If you were to set out for an executive saloon for less than 20,000 quid, which would you have?
I am actually torn between the two. Both were outrageously reliable and offered outstanding build quality and performance. Of course, Mercedes was always more on the line of comfort opposed to BMW, who are more on the line of performance. Both are solid tanks and are safe and offered some of the most cutting edge technology at the time.
But the more I think about it, the more I edge toward the Mercedes. In my opinion, it's just simply a better looking car and is more appealing to me. I would go for the BMW if i wanted it to be more sporty, but in essence, both are tanks and you wouldn't be that confident in throwing them into corners so that then becomes irrelevant. And this was at a time when Mercedes still built good cars. From then on, they went on their downward trend of making absolute lemons (as we are all aware of their reliability and build quality issues). It also gives you comfort in saying that it's a "good Mercedes," something that you can't necessarily say for the new Benzes lol. I'd hate to say it, but I would also think that the Mercedes is slightly more reliable than the BMW. I also know that the BMW offered the M70 V12, something that the Mercedes didn't offer and I know that the Mercedes 5.6 liter V8 only pumped out a weak 234 bhp and a not so bad 287 lb ft of torque (US Spec), but the Mercedes overall is just a more appealing car to me. I have sat in an E32 before and it just felt really cheap compared to the Mercedes. So I would have trouble deciding if I was opted both, but I would slightly lean more towards the Mercedes. Lastly, I'm aslo looking at an 86-91 420SEL, 560SEL/SEC
