[gIzzE]

I had a day trying stuff out again today.

A6 is out.
To be fair to Audi it is a very nice car, and really has moved the game on as far as Audi are concerned when it comes to comfort and dynamics.
I have owned around 15 Audis over the last 15 years and around the same amount of BMWs.
The Audis have always been bought as I like their design, both externally and internally. They were always a little bit more understated, never annoyed anyone like BMWs can.
I bought it because of the badge, I guess where as with BMWs I buy it despite the badge.

The Audis have always been both wallowy and crashy at the same time, an engineering feat for sure, but not one to be proud of!

However this new A6 is certainly more comfy than the F11, the way it soaked up the road was pretty impressive. The interior was as good as always and although I thought the F10 has one of the nicest interiors of any car at any price I found the Audi just as good when actually in the car.
The Handling was much better too, not as sharp as the BMW but no longer did it feel lacking like every other Audi I have been in, with the exception of the RS4 and R8, and if I am honest the A6 actually felt lighter on its feet than the BMW, which was the real shocker!!

To be honest though it was the price, the 3.0tdi Quattro S-Line was coming in close to £50,000, just like the 530d and E350cdi, and over with options. But used they were still asking silly money, £43,000, £46,000 etc. etc.
530d and E350cdi were more like £35,000.

Then had the 530d for a while.
To be honest I was not over keen on the all black interior.
Loved the space grey though, and I now feel bad for saying to John from the Tyresmoke forum that his 550i in space grey was a nothing colour, it looks stunning.
The gadgets I know well as we had an F11 se before and have a 5GT as well, the old mans car that I drive a lot as we work together.
Overall I found the 530d a big jump up from the 520d we had in terms of grin factor, but, and it was a big but, after an hour or so the niggles started to creep in. Very crashy, but it was on 19" run flats and a bit jiggly. I would think that real tyres would sort the crashyness, nut not sort it would sort the jigglyness of the car?
Also, I still can't get over the high window line and the big bonnet, it makes the car feel massive, and not in a good way, combine that with the small interior and laughable boot size and I decided against it.
Don't get me wrong I really wanted this car, had sorted the finance on it and had got a perfect trade in price on our X1, plus it was £31k for a fully loaded late 2010 (MY2011 build) car with some really nice options on it. Due to the low price and high residuals it was a £400 a month car which is silly cheap really.

But I just wasn't sure.

I went round the corner to the Bentley dealership as I had noticed a nice 2011 E350cdi Estate on their forecourt.
I took this for a spin and straight away it just felt more me.
Not saying it is for everyone, just right now the Merc is more about what I am looking for in a car.
The interior felt nicer, not better, just more elegant. Where the BMW still feels like a drivers car interior, purposeful and precise, the Merc just had a nicer feel.
The ride is like a magic carpet compared with the BMW and Audi, as good as they felt this was just on another level.
But the most surprising thing was how the Merc drove, it was not as sharp as the BMW but it was not far behind, and I hate to say it but it made the BMW steering feel very vague, especially round the centre. Pulling onto the motorway the Merc is just so planted, which made me realise that in the BMW and the Audi I was constantly adjusting the car to keep it straight, the Merc was just so much more relaxing.

I can certainly see why people choose these cars, although very similar in size, price, image, etc. they all deliver in a very different way.
10 years ago when I was 30 it would have been the BMW all day long, but now at 40 I appreciate the Merc more than ever.

Also the load space on the Merc is massive, it is a proper estate car unlike the other two, and this is important to me, I want to be able to throw the lads bike in the back with the dog and not have to think about loads.

I know you will all think I am nuts on here for going with the Merc, but this time round I found it to be the better car, for me.