BetterMakeWay

I once faced a CL500. At that time i didn't know the car's exact figures, thinking it had more that 330bhp. Anyway he was in front of me, two lane road, around 140ish (km/h) and when he saw me in the rear view mirror he slamed it. I said ok and slamed it aswell but i was in D. It seemed that i made up for the gap (that installed because he hit it 1st and i went second with a slight delay) till 200 or so and went up all the way to 250 and in this time i was right in his tail, him not moving in the left lane, and it seemed i had the resources to pass him quite easily. I had many times when i had to lift off, and being in D tranny even had time to change into 6th. By the time he hit 250 se started to go and pass through incoming lanes, and i said no i'm not playing like this anymore. I now want a CL600 but i'm not that sure about that

Torquey5

I'm just gonna go to a MBZ dealership and drive a few of those 550ish cars. I'm so expecting it to handle badly from what I've heard/read. But I know they're really plush and comfy, and powerful as well.

Now the 600series twin turbo engines are something else, I'd like to get a CL600 as well, but in the last gen body style, I hate the looks of the new gen CL.

swajames

Don't believe what you read on here - there is a lot of anti MB bias. I've driven a new E550 in the last couple of weeks, it is quicker than my 550, and with the no-cost sport package it handles pretty well. Looks and interior are subjective but the E550 feels more like a 70K car than my 550 does, if I'm being honest.

Torquey5

Interesting.... I usually try not to let articles/opinions get in the way of my judgement until I've personally seen/driven the car. I think you're saying that the MBZ feels more because they have focused so much on interior luxuryness that it's very hard to beat, even for BMW. Everyone should know that MBZs interior is far more luxury to BMWs. Then there are the cons which I'll leave that out, for now.

BTW, does the auto trannies on Mercedes cars come with their version of steptronic?

swajames

Yep, the E550 has auto as standard, if you wanted a manual on the E I think you're out of luck. The auto is a seven speed box, it's intended to aid economy and performance. I suspect the box does play a role there as I don't think the extra 22HP on its own would enable the E550 to pull much quicker than my 550 so gearing is clearly playing a part. In terms of driving, the MB box felt good, but our ZF boxes on the E60 are top drawer as well. I think it's just the seven speed box is set up for performance, it was clear they wanted to out drag the 550. Then again, you can be pretty sure that the next gen E60 550 will outdrag the MB - and so on....!!!! Let us know what you think, I'd be interested to see your take.

Torquey5

So aside from the E series, do any of the other sportier coupes, CL, SL, CLK, SLK offer some form of auto-manual shifting like our steptronics? Or are they ALL the same 7spd full auto?

0700700

not a big surprise, 306bhp and 2150kg ...