E. As an afterthought, we decided to take a 545i out for a test drive. From the moment I took it out of the dealership I could not stop smiling. This was what was missing from the E. The fun factor! My wife couldn't understand it until she drove. For my wife, the car is a mode of transportation, for me it's a toy. However, by the time we got back to the dealership, we were both in agreement that the 5 was a lot more fun to drive. The only bad part is we have to wait for the 5 whereas the E was available immediately. Oh well, I think the wait will be worth it.

By the way, we had owned two previous BMWs and because of reliability issues on the last one, we switched to an Audi. If you are mainly concerned about reliability, you are probably better off looking at a Lexus. My dad's Lexus is 8 yrs old, has over 200,000 kms on it and has never been in the shop except for regularly scheduled service.

Page 1 of 1