I just wanted to have a fresh comparison in my mind as I have an E60 530d booked for a test drive tomorrow. I have great expectations for the 530. However, despite going into the E320 with an open mind, my overall impresion at the end of it all was it felt more like the U571. It was like driving a slab and was completely uninvolving. I can see why people would like it for a luxury cruiser but it was certainly not my cup of tea.

 

I have driven it myself too. For each new generation of the e-class, mb tries to build a BMW but with a star on the bonnet. You can?t be better than the original (BMW) if you just copy it. In a swedish magazine the E39 beat the brand new E-class in a test and the E60 is better than the E39.

To be honest they build good cars too but then you must have the real big engines and a real big wallet. Some materials in the interior is still better in the M-B. But the driver?s choice is BMW and from now on even the passengers with the increased legroom in the E60.

 

Yes you're right, the interior materials did have the upper hand of what I've seen in the E60 so far. I fear that my wife thinks I'm going nuts. After having a good look and FEEL of the E60 the other day, i got back into my E39 and started poking and proding the door panels and dash. I think she thought we'd got mice or something! One thing I thought about the E60 was the plastic cover on the interior B pillar, below the upper seatbelt anchor, felt and sounded very cheap and nasty. However, a few knocks on the E39 confirmed that it was indeed the same.

 

..two items I have found in E60 that must have been signed off without "quality and idea control": the covers of the cupholders in front and the center armrest in the back..the covers are of different material and the armrest has a VERY clumsy opening mechanism + cupholders that could from an old Lada / Shiguli..
such things would not appear in a MB?!

 

The armrest in the E-class does not look too good either. It has some sort of plastic material too. I wonder if MB can offer cup holders at all in the E-class....

 

You're right, Apeshape! That rear armrest is extremely embarassing.

My father was about to buy an E39, so I tried to convince him to wait for the new 5's options to be available before making a decision and when he sat in the rear and pulled that armrest down, he got out of the car and signed a deposit for the old E39.

Fortunately, that deal might not go through so I might have a chance to convince him yet again to wait a little longer and get the E60 instead.

But to STILL have some pieces of the car that are so unacceptable is ridiculous.

The other thing that annoys me about the E60 is some of the ergonomics, especially the dashboard are a disaster. Instead of evolving the lovely E39's incredible ergonomics, they took ten steps backwards and created an ugly, hard to understand and use dashboard.

Chris Bangle is an idiot. But even so, the new 5 is an awesome car. I personally drive a 2003 330i Individual, but I can't wait for my family to buy a new 530 so that I can test drive it.

z

 

FASTBUCK,

you didn't actually tell us about the e60 testdrive compared to the E320 (u571 feel)

What was the 530d like ?