News: Changes to the 2012 Mercedes E Class

The rumors are finally confirmed as true and the new 2012 Mercedes-Benz E Class will be getting many changes. First off are the engine upgrades for both the E350 and the E550. The E350 will receive the Direct Injection 302 horsepower V6 engine and the E550 will receive the new 402 horsepower 4.6L Bi-Turbo V8. Both cars will also now offer the straight LED lights as opposed to the old hockey stick style lights. For the E350, customers will be able to continue getting either the E350 Sport or E350 Luxury models. The 2012 E550 will bring in some unanticipated changes.It will be only produced in the Sport version and the two most shocking things are no more Rear Wheel Drive and no more AIRMATIC for the 2012 E550! If these are something you really want, I would suggest running to get a 2011 model. For the interior, enjoy the new color instrument panel, as everything else remains the same. At the top of the line, the AMG model will also get a new engine. With a 5.5L Bi-Turbo V8 that churns out 518 horsepower and 516 lb-ft of Torque we'll have to see whether or not this monster can beat the brand new BMW M5. Due to some slight delays, expect to see these cars in production and ready for delivery sometime in Q4 of this year.

Battle of Sedans

Of the many sedans made by Mercedes, Lexus, and BMW the S550, LS 460L, and 750Li are what each manufacturer claims to be the best, but which one really is the best?

In terms of MSRP, the Lexus LS 460L is the cheapest at around $78,000. On the other end of the scale is the Mercedes S550 at around $93,000. In the middle is the BMW 750Li at $85,000.

In terms of size, the biggest of the three is the 750Li at 205.3 inches, beating the S550 by only 0.3 inches. The LS460L is a little more than 2 inches shorter at 202.8 inches. The 750Li is also the widest of the three at 74.9 inches. The other two cars have almost the same width, the S550 at 73.7 inches and the LS460L at 73.8 inches. Despite the 750Li being the biggest sedan of the three, it only has 14 cubic feet of cargo space. This is significantly smaller compared to the 18 cubic feet of cargo space in the LS460L. However, to make room for all this cargo space, Lexus had to make the seating area smaller. The S550 offers a nice balance with 16.3 cubic feet of cargo space.

The more you pay the better performance the car will have. The $93,000 S550 has a remarkable 5.5L V-8 engine with 382 horsepower. The Lexus may be cheaper, but it has a 4.6L V-8 engine with only 357 horsepower. The BMW is in the middle with its 4.4L V-8 engine and 400 horsepower.

Each car comes with 18 inch tires, but only the S550 and LS460L are AWD (all wheel drive). The 750Li is a RWD (rear wheel drive) which is what gives the car the extra horsepower. Because of this, if you live in an area with wintery conditions, the RWD will not be favorable. The BMW also only has 6 speed transmission, whereas the LS460L has 8 speed transmission. In the middle sits the Mercedes with 7 speed transmission.

In my opinion, the Lexus has the best looking exterior and interior. The LS460L has that nice smooth and sleek look. It is also very round and not boxy like the BMW 750Li. The Mercedes S550 would look better if it put the Mercedes logo style grill like all of the other vehicles. The Mercedes interior of the S550 looks very bare and the center console is almost empty. The 750Li seems to have everything very tightly packed and not much room. The Lexus on the other hand, seems to make good use of the center console and is not too empty or too crowded.

The following is a rating system to compare the cars above (based on my own opinion). There are 4 broad categories that will be rated on a scale from 1 to 5 (1 = lowest, 5 = highest)
Performance – Engine, horsepower, transmission, etc
Exterior – Style, Look/Feel
Interior – Style, Look/Feel, Usage of space
Value – Is what the car offers worth the price

Mercedes S550
P = 5
E = 4
I = 3
V = 4
Overall = 16/20

Lexus LS460L
P = 2
E = 4
I = 4
V = 5
Overall = 15/20

BMW 750Li
P = 5
E = 2
I = 3
V = 3
Overall = 13/20

What do you think about these three sedans? Which do you think is the best?

Summer of Convertibles

Sometime between this summer and early next year, both Mercedes and Lexus are planning on releasing their new convertibles. Lexus will unveil the IS250C and IS350C while Mercedes- Benz unveils the E class convertible. The Lexus convertible will be a hard-top roof while the Mercedes will be a traditional soft-top roof.

The IS250C engine is expected to have a similar engine to the IS250 sedan, a 2.5 Liter V-6. The I350C will have a 3.5 Liter V-6. The Mercedes E class convertible will be similar to its coupe version which is also expected to come out sometime during the summer. There are 4 expected variants of the convertible including the E250CGi (1.8L V-4), E350CGi (3.5L V-6), E500 (5.5L V8), and an AMG version (6.2L V8).

From various pictures available across the internet, the new Lexus convertible seems to enhance its sleek and smooth look even more than the other Lexus cars. On the hand, the Mercedes E class convertible seems to keep its old CLK look and does not offer any new appealing exterior designs. The old soft top roof may also turn away some people to the new Lexus hard-top convertible or the BMW 3 series convertible.

Despite its unappealing exterior, the inside of the new E-class convertible looks like a step up compared to the current Mercedes vehicles. It seems that Mercedes has finally done away with the old fashioned knobs for the temperature and made the center console more appealing by making air system settings digital. In general, I think the interior of this new Mercedes E class convertible is much more relaxing, comfortable, and well designed compared to the new Lexus IS convertible.

Another good thing about the new Mercedes E class convertible seems to be the engine variants offered. The Lexus is maxed out at a V-6 3.5 Liter engine while Mercedes take the E class convertible to another level with the 5.5L V8 and for the those more adventurous, the AMG.

While the new IS convertible may look nice from the outside, what is inside and under the hood is not as appealing as the new E class convertible. Hopefully, Mercedes will realize their convertible needs an exterior change and Lexus will upgrade the interior and the engine.

What do you think about the new IS and E convertibles? Which do you like better?

Comparing R500 vs GLK vs X5

Having been able to drive 2 Mercedes (R500 and GLK) and 1 BMW (X5) for a while I can see the many differences. Between the three vehicles, I would say that the GLK is my favorite one. For me, the R500 is way too big and even with a V8 engine, I think it’s underpowered. On the highway, the vehicle does pretty well at a higher speed, but in city driving (which is what I do most of the time) it’s rather bulky and slow. The X5 on the other hand is the complete opposite of the R500. It has a harsher drive, but has a fast pick-up speed. It also has a much harder break compared to a Mercedes. It is great for city driving, but does not offer the smooth ride of a Mercedes.

The GLK on the hand is a smaller vehicle than both the R500 and the X5, but still has plenty of power. With a 3.5 Liter V-6 engine and 268 hp the GLK is able to accelerate quickly, but not as fast as the X5. It also has much smoother breaking and because of its 4 wheel drive, 19 inch tires, and 7 speed automatic transmission it offers a very gentle ride. Each car is built for a different purpose, but I find the GLK the best.

What is your favorite luxury car or sports car you have had the chance to drive?

Welcome!

There are a lot different tpyes of luxury and sports car out in the world. What is a luxury car? What is a sports car? What is the difference between them? How much do they cost? What types of luxury and sports cars are out there?

The the purpose of this blog is to answer these questions and provide fruitful dicussion about luxury and sports cars. Every couple of weeks there will be a poll. The first poll will be about your favorite luxury/sports car. I will start off the blog by giving my own expierences driving luxury/sports cars and which I think is my favorite along with some picutres. Feel free to ask questions and share your expierences and pictures (that are relavent to the blog). If you have something you think is interesting and would like to share with the rest of us let me know.
Thanks. Enjoy.

Privacy Policy

Privacy Policy for http://luxurycarcomparisons.blogspot.com/
If you require any more information or have any questions about our privacy policy, please feel free to contact us by email at marshereiam@yahoo.com.

At http://luxurycarcomparisons.blogspot.com/, the privacy of our visitors is of extreme importance to us. This privacy policy document outlines the types of personal information is received and collected by http://luxurycarcomparisons.blogspot.com/ and how it is used.

Log Files
Like many other Web sites, http://luxurycarcomparisons.blogspot.com/ makes use of log files. The information inside the log files includes internet protocol ( IP ) addresses, type of browser, Internet Service Provider ( ISP ), date/time stamp, referring/exit pages, and number of clicks to analyze trends, administer the site, track user’s movement around the site, and gather demographic information. IP addresses, and other such information are not linked to any information that is personally identifiable.

Cookies and Web Beacons
http://luxurycarcomparisons.blogspot.com/ does use cookies to store information about visitors preferences, record user-specific information on which pages the user access or visit, customize Web page content based on visitors browser type or other information that the visitor sends via their browser.

DoubleClick DART Cookie
.:: Google, as a third party vendor, uses cookies to serve ads on http://luxurycarcomparisons.blogspot.com/
..:: Google's use of the DART cookie enables it to serve ads to users based on their visit to http://luxurycarcomparisons.blogspot.com/ and other sites on the Internet.
.:: Users may opt out of the use of the DART cookie by visiting the Google ad and content network privacy policy at the following URL - http://www.google.com/privacy_ads.html

Some of our advertising partners may use cookies and web beacons on our site. Our advertising partners include ....Google Adsense

These third-party ad servers or ad networks use technology to the advertisements and links that appear on http://luxurycarcomparisons.blogspot.com/ send directly to your browsers. They automatically receive your IP address when this occurs. Other technologies ( such as cookies, JavaScript, or Web Beacons ) may also be used by the third-party ad networks to measure the effectiveness of their advertisements and / or to personalize the advertising content that you see.

http://luxurycarcomparisons.blogspot.com/ has no access to or control over these cookies that are used by third-party advertisers.

You should consult the respective privacy policies of these third-party ad servers for more detailed information on their practices as well as for instructions about how to opt-out of certain practices. http://luxurycarcomparisons.blogspot.com/ privacy policy does not apply to, and we cannot control the activities of, such other advertisers or web sites.

If you wish to disable cookies, you may do so through your individual browser options. More detailed information about cookie management with specific web browsers can be found at the browsers' respective websites.