BMW 5 series or Merc E Class

[F1ngolf]

Plan to upgrade my 3 years old cerfiro.

Considering bet 520 and E200/E240. 520 @$187k

seems good value now. Let me have our opinions

considering the pros and cons esp. BM and Merc

owners...Cheers & hv a great weekend.

[Saaber]

Hi,

 

Welcome to MCF,

 

Do join us for our weekly meetup...

 

Can't give u any opinions as I am driving a Saab 9-5...

[Assassin]

Hi F1nGolf,

 

Welcome to MCF ! Do enjoy your stay here and come along for our weekly meetups ! More info in our MEETUPS folder. Btw, there is one tonight at the Bishan Golf Driving Range... our members are there for drinks and chat about everything in general..... normally ends past midnight.

 

Here are some specs for the cars you are looking at:

 

- E200K Inline4/1796cc/163bhp/240Nm/9.9s ~S$203K

 

- E240 V6/2597cc/177bhp/240Nm/9.4s ~S$219K

 

- 520iA Inline6/2171cc/170bhp/210Nm/10.2s ~S$187K

 

It is always a close fight between the BM and MB model ranges...and it normally depends on what you are looking for in a car and also your driving style.

 

For MB, its more about comfort and luxury...while for BM, its more about performance and being a drivers car.

 

You might also want to consider warranty and after-sales service, if I am not wrong, PML offers a 2 year warranty while C&C offers a 1+2 year warranty...however you'll have to send your car back to them for servicing during that period of it'll void your warranty. Post warranty....there are more specialised workshops that do BMs than MBs [as far as I know anyway] so you might also want to consider that if you intend to keep the car for longer than 3 years.

 

Looking at the specs alone...it seems that the 520iA offers more of a good buy @ S$187K. IMHO, the best way to decide is to drive the car yourself and see which one you feel more 'in-tune' with.

 

Take your time to decide.

 

Cheers

[Saaber]

How abt considering a Saab 9-5?...

[Cool_jazz]

It realy depends whether you want a Supercharged engine or a NA engine. The E200 is a supercharged while the BM 5 is not. Not too sure about the E240.. but I believe it is also a NA.

 

The other thing to consider is the image you want to project. Are you a professional or a businessman? (Bet you know the matching game... )

 

If you are keen on the BM 5, it might be better if you could wait for the new 5 as it should hit Singapore by Q4 2003. However be prepared that it will definately be selling for about $200K and not the knock down price of $187K.

 

Cheers and have fun shopping!

[S2P2]

Hi Welcome....

 

how abt a T5?

[F1ngolf]

Assassin,

Thks for your inputs esp. the warranty and after sales service.

Yes, I will test drive both cars to compare. Appreciate your

invitation to MCF meeting. Let's see how it goes as Friday evening

is not a good schedule for me.

 

Cheers...Have a good week.

[F1ngolf]

CyQuek,

I have tested driven the T5 and I must say I like the engine feel esp. the responsiveness. However, did not pursue due to turning angle and less extent,

the "image" as compared to a BM or MB. Otherwise, T5 has my vote.

[Selespeed156]

"If you are keen on the BM 5, it might be better if you could wait for the new 5 as it should hit Singapore by Q4 2003. However be prepared that it will definately be selling for about $200K and not the knock down price of $187K. "

 

520 is selling cheap to clear old stock, as the new 5 series is coming out soon. This is always the case in Singapore.

[F1ngolf]

Saaber,

Saab has not crossed my mind. Will still narrow down to

a BM or MB.

[Saaber]

Ok...but no harm test driving one to use as a reference against the BM and MB.....

[F1ngolf]

It realy depends whether you want a Supercharged engine or a NA engine. The E200 is a supercharged while the BM 5 is not. Not too sure about the E240.. but I believe it is also a NA.

 

The other thing to consider is the image you want to project. Are you a professional or a businessman? (Bet you know the matching game... )

 

If you are keen on the BM 5, it might be better if you could wait for the new 5 as it should hit Singapore by Q4 2003. However be prepared that it will definately be selling for about $200K and not the knock down price of $187K.

 

Cheers and have fun shopping!

 

Cool_Jazz,

I spoke to MB sales person with the intent to go for E240 which is a V6 engine (my cefiro is also V6). He told me that I should seriously consider E200 as the power

is not too far of compared to E240. It may be a better value since E200 is priced

$16k lower. I am not familiar with the pros n cons of supercharged and NA engine.

Can u enlighten ?

 

P/S : May not want to wait for new BM5.

[F1ngolf]

Post:

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In Reply To

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

 

It realy depends whether you want a Supercharged engine or a NA engine. The E200 is a supercharged while the BM 5 is not. Not too sure about the E240.. but I believe it is also a NA.

 

The other thing to consider is the image you want to project. Are you a professional or a businessman? (Bet you know the matching game... )

 

If you are keen on the BM 5, it might be better if you could wait for the new 5 as it should hit Singapore by Q4 2003. However be prepared that it will definately be selling for about $200K and not the knock down price of $187K.

 

Cheers and have fun shopping!

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

 

Cool_Jazz,

I spoke to MB sales person with the intent to go for E240 which is a V6 engine (my cefiro is also V6). He told me that I should seriously consider E200 as the power

is not too far of compared to E240. It may be a better value since E200 is priced

$16k lower. I am not familiar with the pros n cons of supercharged and NA engine.

Can u enlighten ?

 

P/S : May not want to wait for new BM5.

 

Cool_Jazz,

I understand that the E200 1796cc supercharged engine is a totally new engine.

Not too sure if it is reliable being so new. There again, MB has been pretty

"conservative" in their new engine roll out going by the track record.

[Assassin]

Assassin,

Thks for your inputs esp. the warranty and after sales service.

Yes, I will test drive both cars to compare. Appreciate your

invitation to MCF meeting. Let's see how it goes as Friday evening

is not a good schedule for me.

 

Cheers...Have a good week. [.nod]

 

 

No worries. Btw, I was at C&C today and was taking a look at the new C and E classes. Both the C200K and the E200K are using the 1.8 litre twinpulse engine which has the same engine output as the previous C200K 2.0 litre model.

 

The E240 is a V6..non-supercharged model. Try sitting in each of the seats to get a feel of the comfort levels etc. Also, do you intend to carry 3 people in the back seats or its usually 2 people ? Coz the rear middle seat tends to be a bit firmer. The rear leg space has improved somewhat I feel...esp in the new C-class as the transmission tunnel going thru the rear is lower now.

 

Cheers

[F1ngolf]

No worries. Btw, I was at C&C today and was taking a look at the new C and E classes. Both the C200K and the E200K are using the 1.8 litre twinpulse engine which has the same engine output as the previous C200K 2.0 litre model.

 

The E240 is a V6..non-supercharged model. Try sitting in each of the seats to get a feel of the comfort levels etc. Also, do you intend to carry 3 people in the back seats or its usually 2 people ? Coz the rear middle seat tends to be a bit firmer. The rear leg space has improved somewhat I feel...esp in the new C-class as the transmission tunnel going thru the rear is lower now.

 

Cheers

 

It will be 2 young kids at the back most of the time; else I will be alone driving.

Looks like it is going to be MB versus MB, that is E200 versus E240 for me. Should

I start a new thread "E200 or E240" ???

 

btw, C&C has increased $2k for the E class since I spoke to them 1 week ago. I will

probably test drive the cars this week. Any good C&C sales person to recommend as I

am not impressed with most of them I met so far ?

 

Cheers

 

P/S : Hope that McLaren win @ San Marino this weekend or at least a podium

for Kimi or David.

[Assassin]

If its just 2 passengers behind...then its fine.

 

If you are considering both the E200K [or the E200ML as it is referred to] or the E240, then I would suggest test driving both to get a feel of the engine response. The power output is almost the same for both models. However, the price diff between the 2 does not seem the justify the performance difference nor the equipment/furnishing provided. The engine will sound quite different tho.

 

There are 3 different 'equipment lines' for MB cars. Classic...usually brought in PIs, and Elegance and Avant Garde models...brought in C&C. The Elegance is standard..and comes with the walnut/wood trim and 15" wheels. The Avant Garde upgrade will give you the aluminium trim with 16" wheels and other stuff.

 

I would also suggest that you still test drive the 520iA to get a feel of how it compares to the E-class. Try comparing the acceleration between these models, it might help you decide better as it is what we tend to need most of the time...to overtake other vehicles quickly.

 

Cheers

[F1ngolf]

Post: If its just 2 passengers behind...then its fine.

 

If you are considering both the E200K [or the E200ML as it is referred to] or the E240, then I would suggest test driving both to get a feel of the engine response. The power output is almost the same for both models. However, the price diff between the 2 does not seem the justify the performance difference nor the equipment/furnishing provided. The engine will sound quite different tho.

 

There are 3 different 'equipment lines' for MB cars. Classic...usually brought in PIs, and Elegance and Avant Garde models...brought in C&C. The Elegance is standard..and comes with the walnut/wood trim and 15" wheels. The Avant Garde upgrade will give you the aluminium trim with 16" wheels and other stuff.

 

I would also suggest that you still test drive the 520iA to get a feel of how it compares to the E-class. Try comparing the acceleration between these models, it might help you decide better as it is what we tend to need most of the time...to overtake other vehicles quickly.

 

Cheers

 

 

Good suggestions on the acceleration. On specs comparsion, the torque

is 240 @ 3000 - 4000 rpm for E200 and 210 @ 3500rpm for 520i. Pretty close

considering that the E200 is slightly heavier. Anyway,I will test drive the

520iA too and probably posts my findings and comments after I get to test

drive all 3 cars.

[Assassin]

Good suggestions on the acceleration. On specs comparsion, the torque

is 240 @ 3000 - 4000 rpm for E200 and 210 @ 3500rpm for 520i. Pretty close

considering that the E200 is slightly heavier. Anyway,I will test drive the

520iA too and probably posts my findings and comments after I get to test

drive all 3 cars.

 

 

 

That will be great ! We'd like to know our fellow members' comments on their test drives.

 

Cheers