German Test Drive Experiences
OK here goes, get the popcorn a long drink and relax here’s the story of how customer service should be done. However for the faint hearted I will warn you up front this story does have a scary ending!
Firstly buying a UK spec car in Germany is not a problem, well as long as you don’t want to drive it back and then it’s an administrative nightmare, so the easy procedure is order the car with 20% deposit, dealer calls when car due for delivery to them, transfer money (all excluding German VAT) head to Germany collect paperwork, car on trailer, head back to UK pay VAT, register car simples.
OK first stop:
BMW Munich
Expecting me and treat me like royalty fully explained the buying procedure and export procedure, knew all the answers to the questions and was really clued up on the marquee and also informed me he had a special car for me to drive? As well as the 535d, Drove the 535d and it behaved like every other one I have ever driven very competent and very well mannered. Got back and they gave me the keys to another unbadged 5 series and said they would like my opinion in direct comparison to the 535d. On pulling away the car pulled like a train and accelerated incredibly although the power delivery was a little brutal car had 8 speed auto box and paddle shift very nice better sharper handling than the 535d felt more agile, at this point I still did not have a clue what was powering this thing. Got back to the dealer and we both got out of the car after I had popped the bonnet, flipped the bonnet up and I could not believe my eyes I had been driving 520d !!!!!! I then asked Gregor the salesman to explain, the car had an M Sport E map (not available in UK) active damping suspension and M sport gearbox software. This took the car from 184 bhp to 254 bhp The best bit it is €12k cheaper than a 535d, now that’s worth thinking about!
Next Stop Audi test centre at Munich airport, here you can test every car Audi make, a little short on time so only tested the A6 3.0 TDi Nice car very well appointed in full Milano leather, new pop up information screen is a bit off putting and in line of sight which actually blocks your view on the LHD car, The car performed well suspension a bit more loose than the BMW but reasonable, power from the 3 litre lump very disappointing and ran out of steam well before the red line as much as I love our A8 the new A6 is not in its league nor in the league of the BMW’s it’s expensive and doesn’t cut the mustard as a prestige car it feels just like it’s pretending to be something it isn’t.
MB Mannheim
Firstly they explained all the export rules exactly as the BMW dealer in Munich did. First out E250 cdi Coupe in pearlescent white with black leather interior, nice drive very composed and solid headed out into the palatinates to get it on some twisties and then that’s when the disappointment started, chassis is not good for making progress and country roads seats hurting the ribs a little not really meant for well built people like me or (and I’ll say it before you think it Fat Bast*rds) got onto the Autobahn and it came back into its own very silent as it cut its way through a misty day very nice in a straight line good acceleration and pulled all the way to the red line back to the dealership for a swap into a E350 cdi 7g Tronic plus now whoever designed the seating and pedal layout in this car must have done it on a Friday afternoon after having a heavy pub lunch, eleventeen pints of weiss beer and schnapps chaser’s s it is nothing but a complete joke. The lowest I could get the seat still left me too high up requiring me to squint under the roof line to even try and see the road. Out on the same test run as the coupe but things were much worse the W212 chassis must have been designed by somebody used to making jelly or blancmange as it is seriously not up to the power of the engine leaving the car unstable at high speed on tight bends, twice I lost it and had to go into recovery mode, which gave the salesman chance to use the full vocabulary of German swear words, after a short apology we hit the autobahn where things were a little better but not by much, The gearbox is simply not for me and felt very at odds with the car sometimes not really being able to make up its mid what gear to be in. very disappointing all round and poor value for money.
Quick stop at Brabus on the way back
Brabus D4 nice car very agile and nimble well set up but after you get past the suspension upgrades, it’s all cosmetic the only power upgrade is a tuning box which lifts power to just over the 200 bhp mark, the car does look really well though and turns heads but it is a little small which for me is its main downside
E350 cdi tuned by Brabus, ex customers car now for sale has a lot of cosmetic mods and some power and suspension upgrades. 2 minutes in the car and it was as bad as the one I had driven in Mannheim did about 5 minutes before giving them it back telling them my reasons. My view is MB have got it wrong with the W212 big time.
OK so what’s the verdict? Well here is my league table.
1. BMW 535d
2. BMW 520d (with E map and Active damping)
3. Brabus D4
4. MB E250 cdi Coupe
5. Audi A6
6. Brabus Tuned MB E350 CDi
7. MB E350 CDi
So what am I going to buy? Well the jury is still out at the moment, The BMW’s certainly have it in the performance department however nothing feels as classy as an MB and they do feel more special than the BMW.
The main consideration is the currency gamble on € Vs £ the options are pay 20% now and the remainder on delivery which could be as long as 25 weeks or pay in full at the time of purchase at the prevailing exchange rate. Either way you have to deal with a long established dealer so you know your money is safe.
So after the first round it’s BMW 1 Mercedes Benz 0
I’ll update the thread as the story unfolds.
) and I have sidled through life trying to treat others as I would want them to treat me.
