Mercedes E55 vs BMW M5 vs Jaguar S Type R vs Audi RS6

[Amir]

Mercedes E55
BMW M5
Jaguar S Type R
Audi RS6

Which one would you choose and why.

Have fun.

[crayzayjay]

M5

By far the nearest to a sports car out of all above

[YogsVR4]

Its between the E55 and M5 for sure with that list. I’d probably go with the M5 overall. Its a sportier looking ride and there are very few around here.

[SuBaRuRuLeS]

1 M5
2 RS6
3 E55
4 S Type R

[Jimster]

I'd say no to the S Type R first- least developed- least sporty

then the M5- it's too old- but I guess that the 6 speed manual could possibly perrsuade me to take it

then the RS6- Probably my second choice- powerful and AWD

and I'd probably take the E55- most accomplished car of the lot :P

[del]

i'll have to agree with the Jimster and vote for the benz. the rest of the cars have their strengths, but the benz is a nice balance of everything.

[crayzayjay]

First of all let me say I haven’t driven the Benz, just to get that out of the way. But every test ive read / seen about the E55 concluded that it would be verging on folly to throw the thing sideways because of the lack of feedback as to where the limits are. I have to disagree with you Jimmy, it is extremely accomplished, but only when it comes to ride, and the fact that the engine approaches 500bhp is simply insane. The M5, on the other hand, I found to be very communicative and inspiring confidence. The fact it has “only” 400bhp is really not a problem. The M5 is indeed the oldest out of the bunch but still the best drive.

[Leruo]

THESE ARE THE FACTS:

THE MERCEDES-BENZ E V12 BRABUS...
AT 640HP/477.4KW @ 5100RPM...
WITH TOP SPEED LIMITED TO 340KM/H...
A 0-100KM/H OF 4.1 SECS...
A 0 200KM/H OF 12.9 SECS...

...IS QUITE SIMPLY THE KING OF ALL SPORT SEDANS..AND NEITHER BMW, OR AUDI HAVE ANYTHING CLOSE TO AN ANSWER TO THIS..

in fact if you were in a Diablo you'd have to have your foot down all the way to the floor, right from go, all the way to the end, just to make sure you weren't embarrased...

[IR/IR04M3]

The E55 is a great straight line performer, but to use sport and the E55 in the same sentance is scary! The E55 is by far the least satifying of the quartet as a drivers car, very aloof. Despite haveing 16 (yes 16) pots in the front calipers the braking distances are average for the class and the feel, well there is no feel. Brake by wire is not ready for prime time. As far as handling it just isn't in the same class as the rest, a one trick pony, which seems to be AMG's direction of late. Quick and fast best saved for crusing and catching Z06 owners unaware. Reliability has been poor recently and the number of electronic sub-systems in this puppy could well mean getting to know your service writer much better than you would like to. There is a reason Car magazine named it the most disappointing in it's performance car of the year tests for 2003.
A slushbox, albeit an excellent one belongs nowhere in a high performance sport sedan.

The Jag S type is a wanna be in the class. It is merely adequate as a sport sedan but will satisfy the Anglophiles in the group. Package feels one step in R&D short of fruition, like a Beta tester loosed on the masses as a finished product. Has the basic handling/breaking/acceleration to make the frquent trips to the dealer for repair quick and comfortable enough.

The RS6 we have a contender. Loads of power, very limited production, enough sport to be a true sport sedan. What can I say, it is the enigma of the group to me, as I have yet to be able to fanagle even a test drive. The rags seem to like it and based on the numbers and experience with Audi's I would say it is the best balanced of the group, again in terms of a large sport sedan. The styling is inetersting but doesn't do enough to distance itself from the A6. I understand it will have a limited dealership network to support it as Audi requires a dealer perticipate in a "program" to service it. With more info I might pick it first, heck nevermind I am intrigued and live Audi interiors, plus a turbo 8 is hard to beat!

The M3 is the ancient one of the group, the originator of the ultra high perf luxury sedan niche, and the, up 'til now, undisputed king of the class. The M3 is getting long in the tooth and would man handle the E55 and Jag on the track. The M5 screams balance, power and handling are leveled in a way that doesn't overwhelm but compliments, even at the ripe old age of 7 the 5 series was still the yard stick for this class, the M5 remains as such. We are still months away from the new M5, even though the new car will be a V10, it will be NA and not compete with the E55 for the HP crown but will push its ontrack ability and sport sedan presence even farther ahead of its AMG countryman.

1. RS6
2. M5
3. E55
4. S Type

As you can see I appreciate balance and lap times more than electronic nannies, slush boxes and 1/4 mile times.

Vandy

[blindside.AMG]

Originally Posted by IR/IR04M3

The E55 is a great straight line performer, but to use sport and the E55 in the same sentance is scary! The E55 is by far the least satifying of the quartet as a drivers car, very aloof. Despite haveing 16 (yes 16) pots in the front calipers the braking distances are average for the class and the feel, well there is no feel. Brake by wire is not ready for prime time. As far as handling it just isn't in the same class as the rest, a one trick pony, which seems to be AMG's direction of late. Quick and fast best saved for crusing and catching Z06 owners unaware. Reliability has been poor recently and the number of electronic sub-systems in this puppy could well mean getting to know your service writer much better than you would like to. There is a reason Car magazine named it the most disappointing in it's performance car of the year tests for 2003.
A slushbox, albeit an excellent one belongs nowhere in a high performance sport sedan.

It is very obvious that you have never driven this car yourself. To use the word sport and E55 is scary? What the fuck are you talking about? Did you take that quote from a magazine or something? I've actually driven the E55. It has more handling and braking ability than anyone ever needs on the road. The accelerating is absolutely blistering. Brake by wire feels fantastic to me. Please link me to this "car magazine" so I can have a good laugh. I'm sure it's the type of magazine that gives the 4x4 of the year to the Honda Pilot. I can agree with you on the fact that it hasen't been reliable lately. Most of the problems we are having with these cars are purely convenience features. Nothing to do with saftey or anything to do with the powertrain at all. Mercedes is aware of the problems with the car and are working hard to correct them. I'd say the 2005 model should almost be flawless.

As for the rest of the cars, they are all great and I would be honored to drive them but I'd choose the E55. More performance than I should have in my hands and fantastic styling. The RS6 is a close second, followed by the M5. As for the Jaguar, eh, I'd probably just save my money and spend it elsewhere.

[Saint]

I agree that the the E55 AMG is far from the "Ultimate Drving Machine" as the M5/M3 are billed to be. The fact that they have awesome straightline performance is overshadowed by the fact that it does have 500hp and are quite heavy. I think of them as great highway cruisers/racers.

I have a video of a stock E55 just RAPING a modified '03 Cobra with over 500hp.

As for my choices: 1) M5 2) RS6 3) E55 4) S-type

[Saint]

Oh yeah, and to add to this, I think the car with the fastest lap times is the RS6. I read an article comparing the RS6 to the M(don't know if it was the M3 or M5), and I think the E55 was in there too and a Volvo. All I can remember is that the RS6 put up the best lap times.

[MioCLK]

I'll go for the E55.
Yes, it doesn't have the handling to match its power, but thats not a problem for me.
I don't need to drive through a race track everyday to get to the place i wanted to go.
Yes, there are too many eletronics which controls the car, and I admit I am not that good of a driver who can handle 516lb-ft of torque, especially in the rain.
The joy of this car comes to when you can run door handle to door handle with a Ferrari 575M from a stop light.

[IR/IR04M3]

Originally Posted by blindside.AMG

It is very obvious that you have never driven this car yourself. To use the word sport and E55 is scary? What the fuck are you talking about? Did you take that quote from a magazine or something? I've actually driven the E55. It has more handling and braking ability than anyone ever needs on the road. The accelerating is absolutely blistering. Brake by wire feels fantastic to me. Please link me to this "car magazine" so I can have a good laugh. I'm sure it's the type of magazine that gives the 4x4 of the year to the Honda Pilot. I can agree with you on the fact that it hasen't been reliable lately. Most of the problems we are having with these cars are purely convenience features. Nothing to do with saftey or anything to do with the powertrain at all. Mercedes is aware of the problems with the car and are working hard to correct them. I'd say the 2005 model should almost be flawless.

As for the rest of the cars, they are all great and I would be honored to drive them but I'd choose the E55. More performance than I should have in my hands and fantastic styling. The RS6 is a close second, followed by the M5. As for the Jaguar, eh, I'd probably just save my money and spend it elsewhere.

I have driven an E55, on fact I was going to get one until I drove it. One of my partners got one of the first in the area, he was as convinced as I was that it would be a stunner. I must admit I am more of a balanced performance guy, my inclination is to evaluate a car on its merits as a track car or a mountain/canyon carver. The E55 is indeed a one trick pony. The brake by wire is universally loathed, not just by the American press but Euro press and the enthusiast community all. You are correct that the E55 offers most of the performance for the street that most people need, though not the more enthusiast oriented. If you were asking for a link for Car magazine (probably the best English language car rag) then it is carmagazine.co.uk, not sure if the PCOTY is award is online but it is the December 2003 issue. If you are talking about mags that haven't been satisfied with the E55 they are quite numerous but R&T, C&D, MT and Automobile have all not been very flattering to the braking handling side of the car. The one comparo I remember well was the C&D issue late spring 2003 that did the RS6/M3/E55/Type S comparo where the RS6 and ancient M5 bested the E55 (same issue the C43 lost out to the RS4 and M3). Bottom line the E55 is a great cruiser and stop light mauler but other than straight line it pales in the competition. I will point out the original poster did not ask the question in terms of sport sedan, I added that as it is the criteria I judge this set of cars against since they are marketed in the niche. If you use a set of criteria moving closer to grand tourer or luxo barge, no doubt the E55 wins, but if it is total balanced performance I find it hard to argue the E55 should be on top. AMG is fashioning an interesting niche side stepping BMW in the fight, Audi chose to fight them head up in the ultra high performance arena. The RS6 and M5 are just different cars, so it makes sense to have a strong feeling either for or against it, in this group most people are going to have a hard decision between the Audi and the BMW OR they will see the E55 as the clear leader just depends on ones priorities. Given your profession and car aspirations it is clear where your bias lies. I have owned all three brands and have no overwhelming love for any one of the three. I have loved every one of those cars.

As for track experience with the cars, I have been on the track at the same time with 2 RS6s and one E55. The RS6 drivers were both out on the ragged edge and were passing things like 360s and Z06s (albeit with somewhat timid drivers) but the E55 driver wasn't very game so it was hard to judge where it falls in terms of real capabilities. It is just rare to see an AMG on the track, it is just not their bag and usually not the owners bag either. The E55 is a heck of a car, and when they get the steering and brakes dialed in it will be more credible as a high perf sedan until then it is an also ran but I don't think AMG planned for it to compete there, AMG is more compatent than that, for gosh sakes they put an auto in it, that for a huge number of enthusiasts puts it outside the ultra perf sedan catagory.

Vandy

[NISSANSPDR]

E55 is great and all...but definitely not all that....

As CAR (British car mag...best automotive photography) wrote in this month:

"The E55 truly is a 4 door that's as fast as a Ferrari...but around the Hill Route (the track they were testing at for Performance Car of the Year) the uber-E is bedevilled by appalling fightback. W/out its myriad of electronic guardians, the E55 would simply be overwhelmed by its monster engine. It's far from a coherent package."



I'll take an M5 please...