[ThEnder]

i've owned both and driven a representative of nearly every current model from both companies and i have to say that I prefer to drive a BMW but ride in a Mercedes. the only exception is the CLK-63 Black Series, i would very much like to drive that car on a daily basis.

 

[bsarkis]

its two different drivers, for people who like luxury without the stiffness and the sport suspension of the BMW go with Mercedes, and those who like the stiffness and the sportness of the car pick BMW, i drive a e46 3-series and i drove a clk320, they are both great cars but i would take the handling of the bimmer any day.
BIMMERS ALL THE WAY. i mean lets face it, who can squeeze 343HP out of a naturally aspirated 3.2 inline 6 engine, or 414 out of 4.0 liter engine is a great car company.
mercs have forced induction to achieve those numbers with bigger engines.

 

[zhp pilot]

Comparing E46's to Mercedes,

E46's have fragile bums (sub frames), every one of the sun roof shades is broken, and cam sensors commonly fail even though there are no moving parts in them.

E46's are high maintenance.

If I had any information on C-class reliability being better than E90, I'd buy the C-class.

where's your comparison...you fail in this thread as well

sorry OP. off topic.

 

[zhp pilot]

I can confirm they are much better and I hope you will buy a C-Class soon and take your viscosity with you.

:rofl:

 

[MachRc]

all our familys BMWs came with a full size spare, our brand new S-class with full options p1 2 and 3, ........find out yesterday, it has a small honda looking spare..

 

[iftwb]

My family is considering either getting either a 5 series, a C-class or a E-class as one of their replacement cars.

Advantages + Disadvantages

1. 5 Series - Like I said, its lights are plain ugly. Without the Sports kit - its ugly. However with the Sports Kit....OMFG!! Its one hot car. I'd even consider it over the AMG styling of the other cars.

2. C-class - Cheaper alternative. Still looks nice, most likely handles as well as its 3 series competitor, but the 'elegance' of it does not match the E-class nor the 5 series.

3. E-class. Although very elegant even with AMG styling, its still an OLD MANS car. However, I still don't like the physically separated circle lights. Makes my car look like a Spider or fly, rather than an elegant Mercedes-Benz.

 

[howie]

i mean lets face it, who can squeeze 343HP out of a naturally aspirated 3.2 inline 6 engine, or 414 out of 4.0 liter engine is a great car company.
mercs have forced induction to achieve those numbers with bigger engines.

so squeezing every last possible bit of juice out of a stock N/A motor is better than forced induction on base motor?!? I don't get your point.

306hp 335(tt) ring a bell?

 

[sanvara]

bmw is more driver orriented, the benz def better build quality and im referring to the imfamous subframe issue and steptronic woes

Benz have poor reliability though if you look at repair history records. Definitely worse than BMW. While the E46 has certain things that tend to fail more than they should, it has generally good, above average reliability as a whole, unlike the Benz. The 7 series is another story. That line has poor reliability like the Benz.

A 3 or 5 series BMW is also a car for a an energetic younger person while Benz are generally for those looking to show off their status and older people: 50+.

 

[JesLet]

E46 328Ci coupe VS. W203 C240

I owned both and loved the E46, what I hate about the E46is their rubber components, they tend to get brittle over the years. Parts such as differential mounts, vacuum hoses, window trims, interior trims. As for longevity, I trust them to go beyond 200k miles with proper maintenance. Also the great gas mileage, quick accelaration. Easy to work on.

The C240 I owned is really sluggish, I should have got a C320 or a C32 model. Body is like a tank, really thick frame. What I hate about this is their maintenance, they need 12 spark plugs and 8 quarts of oil. It's a V6 that runs slower than a Civic and consumes gas like a V8 truck.

I still like MB, just got to find which suits me.

 

[howie]

Benz are generally for those looking to show off their status and older people: 50+.

have you ever driven a high line AMG car? I can understand certain Benz models being considered old people cars, but to generalize them all that way!? I'd love to give each person in here saying that a ride in my car and I bet that opinion would change somewhere between top of 1st & 150mph :rofl:

 

[nleksan]

First, let me give a comparison of two cars that I have a lot of experience with: My 2000 328Ci and my friend's (although I have drive/ridden-in it a ton) 2000 E320. My car has a fairly heavily modified suspension, has lighter/taller/wider rims, and has fairly highly upgraded brakes (as much as you can without going BBK). His car, however, is stock. I will compare them as stock cars (I drove mine for 2 years before I modified it).
Specs:
2000 328Ci
96,076 miles
2.8L Inline-6
5-Speed Manual Transmission
Sport Package
Premium Package
Leather Seats/Steering Wheel
Xenon Headlights (55w)
Fold-Down Rear Seats
Heated Front Seats
Sunroof
10-Speaker Sound System
Auto-Dim Rear-View Mirror
Wood-Grain Trim
Tool-Kit in Trunk

2000 E320
122,371 miles
3.2L V6
5-Speed Automatic (w/ "Select-Shift" feature)
Luxury Package
Sport Package "Light"
Leather Seats/Steering Wheel
Halogen Headlights
Sunroof
Fold-Down Rear Seats
Heated Front Seats
8-Speaker Sound System
Wood-Grain Interior Trim

Pretty similar cars for a comparison. Obviously, mine is a bit more "loaded" than his, however his car had a price-tag that is over $10,000 more when new. Also, a more apt car for comparison is the C-Class, but I don't have nearly as much experience with them, and while the E-Class is a larger car than mine (especially considering I have a coupe), it shares an engine/transmission used in the C320 of the same year. I have spent enough time in various E39 540i's to say that there is NO comparison between an E320 and a 540i (the 540i is superior in every aspect to an E320; I still think it blows E430's out of the water, and that you need to compare the 540i to an AMG-class car to be realistic), more like a 525i or maybe 530i. But, I'm working with what I've got.

Pros and Cons

BMW
Pros:
+ Engine is much smoother, fuel-efficient (avg. 28.3mpg), and is perfectly suited to the car it's in, offering more than enough power/torque to go as fast as realistically needed
+ Gearbox is a pleasure to shift through, each shift being smooth and it is difficult to "mis-shift"
+ Interior ergonomics are fantastic, and the "everything pointed to the drive" theme gives it a "cockpit-like" feel that I have yet to see replicated
+ Seats hold tight, and the leather, while not "supple", has enough stretch in it to make long drives very comfortable; the adj. lumbar support and multi-adjustable seats make that even more true
+ Suspension holds road VERY firmly, yet is compliant enough that bumps are never, or at least VERY rarely "jarring"; again, makes long rides comfortable, but doesn't do so at the sake of sportiness or fun
+ Build-quality looks and feels fantastic. No gaps in body panels, no problems with paint, high-quality interior materials, and well-laid-out buttons/knobs that are very "solid"-feeling
Cons:
- Cooling system is a known problem, as is the subframe, but BMW rarely acknowledges when it makes mistakes, and thus, no recalls
- Dealership-maintenance is very pricey, so find an Indy mechanic, where prices aren't much more than a regular car (parts really aren't that bad!)
- Some people think the suspension is too stiff
- 200ish HP seems low to some, but the engine makes full use of it; however, given the higher torque number, one would think it would pull harder down low and not need to be rung-out past 3k rpm to get into the power
- Sound system is great for everything, including very high "highs" and very low "lows" until you turn it up to 10/10ths, where you get noticeable distortion (this is beyond the point where the normal person would keep their volume)

Mercedes
Pros:
+ Very comfortable ride that is very compliant over bumps and the seats are adjustable in many directions so anyone can get comfortable
+ Lots of leg-room in the rear makes the rear more comfortable than the BMW
+ Nice looking interior, with a good look to the woodgrain trim
+ Transmission shifts smoothly when in "comfort" mode and left in regular automatic
+ Lots of buttons in console give control over lots of functions
+ Cup-Holders "pop out" so they can be hidden from view when not in use, leaving room for other compartments
Cons:
- The comfortable suspension is also downright scary if you take a turn too hard, as the body roll is outrageous and you have no "feel" through the steering wheel or otherwise as to what the car is going to do
- Much heavier car than the BMW, and has very numb steering with a huge dead-spot
- Transmission seems very erratic when put in "Sport" mode, it shifts abruptly enough in "manual" mode that you think you've broken something, and in "manual" mode the shifts take longer than normal, even if you're in "sport"
- Engine is very "blah", certainly not one of MB's best efforts; auto-trans makes the low-end torque seem "mushy", and above 3.5k rpm, the engine seems to struggle to "breathe" as it chokes out and starts losing power fast
- Cup-holders ALL break, and are very flimsy so it's not even worth fixing them
- All those buttons makes it hard to find the right one, and the OBC-display in the cluster, as well as the radio, are both missing at least 1/2 of their pixels (blown pixels everywhere!)
- Sound system produces HEAVY distortion at 8/10th's, a loud, but not "blow-out-your-ears"-loud volume
- Poor fuel economy (19.4mpg) compared to the BMW (28.3mpg), for an engine that's only .4L bigger and has just as many gears (and runs at a much lower RPM on the highway!)

Comparing those, I would say it's obvious which is the better car. I can't stand riding in the Mercedes anymore; everything is broken, including the gas-gauge and the speedometer, and the transmission's jerkiness along with the engine's incredibly lazy response makes it just embarrassing. I'm not saying my 328Ci is the best car in the world, but when the two are side-by-side, there's not doubt that the BMW is the better car in almost every way.

 

[//TRD power]

you come to ask this question on a bmw forum... bias n e one?
i have driven all bmws and benz available, even the slr maclaren and it comes down to preference. the 63 and 65 bens are mean machines buh they seem too similar to me amongst the classes. the M series offers variety between all the models-3,5,6, etc. the M bites the cake... i am biased though.

on a side note, anyone see the nissan GT-R smoke the M3 and M5? that thing is a monster!!

 

[Maurizio]

I have to say that Mercedes Benz C-class is a very reliable car, it's sporty and luxurious and quite a fast car. I've been in my friends S-class and those are very nice, but i would still get an E46.

 

[Cobra]

haven driven many benzes, bimmers, audis, and porsches, when it comes to the best driver\sporty car brand, given all things equal(same class, same year, etc.) it's;

porsche > bmw > audi > benz

luxury only;

benz > audi => bmw > porsche

 

[GoingNuts]

on a side note, anyone see the nissan GT-R smoke the M3 and M5? that thing is a monster!!

Nope, never seen it. Even so, I could just tell it must be an ugly monster. All speed and no coolness = FAIL.

 

[B33MER]

Errr ... i drive a 330i ssg and usually have mercedes for breakfast, audi's for lunch and Volvo's for dinner sometime occasionally VW in between snacks BMW's is more performance orientated than merc's except for the AMG variance it's like comparing oranges to apples. jz my two cents

 

[ZeHP]

you need to get a hobby.

 

[B33MER]

lol ... driving is my hobby and my passion ... d very same reason why you're here in d forum we have a common hobby lol

 

[wheelman322]

Can't say much that hasn't been said, but figuered I'd chime in since I've owned almost every MB model. My 00 ML430 was garbage compared to the X5. My S430 may have been better looking and possibly more comfortable than a 7 series, but that's about it. My 2003 E500 is the only Benz I've owned that didn't leave me crying for BMW performance. I drove the 545i first and still went for the E....that actually turned out to be a mistake though. I had problem after problem with my E and sold it with just under 20,000 miles. That was the last MB I'll ever own. I'm a driver, and when it comes down to what I enjoy spending time on the road in, I'll stick with BMW.

 

[wheelman322]

on a side note, anyone see the nissan GT-R smoke the M3 and M5? that thing is a monster!!

I saw one at my friends Nissan dealer today.....Very sweet......I'll still stick with the "M" machines though.