Originally Posted by Mr_550' post='267437' date='Apr 10 2006, 04:10 PM

Hi forum --

Been a lurker for a bit, but as of this morning I am officially in the market for a new sedan...

I say this morning, because sometime between 10pm last night and 6am this morning, some a**hat stole our '90 Benz 420 SEL from in front of our house...

As a lurker, I had been planning on ordering a 550 just how I wanted it in the hopes of recieving it in a couple of months. It seems my schedule has been accelerated a bit.

Let me just say how many of you have beautiful cars... it really is a form of cruel and unusual punishment to ogle all the pics

I will start out my posting career with one particular question... hopefully not inflamatory...

I have kids, and wanted a mid- or large-sedan to replace our large-large-sedan. I was leaning towards a 550 as it's midsize-ness seemed appealing. My boy-racer days are behind me(original M3, Porsche 993) but I still enjoy a spirited drive now and again...

My question is, 'who shopped the 5 against the 7 and what were your conclusions?'

I know there are a million answers and a million questions to my question, but I hope you get the gist of what I'm saying.

I imagine for some it was a price issue(but not much of one as the prices all start to converge near one another) or a performance issue(availability of SMG, Manual, 'better handling', etc...) or an image one(the 7 is the provenance of 'young drug dealers', successsful executives, etc...)

or is it more like the words of Ferris Bueller -- "If you have the means, I highly recommend picking one up..."

I would opt for sport-variants of either beast. While I'd love an M5, it would be wasted on me, so the 550 seemed like the gentleman's M5.

I would like a new 550, but would consider a used 7 as the prices can be quite attractive.

But that's enough rambling for now.

Cheers,

S.G.