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Sedans High Performance Luxury Sedans
1038 messages, Last post on Jun 18, 2008 at 1:12 PM
You are in the Sedans Forum. Your Hosts are pat & karens
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New 2001 M5's are available in the Chicago area. Two dealers had them on the floor One wanted $8-10K over MSRP. At the second dealer, I got the car for $3k over. They accept orders and said expect a 6-8 month wait. But, they want $5k over on an order. Also, I think they want the car to stay in the area for service revenue. I had an order for an E55 in the May 2000 but still would not have gotten it until late this fall. The Mercedes dealer was charging MSRP. |
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| E55 has three seat belts and three headrest. the outer two seat have lap and shoulder belts and side air bags | |
| Well, after finally sampling each, I decided to go the M5 route. It was a very close decision, what w/both being so close in performance, size, etc. The E55 had better rear seat room, fuel economy and trunk space, and was easier to drive with the automatic. However, the M5 was just such a blast to drive! The ride was also more supple. If you really like driving, I highly recommend this car. If your preference is to zip down the freeway and handle bumper to bumper traffic with the greatest of ease, the E55 may be the way to go, but my choice was to sacrifice a bit of convenience for increased driver involvement. Now, I'll just have to go out and find one at something less than an extortionate (?) price... (FYI, prices seem to be softer for E55s; you can get most dealers to give you MSRP if you're willing to order and wait for one. All M5s anywhere near the SF Bay Area, at least, seem to be spoken for into the next millennium and beyond.) | |
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Can anyone mail pictures of their 2001 E55 AMG interior leather seats. I am interested in the black/black only. I would also like to know if there is a difference if you got the ventilated verses the normal seats. I saw an E55 AMG at the dealer the other day and the seats looked the same as a regular E430. No special leather. What gives? Thanks! GaryD |
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I am in contact with Mercedes right now to get pictures and try to resolve this matter. If you look at the E catalog or on the internet, the two-tone seats have a premium napa leather. The black/black seats look the same in the E55 AMG as in the regular E class. This should not be true as the napa AMG leather is supposed to be the same as in the S class giving the E55 better quality leather seats. Since my car is about to be built and I just saw a new 2001 silver E55 AMG with Black/Black and perforations throughout that looked the same as a regular E class, I wanted to get clarification on this point. These seats were not ventiliated. GaryD |
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This is my take on this Gray, I believe the standard E55 seats (blk/blk, blk/white, blk/red) do not come with napa leather. The designo and expresso special order series however, are different. If you are looking at the beige or green two tone seats, they are the designo and expresso series with the napa seats. Hope this helps. |
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I am close to chosing a car to buy. Either the BMW 540ia or the E55 AMG. I know they are different animals but performance is very close. The price is also a big difference. I have 2 questions. 1. Did anyone test drive the 540ia and compared it to the E55 2. Is everyone paying MSRP for the car ? I drove both cars and the BMW was nice. The pickup was very quick. I felt the E55 was a little slow to take off. I would like to get the M5 but the wait is long and my wife can't drive a manual. thanks |
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I seriously considered both cars and picked the E55 for the following reasons: 1. E55 is significantly faster (you probably had the car in the winter mode starting in 2nd gear). 2. E55 as a limited production car holds its value much better than the mass produced 540iA. 3. E55 has far more leg room in the back, important in my case, also a bigger trunk. 4. I felt that the E55 corners and brakes much better than the 540iA, although it tends to follow road imperfection more. 5. I worry about all the small problems with BMWs, door seal squeaks, door rattles, etc. 6. Believe it or not, the E55 has better gas mileage than the 540iA. 7. To be fair, I prefer the interior layout of the 540iA more than the E55. Overall, I think the E55 is a more fun car and a better buy, if you consider the long term cost of ownership. |
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The E55 is *much* faster than the 540. Mind you, they're both fast car, but cars like the E55 are insanely fast. Effortless performance can be quite deceiving, a torquey engine like the E55's will gradually catapult you format, instead of the lagged acceleration that comes with peakier engine characteristics (not that the 540 is peaky, though). They are very different cars, and thus one must wonder what you're looking for. The fact you want automatic indicates you want everyday practicality. Everybody that owns the E55 says the car combines amazing everyday practicality (bar the somewhat harsher ride) with super-sportcar performance. If you can consider the 2, you probably should pick the E55, I think. really, it is *much* faster than the normal 540. ...pablo |
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Thanks everyone for the reply back. I really want the E55 AMG and I hope I can convince my wife. Can I ask if everyone paid MSRP for it ? I will hopefully make a decision by this weekend and I will post on the good or bad news. Thanks |
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