Best Daily driver: '03 BMW 745Li or '04 MB E-500?

As far as the BMW goes....stay away ..far away. The 02-03 745 has a LOT of electrical/ computer problems. Have had 3 friends who have owned and gotten rid of these cars because of this reason. One of the cars would just shut off in the middle of the road while driving. Not good when your in the millde of rush hour on I-15.

Darrell.

 

I would go with the Benz E-500. But I would do it more based on personal opionion rather that warranties/mechanical issues, etc.

 

Audi A8L or wait for the new S8 with the V-10.

Brad

 

I have no experience with the BMW. A family member had an E. It was in the shop constantly for stupid little stuff.

 

I have owned BMW'S for a long time now and have never really had a problem with them, but my wife had an SL500 and we got rid because of persistant faults.

 

Better Driver: BMW 7er > Lexus GS > Mercedes E-Class

Comfort: Lexus GS > Mercedes E-Class > BMW 7er

Reliability: Lexus > BMW > Mercedes

I have 3 family members who own each of those cars & as a Bimmerphile myself, I would have to go with BMW.

 

very true, althought the e500 and mb have also had their share of problems

 

What are your priorities?
IMO from a reliability perspective they are as bad/good as one another. Most of the software gremlins on the 7 have been ironed out now and MB electronics still have their issues anyway.
The 7 has MUCH more room than the MB, so if you care about your passengers the decision is a no brainer, actually thinking about it, if you don't mind the looks of the BMW it has more features, similar performance and with the adaptive suspension option, better handling than the Benz.
Over the last 3 years I have owned W210E55, W211E55, '04 S600, so I'm not a mindless BMW advocate.
I was taken on a long weekend away in Victoria's alpine region by BMW corporate last year when BMW tried the good food, wine company and surroundings sales tact to try and offload the 7 series on six unsuspecting couples.
All I can say from my experience is, yes i-drive is a pain to learn, but it's not that bad and it is a great car, better than the E500 for sure.

 

bmw or benz here we go again

i have experienced driving both cars since dad is "benz for life" and mom is "BMW for life" , and i owned few of both worlds ,

if u said 7er or S class
i would say S class , but with the 7er and E500 , it depends on u as a person
do u adapt with the i-drive bmw offers and the hightech insturments in the 7er , the size of the car , the shape .

E500 is more simple , smaller in size , more stuff to add later on "body kits and modifications" from AMG , brabus and many more , i would say that the E class is more reliable than the 7er , but both cars r different ball games , where u have luxry and class or less of both but more to add as options

hope i helped a lil

 

I would go for the 745, but if you were willing to look at a MB E55, then I would say the E55

 

what are used 6 series going for? nevermind, i just checked, they are going for 50s. I would go 745.

 

still holding high , not a big diff sec hand here the diff will be 10K $ max

 

The 745 is a much better drive. My 745 and 760 experience is limited to faultless cars, however. Heard the stories, but no first hand experience with any 7-series issues.

 

You put reliability on the top of the list, then go with a Lexus.
I'ma Bimmer fan myself, my family had Bimmers and MBZs, but even MBZ has chronic electrical issues in their late models. Too bad. I guess the Japanese finally win in quality.

 

I have both cars, 04 E500 and 03 745li. The reliability is the same for both cars. Actually they both have been pretty reliable. The only problem I have with the cars is on the E500 cup holder, but everything else I have been pretty happy with. My lease on my 745li is over this year and I will be getting another one. As for which is a better car, it all depends on the driver. They are two totally different cars. The 745i is more of drivers car, it handles great, awesome breaks and the turn in is precise. The complaints about the car is the motor, I wish it was quicker off the line and had more grunt on the top end. Of course the I-drive is biggest problem I have with the car, its a bad distraction and to complicated to use. The E500 is pretty soft, but with the electornic suspension it actually handle pretty well. The brakes are good, but you loose feeling of the brakes because they are electronic. Understeers a little bit and the turn is quite slow. As for the engine, it rocks. It feels alot quicker than it is. Off the line it is way faster than the 7 series same with the top end. As for the quality, the BMW is superior, the materials are of higher grade, whereas the E500 is a little cheap. They both are great cars.

 

What about a 02'-03' 745 with 60-70k miles with the 100k warranty? Would the problems be worked out already with having that many miles on the car?

 

If you go for a 02-03 be VERY sure the car doesn't have a " blemished" title. Lots of these cars were factory buy backs. Many were sent through auction so make sure the title hasn't been " washed."

Darrell.

 

I think you'd be happier with the 7. If it was an E55 it would be a different story!

 

Buy the older 7 (E38 body, up to 2001) it's much simpler (relatively speaking), sorted, and better looking.

Get the 750 with the V-12 if you can, though they're much more rare (~2% of production were V-12s)

 

Unfortunately yes. It's more of a nuisance than terminal, but on the flagship Benz, just not good enough. I had three audio gateways in less than 6 months on an '04 S600 TT. Being almost at th end of the model run, you'd have thought they would have ironed all of the bugs out.