JetBlack5OC

Car & Driver really like the new supercharged 3.0 in the A6. They also praised steering and good brake feel. Most people also now the new Audi interiors are top shelf.

This is really high praise, coming from the BMW fanboys at Car & Driver.

TMQ

So is the supercharged V6 from Audi better than the I6 twinturbo?

Does the Quattro feel better than the RWD? Does Audi offer 6MT?

Audi's sport package came with 19" wheels, is that sport suspension better than the ARS on the bimmer?

Is steering better? Does the bimmer have Active Steering?

My guess is no, no, no to all the above.

So Audi probably wins from stuff like navigation and the interior. I'm guessing the iDrive version is still the old version (which I admit isn't that great, software wise). The A6 interior was actually disappointing to me, because it's not much different from A4; the materials - hard plastic dash and seat control area, also have inferior quality. Maybe because visually it's more interesting - a bit more driver oriented, but the bimmer's interior is classier.

Not surprised by MB's showing though - and it's not like they are trying to build a sports sedan. You buy a MB because it's a MB, not because it's sportier...

Richard in NC

I just read the article. The only real complaint of the 535i was the $63k price and all of the add-ons that should be standard. They also equiped it with a 6 speed manual and some complained about that. It had the best performance (only the M45 was close), handling (by far), and was the most quiet. It also returned decent MPG. They also faulted the smallish trunk (for the class) and tight back seat for 3. They didn't mention iDrive that I could see.

Oh: And they said the styling was dated..