Im sorry persain but nomatter how much power mercedes puts under there hoods,they just dont make sports cars.BMWs and porches are true sports cars,.mercedes just dosent IMO have 1 real sports sports car on the market.The slr is the only merc that you could realy call a sportscar and that turned out to be a dissapointment too.If your wondering why people on this site choose bmw over merc that is probly why.Just like fox said a little while back.If he testdrove a merc and a bmw and the merc out preformed the bimmer he would buy the mercedes.But it dosent so BMW is the car you buy if you know your shit.
Along the logic of - at the same price, the superior car will sell better, BMW outsells mercedes by a huge margin, approaching 2:1 if I remember right, in north america. I'm not sure about other places in the world. On a good day however, the private holdings of the Quandt-BMW Groupe G.m.b.h are apparently greater than those of GM. They don't publically release much - being that they are privately held, but the BMW CEO swears on a good day (he even said it to fortune) their market cap crests over GM's. BMW runs a solid business.
BMWs are build as sport cars first, other things afterwards, they can definately be very luxurious, safe, other things too. Mercedes makes a luxury car, they can add sporting and other things to it, but in the end, the merc is made to be a luxury car and the BMW is made to be a sports car.
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Im sorry persain but nomatter how much power mercedes puts under there hoods,they just dont make sports cars.BMWs and porches are true sports cars,.mercedes just dosent IMO have 1 real sports sports car on the market.The slr is the only merc that you could realy call a sportscar and that turned out to be a dissapointment too.If your wondering why people on this site choose bmw over merc that is probly why.Just like fox said a little while back.If he testdrove a merc and a bmw and the merc out preformed the bimmer he would buy the mercedes.But it dosent so BMW is the car you buy if you know your shit.
YET another one claiming it doesn't matter what mercedes do simply because "they don't make sports car"!! Have you tried the new SLK 350 with the new transmission? What if that would be more fun to drive than a Z4 BMW? What if that would be so? I'm sure you just would put the blind eye to that fact. "Mercedes simply don't build sports cars"?? What if they did achieve a perfect driveline like never before?
Mercedes has this huge affinity for automatic transmissions. So long as there is an automatic transmission in the middle, they won't have a perfect driveline. I applaud them for making their 6spd manual unit more available, but they still are so far behind everyone else in the field in offering manual trannies. Wanna know why? You put manual transmissions on sports cars. People who want to buy sports cars typically don't buy mercedes. They do make sporty cars.
The SLK350 has a nice engine, i'll admit that, it's transmission isn't bad either (the manual) - if you put an auto in that car, it doesn't count. It is still overweight, it's suspension is still not on par with the Z-Axle in the Z4. The Z4 I'm sure still easily outhandles the SLK350, the Z4 pretty well outhandles most of the class. People have broken 70 through the slalom (more than a few big magazines) in a Z4. That's impressive. The Z4 is lighter, and it isn't ugly how the new SLK is.
Furhtermore, Z4 is getting some more power. It's 3.0L is getting valvetronic and a boost to 258hp. That's going to more than compensate. The Z4 beats out the SLK350. SLK350 has improved - yes, but all the same, it's no Z4 beater. BMW just does roadsters better. The C-Class will never be a better car than the 3. The 3 defines the category. The C used to suck, but it's become pretty good, almost 3-class good. If the S-Class weren't horribly overpriced and the luxury/build quality wasn't questionable, i'd think it was better than the 745i.
Mercedes makes good cars, I admit that, they are not sportier than their BMW counterpart in any price segment. They are making good drivelines, but a good driveline doesn't make a good sports by itself. All the same, technology is nice, but in terms of performance, the Mercedes drivelines for all their technology don't work any better than the offerings from Audi/VW, BMW or Jaguar.
Another interesting note. Fortune Magazine lists BMW as the most respected company in Germany.
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"The car is the closest we will ever come to creating something that is truly alive"
If you "know your shit", you buy a BMW and not a Benz? LOLOLOLOLOLOL
too funny .....
Do any of you guys know anybody personally who has an SL 65? If any of you do ... please see if maybe they would be willing to race the new M5 & M6 when they come out ... it would be quite interesting ...
In a straight line the SL 65 would kill them ...... and yes yes I already know what you all are going to say about "if they were in the twisties" .... blah blah blah .....
And don't discount or throw out the new SLK either .... recently when my 745 was in the shop ... I was given a new Z4 3.0 to drive and it was a piece of shit ...... build quality wasn't better IMO than the SLK 350 and it had a really rough and loud ride and not enough leg room by far ...it handled great and was quite speedy enough but that's not enough because the SLK 350 is faster, more comfortable, better built, and easier on the eyes and ears ..... I guess this is just a matter of brand loyalty and/or personal opinion as usual ....
the looks really blew nads also .... I believe the new SLK 55 blows the competition out of the water in the looks department .... and with a new 7-Speed AMG Speedshift trans and that bad-ass V-8 with AMG sports suspension and brakes ... I mean come on let's be honest here it's gonna be one bad-ass ride for sure .....
I honestly don't care anymore about all of the writing off of Benz as inferior to bimmer ... I've just accepted the fact that at CarPassion there is no hope in that department ....
As for quality of construciton ... the next S & CL will handily take care of that matter don't worry .....
A friend of mine bought a SLK350 with 6 speed manual immediately after he tested a SLK 200K. We had tried a Z4 2.5i before that. We wasn't imperssed and it was very plastic interior in comparison. Also the Z4 2.5 was very slow, nothing impressive. Another friend bought a Z4 3.0i that is faster. Come on here, it's like some people claim Mercedes as dead!? The Z4 3.0 driver I know got into 2:nd gear after he outrev it in 3:rd! So it can't be that good. Also when he had the E39 he did the same more than once.
The SLK is better than the Z4 by allot of magazines. The SLK is as fast in corners as the Z4.
What if some other models than S and the SLK also would beat the BMW counterpart? Like the some models of the C? I'd probably hear that the rear bumper is ugly, or the speed is too high, or that human chests aren't designed for the G forces in the cornering capabilities in the C... it must be something bad right?
And the old C isn't bad, my dad got one. I felt like I was in a E39 when cruising. Very comfotable and it does go much faster in corners due to it's lighter weight of 1330 kg. It feels like all bumps are gone! Are some of you going to say I'm senile because of this?
And what did polarfox mean about questionable S class quality?!!! I'm surprised about this. Because the bimmers axles falls appart. Like the carinspection in sweden tells us. The most problematic cars are BMW 3 series. What about quality there!? Also the where the rearbumper spring is fasted to the body is frequently rusted to dangerous levels. How about searching for flaws eh? I don't say I hate BMW, I actually love them! But sometimes I have to defend using the same kinds of methods some of you are using when searching for flaws.
Im sorry thunf but the 3 series bmw has been dominating its class for over a decade.Audi and merc have been trying to out do it forever.The c class is not better and probly never will be better than a 3.And i cant see the slk outclassing a z4 either.The new slk is nice considering that the old slk 230 is the worst mercedes ive ever driven.But i dont think it can best the z4.
Have you tried the new SLK 350 with the new transmission? What if that would be more fun to drive than a Z4 BMW? What if that would be so? I'm sure you just would put the blind eye to that fact. "Mercedes simply don't build sports cars"?? What if they did achieve a perfect driveline like never before?
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