[Ripcord09]

Mercedes-Benz E-Class

What you'll like:

• One of the best examples of a luxury sedan <1-crore rupees. Comes from a solid decades-long legacy
• High-quality interiors, very comfortable seats and spacious cabin. Owners will appreciate the limousine-like rear seat experience
• Wide range of engines – E200 for sedate drivers, E220d for diesel fans and the E450 4Matic for enthusiastic owners looking for speed
• 9G-Tronic torque converter automatic transmission offers a smooth driving experience. It’s also fairly quick shifting
• Soft, comfortable suspension tune
• Loaded with tech like the 4D Burmester sound system, selfie (!!!) & video camera, 12.3-inch passenger display, digital air-vent control, latest gen MBUX, 4-zone climate control, soft close doors, power adjustment for rear seats, and more
• 5-star Euro NCAP safety rating. Equipped with 8 airbags (including a central airbag), active brake assist, active blind spot assist, Mercedes Pre-Safe system, etc.

What you won't:

• More expensive than all direct competitors, including the 5-Series LWB (IMHO, the E-Class is still reasonably priced for what’s on offer)
• Not really a driver’s car that you will enjoy carving corners with. Best for cruising and sedate driving
• Starting engines offer just about adequate power on tap (E200 has 201 BHP, while E220d has 195 BHP)
• Extra-long wheelbase means that you have to be careful over large speed breakers
• Designed for 4 adults, not 5
• Boot doesn’t feel very spacious; the spare tyre too chews away useable cargo room
• Missing features such as cooled seats, head-up display, Level 2 ADAS, full-size spare tyre (E-Class has a space saver tyre which will restrict your cruising speed to 80 km/h) etc.

Review Link

BMW 530i

A Close Look Report

Ownership Review

Audi A6

Ownership Review

Lexus ES

Purchase Discussion

Volvo S90

Ownership Review

[Omkar]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[GTO]

Mercedes E-Class . Clearly the best luxury car here. Best comfort levels, has the option of a powerful petrol, well-kitted, reasonably priced warranty & service packages. Gets my vote.

BMW 5-Series LWB: A most confused car. Not fun to drive as the suspension is too soft, and while the focus is on the backseat, it loses a lot many essentials at the rear. I would have voted for an evolution of the G30, but this car has taken a completely different direction. Tries to compete with Mercedes, but doesn't match it in luxury. Better, BMW should have just focused on owner-drivers like the G30 which was such a fun-to-drive car.

Audi A6: Love the styling and very neutral nature. But currently only sold with the 2.0L engine & FWD. Will need a more powerful motor & AWD to get my vote. When I'm paying big bucks, I want RWD or AWD.

Lexus ES: Would buy the Camry instead and save money.

Volvo: A neither-here-nor-there car. Going forward, Volvo is going to focus on SUVs only and I agree with that decision.

[soarersc300]

Originally Posted by Ripcord09

Attachment 2676466

Audi A6 received a refresh in 2024. It is now producing 265 BHP and not 241 BHP.

CarWoW a few months ago did a comparison between A6, 530 (regular wheelbase), and the E (regular wheelbase) and the A6 was the fastest to the ton at 5.8 seconds (against claim of 6.2 secs). In fact even 5 and E also bettered their claims to the ton by half a second.

It's unfortunate that we don't get the Quattro in India else it would be a no brainer for which among the three is a driver's car. For chauffeur driven it's the E LWB. 5 is not here or there and I suspect 330 to find more takers for self driving enthusiasts and E for chauffeur driven buyers. A6 is a fine balance of all, even without the Quattro.

[mgastor2022grey]

Voted for the Mercedes E-Class. I would probably pick either the 220d or the 450.

Definitely not voting for the 530Li as it looks pretty bad and does not drive like a proper BMW. It has lost its soul and has become a chauffer-car, more not so as the E-Class still trumps it.

Would have chose the A6 right away, provided it had the Quattro and Adaptive dampers. When I'm spending close to 80 lakhs, I definitely would have expected these. But, apart from the that, its a S-E-X-Y car with a great interior. Would definitely age well.

Lexus ES - Not my cup of tea with that boring Engine-Gearbox combinations.

S90 - Another good car, but it lacks dynamics and does not have ambient lighting, which is a paramount for me in luxury cars (silly, I know!)

Cheers!

[Sumanyu17]

I believe the dimensions for the E-Class LWB V214 are 5,092 mm, 1,880 mm and 1,493 mm in length, width and height and the wheelbase is 3,094 mm.

[extreme_torque]

Buying with my own money, I wont look at anything German. Lexus all the way

[sunikkat]

I don’t like any car in this segment and will never buy, as I would always drive and will not have a chauffeur. But if I have to pick it would be 530i over E200 and E220 and E450 over everything else. But hope BMW gets 540i.

[//M]

Seeing this thread, I wonder where has the Jaguar XF disappeared. It is a great thing that JLR is so focused on Land Rover / Range Rover but it is also a pity that JLR is extremely ignorant of Jaguar, a brand which has its share of legacy and heritage. Hope they revive the Jaguar brand with some aspirational and desirable offerings soon !

[ashivas89]

Here's ACI's take on it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oP_E...l=AutocarIndia

[Tutenkhamen]

It has to be E. In 450 trim.
Nothing less would do for top bucks.

5 is a land-boat now and S90, ES have a niche target audience.
Only A6 gives some legit competition but then 3 series LWB is there in the same price bracket.

We need better looking and fast sedans, a la, XF!!

[ajmat]

The 5 series is hideous, the front looks like an SUV. The Lexus is not so bad but I would buy used. The Merc is good but not for me.

By process of elimination, the Audi pops us as the best contender. It always seems to happen!

[FAIAAA]

Voted Lexus as a luxurious and sensible bet in this group. It will be cheaper to buy, run and maintain and outlive the others in the long term.
Outside this group, if one is still looking at a luxury sedan, it makes sense to buy the Camry which is nearly up there with the Lexus and significantly cheaper.
However if I had to put my own money, I would not go with any of the above - 1. I am self driven and these luxury barges for the chauffeur driven make no sense for me 2. Their long wheel base and low GC make them a pain on urban roads filled with potholes and unscientific speed breakers. And if that's the case in the city, imagine the challenges trying to road trip with them.
Honestly top end Cross overs ( Tucson /Kodiaq/Tiguan or XUV700, Safari/Harrier) provide all the good to have luxury features with the practicality required for Indian roads - urban and touring perspective.

[Sensible_Speed]

Voted BMW. The petrol engine and ZF transmission in the bimmer seem to have a better track-record for reliability. While Mercedes may be pushing the goalposts further than ever before with their comfort game, they seem to have reverted to the Daimler-Chrysler days of the early 2000s with the reliability standards taking a huge hit. A lot of reports of Mercedes drivetrain failures are hitting the news these days and it doesn't bode well for those of us who recall the days when Mercedes was synonymous with engineering integrity. My only consideration when buying a car is how long it will last without any major problems, while also being as cutting edge as it can be. While we need to embrace new technology, it must also be useful and not become a hindrance. Lexus, Audi and Volvo, while all good choices are starting to show their age now. Fingers crossed for the new ES whenever it comes.

[Foxbat]

Originally Posted by GTO

BMW 5-Series LWB: A most confused car. Not fun to drive as the suspension is too soft

I have completed about 9,000 km (5,600 miles ) in 7 months in the regular wheel base 5 series and I find the suspension pretty hard even on US roads. For bumpy roads my Ciaz was much better

Perhaps the suspension has been modified for the Indian market for chauffeur driven customers.

I have put down an initial review here: https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-...drive-g60.html (Initial Review: 2024 BMW 530i xDrive (G60))

Originally Posted by soarersc300

CarWoW a few months ago did a comparison between A6, 530 (regular wheelbase), and the E (regular wheelbase) and the A6 was the fastest to the ton at 5.8 seconds (against claim of 6.2 secs). In fact even 5 and E also bettered their claims to the ton by half a second.

Interestingly for the US market BMW claims a 0-60 MPH (96.6 km/hr) time of 5.8 seconds for the 530i xDrive and 5.9 seconds for the rear wheel drive car.

Source: https://www.bmwusa.com/vehicles/5-se...specifications

However in tests by Car and Driver the xDrive performed much better at 5.5 seconds. I wonder if the cars are tuned differently for US, India and UK markets.

Source: https://www.caranddriver.com/bmw/5-series-2024