Thinking of chaninging to E320 CDI sport from BMW 530d Sport

[maston]

Hi All,

I have a 2005 BMW 530d Sport, 151k, Manual, silver, remapped, excellent condition.

I am thinking of swapping/pxing to a E320 CDI Sport.
I love the way mercs drive (have owned a few) and recently (sadly now gone) had a 1999 S500.

My question is what do they drive like and is an E320 CDI Sport a better all round car than my BM in your opinion ?

Appreciate it might not be as quick as my BM as it is remapped but not bothered and understand they have plenty of power anyway. Looking for a face lift model with the 7 speed gearbox.

All comments greatly appreciated

Many Thanks

Regards

Ian

[GXMAMG]

Just came out of a 520d m-sport and i don't miss the following BMW things;
Wipers poor
Lights terrible to the point of feeling dangerously bad (standard not Xeons)
Ride poor (m-sport) but still felt quite wallowy in some corners
Didn't think there was much steering feel
Quality of immediate switch gear; the indicator/lights stalks felt really really cheap compared to my previous 08 c220 or current c63 (and bizzarly our '62 MINI where all the controls felt really good)
Never quite got comfortable in the seats though overall driving position was good
Hugely expensive insruance (paying less for the C63 than the 520!)
seemed to eat tyres


I will miss:
Satnav/idrive was really good to use as i think mine was only now 1 gen behind (the one in the MINI is a generation behind the one we had in the 5er and isn't as good); though I think the latest merc systems are now really good too. Bluetooth hands free was great as was iphone integration until the latest ios

Economy, gearbox, room, steering wheel size, inclusive servicing package

Drove some e350 estates recently and found them all much more to my liking; the ride was just brilliant so you didn't mind the fact it wasn't built for handling! Also felt must more solidy built than the BMW.

Fuel economy seems not great on the 350 though - have read good things on the e300 hybird though - economy and power when you want it.

[ZX10R NIN]

I'd say the BMW is a more entertaining car when you're in the mood but the Mercedes will be the better car more of the time, the fuel economy is better on the BMW but they do seem to have more issues engine wise I prefer the Mercedes but take both for a test drive(go to a car supermarket then you can do this back to back) then you'll know which one suits you best.

[anonymous-user]

I chose a 530d over anything MB could offer a year ago. Having recently been in a new C Class, maybe next time it won't be that way but I felt the BMW was a lot better than the E or CLS last year.

Interesting comment on lights. My 5 has Xenons but my wife's SLK350 has ordinary lights which are bloody awful, even in comparison with her previous Z4 ordinary lights, so maybe it's not just BMW.