Might be leaving the fold

Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.

Paddcomp

Active Member
Joined
Oct 13, 2007
Messages
516
Location
Preston
Car
E320CDI Avantgarde Estate S211
Test drove a new Audi A6 today, 2.0tdi SE S-Tronic, very enjoyable.
As my E320 cdi looks like the turbos going and the diagnosis seems nearly guesswork, I've been looking at later E350 cdi cars. This would need £10-12k to change and this is only to get a 5 year old car. Monthly costs and residual risk means I'm looking at personal leasing.
Current E class being new are too expensive, BMW are promising but possibly overrated? Which leaves the current base model A6 in auto as the obvious choice for circa £300 P/M incl.

Anyone any alternatives, or good Mercedes deals I've missed?
 
I have a F10 BMW 520d as my other car and have had zero faults in the 18 months I have had it. A really good car :thumb:



Time to put flame suit on :D
 
I have to say having recently got rid of a 2014 A6 S-line ultra s-tronic imo the A6 is definitely not the better car and the 5 series is such a better drive.

The A6 is a lovely to look at but dynamically the 5 drives, handles and just goes better. The fwd chassis scrabbled for traction in not just any slightly cold situation but at junctions and wet grass.

To say I was less than impressed is an understatement. To try to address all this I did order a BITDI Quattro. However, after a brief drive in my brother in laws new 520d MSport I realised I had ordered the wrong car. One trip to the BMW dealer and I was on route to getting my F11 535d.

Drive them back to back is all I say. And find one with toys! Comfort seats, pro nav and heads up are some of the best options.
 
JasM said:
I have a F10 BMW 520d as my other car and have had zero faults in the 18 months I have had it. A really good car :thumb: Time to put flame suit on :D

Iv just bought an F10 525d straight 6 and looking forward to getting it next week,test drive was amazing and in all honesty drive better than my W211 which I'm sadly parting with
 
Why not just get a new turbo fitted to the e320 cdi?
 
A BMW yuk:crazy::D, in all fairness it is some years since I had my old E39 5 series, had 2 of them, so maybe much improvement...have they updated the dark plastic Germanic interiors? I did note the F10 seems to get some favourable reviews on here...


Iv just bought an F10 525d straight 6 and looking forward to getting it next week,test drive was amazing and in all honesty drive better than my W211 which I'm sadly parting with
 
Last edited:
I test drove the car once and fell in love straight away,that 8 speed gearbox...wow cannot feel gear changes whatsoever. It has the pro media pack too with ALL the toys. Straight 6 engine felt more refined than my current V6. More updates when I get it next week
 
You can't beat a straight-six for smoothness. BMW do some fantastic engines. Let's not continue this "can't like BMW if I have a Merc" thing, shirely we should be united in our despising of the fwd, over-tyred rock-hard suspension monstrosities that are Audis? :fail

Is the 525d still really a 530d but with the restrictive intake manifold and mapping? Get that sorted and you're laughing. :rock:
 
Yugguy said:
You can't beat a straight-six for smoothness. BMW do some fantastic engines. Let's not continue this "can't like BMW if I have a Merc" thing, shirely we should be united in our despising of the fwd, over-tyred rock-hard suspension monstrosities that are Audis? :fail Is the 525d still really a 530d but with the restrictive intake manifold and mapping? Get that sorted and you're laughing. :rock:

Yes dealer told me mine was one of the the last inline 6's 525d,the F11 now has a 2.0L engine. Mine just has a smaller turbo to the 530d but otherwise exact same engine
 
Wondered how the interior design and quality compares to the EClass W212 / 213? although a new 5 series is around the corner (G30)...so probably good deals around on the F10.

I test drove the car once and fell in love straight away,that 8 speed gearbox...wow cannot feel gear changes whatsoever. It has the pro media pack too with ALL the toys. Straight 6 engine felt more refined than my current V6. More updates when I get it next week
 
DSB SL AMG said:
Wondered how the interior design and quality compares to the EClass W212 / 213? although a new 5 series is around the corner (G30).

Not a fan of the 212 interior to be honest but love the 213 interior so much...was just out of my budget just now but maybe in 3-4yrs time I'll be back to Merc and it will def be the 213 3.0L AMG
 
I test drove the car once and fell in love straight away,that 8 speed gearbox...wow cannot feel gear changes whatsoever. It has the pro media pack too with ALL the toys. Straight 6 engine felt more
refined than my current V6. More updates when I get it next week

I found the BMW 6 pot diesel was a bit tractorish in urban driving.

My current VW 6 pot is smoother in urban driving.

OTOH the BMW was smoother at working harder at speed (well less buzzy under acceleration).

The reason for the urban driving tractor situation in the BMW wasn't really the engine AFAICT but the transmission programming. On my 640d at around 25 to 30mph the transmission would tend to choose a ratio which put the engine in the tractor RPM zone. The setup on my VW tends to use about 200rpm more in similar conditions. So it completely avoids its RPM tractor zone and feels much smoother around town.

I still think he ZF 8 speed is a teeny bit better than the MB 7G+ - and both are better than the Aisin 8 speed used by VW and Porsche and various other manufacturers which isn't terrible but IMO is a noticeable step behind ZF and MB.
 
Dryce said:
I found the BMW 6 pot diesel was a bit tractorish in urban driving. My current VW 6 pot is smoother in urban driving. OTOH the BMW was smoother at working harder at speed (well less buzzy under acceleration). The reason for the urban driving tractor situation in the BMW wasn't really the engine AFAICT but the transmission programming. On my 640d at around 25 to 30mph the transmission would tend to choose a ratio which put the engine in the tractor RPM zone. The setup on my VW tends to use about 200rpm more in similar conditions. So it completely avoids its RPM tractor zone and feels much smoother around town. I still think he ZF 8 speed is a teeny bit better than the MB 7G+ - and both are better than the Aisin 8 speed used by VW and Porsche and various other manufacturers which isn't terrible but IMO is a noticeable step behind ZF and MB.

I totally agree with you about the ZF box,had been used to Merc boxes for over 10yrs now and driving that 8 speed was AMAZING. Only time I knew a gear had been changed was when the Rev counter moved yet car felt so smooth
 
I found the BMW 6 pot diesel was a bit tractorish in urban driving.


Do a gear box reset (ignition on foot to floor on the gas for 10seconds you will hear a click) or use sport mode/Eco mode and it acts very different. Eco pro on mine with adaptive drive lands it in 7 series territory for refinement.
 
Do a gear box reset (ignition on foot to floor on the gas for 10seconds you will hear a click) or use sport mode/Eco mode and it acts very different. Eco pro on mine with adaptive drive lands it in 7 series territory for refinement.

Don't have the 6'er anymore but I did try an incantation for the reset back in the day and that made no apparent difference. Sport did 'cure' it but I ended up prefering Comfort mode response in urban driving so it was a no win overall.

I think BMW programmed the system a bit more aggressively for emissions and economy. I also felt the 6'er was a bit under developed as a package so this was maybe another characteristic that showed up that aspect.

I forgot to mention in my earlier post that IMO the BMW 6 pot diesel was slightly less smooth at idle as well. I have wondered if like the urban tractor mode that this isn't simply down to the engine - but the way it is integrated - in this case the engine mounts being tuned or configured to be optimal at different engine speeds and workloads.
 
I test drove a new 5 series, the auto box was excellent a bit quicker changing than the 7 speed Mercedes but in all honesty hardly anything in it.

I was not a fan of the interior of the 5 series.

I opted to buy my current car an E350 Night Edition Estate, I preferred the interior of the Mercedes which seemed just a bit more upmarket.

The 9 speed box in the Mercedes is very smooth and seems quicker changing especially in sport mode.

Both BMW and Mercedes are superb but the choice between the two will be down to personal preference.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top Bottom