GT Premi

Edmunds Inside Line Test

snowboarder550i

"We regret to inform you that the era of the V8-powered midsize luxury sport sedan could be over. Gas prices aren't the problem; instead, it's the impending federal fuel-economy standards that could spell the end of these luxurious street sleepers.

So this meeting of the 2008 Audi A6 4.2, 2008 BMW 550i, 2009 Jaguar XF Supercharged and 2008 Mercedes-Benz E550 might represent the end of an era.

Under the new rules, shoving big V8s into midsize sedans will become a questionable prospect even for luxury brands. Without massive price increases, only the most expensive flagship models will be able to offer thirsty eight-cylinder engines, leaving the smaller sedans to get by with six cylinders or worse."


What is he talking about???

Rudy

So it looks like the 550 lost to the Jag because it has a harsher ride, has a simpler (plain) interior, and costs more. What's interesting is that they sort of contradict things in the last paragraph [of the 550 review] by saying:

westcoast550

Why do I just get a big smile when I read stuff like this .................

Rudy

It's the old, "since we're keeping score, we have to give the Jag the win based on points but if we were to buy one of these cars, we'd buy the 2nd place car..."

westcoast550

+ Jag plan to spend a ton of ad $$ this year and wouldn't it be nice if some nice things were said .........I don't think the editorial and advertising depts would do something like that ............would they ?

JeffNNJ

These tests actually crack me up as well. The Jaguar beat the 550i by 11 points but the editors would still rather own the BMW. Makes perfect sense to me. Morons.

ObD

If you look at the ratings chart, the 550i's biggest hit is in price and feature content. I laugh at the $5K difference in price affecting buyers in the $65K range. The top 5 features are a joke. The 550i lost because these features aren't standard .. the horror. Also, I have to laugh when Edmunds claims ventilated seats aren't available on the 550i

too solid

that jag looks like a mix of a buick and a lincoln :thumbsdown: lol
550 wins hands down. interior looks a bit "boring". common what more do they want? some pretty colors and knobs to hang on to.. lol gimme a break

skylolow

Seems to be the issue in alot of the 550i comparison test recently. Everyone would always choose it to be the car in there garage yet it just falls short of winning. Go figure that one out.

Also I don't understand the ride quality many of these testers are saying about the 550i. I have a Lexus LS that is known for smooth riding. I use it to rack miles up on now and I've put alot of miles on it over the years and I got no issues with ride quality of my BMW 545i. To me that is one hell of nit picking thing there pulling out. And usually after or before this they praise at how great the handling and feel of the car is. Doesn't make much sense. As usual they try to take price into the equation and knock off more then there fair share to make it come in second. A few grand in this range doesn't mean a hill of beans when you consider what avg. dealer usually knocks off cars in this price range.


P.S.: My theory on BMW's over the last five years or so in the mags. reviews is they're getting sick of putting BMW #1 all the time. I remember back in the early 90's into the late 90's that you'd have people just outraged that every damn comparison that had a BMW in it, it came first. People would write in saying how they thought BMW owned these mags. because they thought there all so bias towards BMW. Maybe the test drivers of today grew up in that era .