Hi thanks for reply i know that mercedes e class after 2006 was revised and is much better in every aspect so thought it would be ok then.

i currently have a e39 bmw 5 series good car some say best bmw have made but is the new one as good or better build wise and quality.

i like the a6 they say really good build quality but i like a nice smooth 6 cylinder engine and there v6's arnt as smooth.

Thanks

Jason

I am running a E39 at the moment I think you will have to a long way to find a better car.

My brother in law has a newish e class diesel and it is in my opinion not in the same class as BMW.

If you go down the BMW route think carefully if it has runflats. I have just been with someone who has a 520d estate with runflats and in 54,000 miles in 2.5 years it has had £2,600 worth of tyres!

Two of these were for screws in the tread which on any other tyre would have been repaired, the others have simply worn out and he has had the BMW problem of tyres feathering. It has been in and out of the dealership, but no joy in sorting it. He thought a wheel bearing had gone, but one of the runflats was beginning to feather after just 4,000 miles - another set up and new tyre fitted so he's now keeping an eye on it.

His company have now taken any car with runflats off their list.

Hi so cant you just put normal tyres on them or do you have to have runflats

The official line from BMW is that you must have runflat tyres, due to the way that the suspension on the cars has been set up.

However, the BMW Car Club of Great Britain say that this is not the case, and many of their members (including club officials!) have replaced the runflats with normal tyres and report that the ride is considerably improved as a result. Don't forget that these tend to be extremely pro-BMW people and for them to be critical of runflat tyres tells you something IMHO.

I have runflats on my BMW 3 series, and I think that the ride is rather uncomfortable. But I won't be changing the tyres on it to "normal" ones as I have a warranty, and I am worried about the implications of doing so.

I'll just not buy another BMW when I next change my car, that's all.

Edited by LikedDrivingOnce on 06/09/2010 at 14:43

What did u go for in the end???

I've had a few of each and have ended up back with the BMW, audi i could not fault, it was just the front wheel drive thing that annoyed me (although u could buy a quattro) and the BM is better balanced and a nicer drive in my opinion,

It will boil down to individual taste, they are both fantastic cars , My hearts with BMW though my wallet and common sense if i had any around cars would be with audi for the price to buy and the fuel economy ,how do they get their TDI's to go so far on a gallon!!??????

Depends on how long you want to keep it. i don't buy this Mercedes quality issue at all. I have an old Merc and I know people with Mercs of most vintages from 30 years old to quite new and hear of no serious problems. To be fair I have no experience of BMW or Audi.