Automobile Magazine S550 vs 750Li Comments

Posted today... "REVIEWS: 2009 Mercedes Benz S550"

I can now admit that the entire time I spent driving our Four Seasons BMW 750Li back to Michigan from California I was secretly thinking the S-class would have been a better ride. I much prefer the linear acceleration of the Benz's normally aspirated engine to the BMW's laggy-then-explosive thrust from its twin-turbo mill. Mercedes' active body control feels a bit more normal than any of BMW's fancy new dynamic drive control settings. And the cooling function on the Benz's front seats is much, much quieter than BMW's system.

http://www.automobilemag.com/reviews...550/index.html

In truth, those are probably all legitimate gripes. I hear ABC on the MB is great. I still think the 7-series is better.

I just don't like the look of the S at all...

whatever....the 7 is the 7...and this new one is amazing !!!

Originally Posted by baga

whatever....the 7 is the 7...and this new one is amazing !!!

I would say it meets expectations and is competent - but far from amazing. I can't see any major technology or advances on the car that haven't already been available on prior or existing BMWs, or cars from other manufacturers. It's a parts bin special in many ways. The only 2 innovations I can see are side view camera and speed limit sign recognition.

I would have really liked folks to have called the 7er ground breaking and innovative - but I haven't seen praise like that yet. Shouldn't that be what a 7er is about? Past 7ers have introduced ABS, PDC, DSC, ARS, comfort seats, iDrive, 6 speed auto - where's the innovation like that on this 7? Things that go on to become standard on other cars since they are so ground breaking. Being slightly better than the competition isn't really the same as being amazing.

Having said that, I'll still consider the car when my lease ends.

maybe not amazing but a great car....what about the sports pck with integral steering ?lane departure ? is that new? i am geting one in july with ED anyway,so...

Originally Posted by chrischeung

I would say it meets expectations and is competent - but far from amazing. I can't see any major technology or advances on the car that haven't already been available on prior or existing BMWs, or cars from other manufacturers. It's a parts bin special in many ways. The only 2 innovations I can see are side view camera and speed limit sign recognition.

I would have really liked folks to have called the 7er ground breaking and innovative - but I haven't seen praise like that yet. Shouldn't that be what a 7er is about? Past 7ers have introduced ABS, PDC, DSC, ARS, comfort seats, iDrive, 6 speed auto - where's the innovation like that on this 7? Things that go on to become standard on other cars since they are so ground breaking. Being slightly better than the competition isn't really the same as being amazing.

Having said that, I'll still consider the car when my lease ends.

the F01 will get a 8sp tranny in a year or so

Originally Posted by baga

maybe not amazing but a great car....what about the sports pck with integral steering ?lane departure ? is that new? i am geting one in july with ED anyway,so...

Four wheel steering was offered by the Honda Prelude and Mazda MX-6 in the late '80s. Lane Departure by Mercedes, Nissan, and Honda at least before BMW.

Originally Posted by sunny_j

the F01 will get a 8sp tranny in a year or so

Already available in the Lexus LS since its release. Benz started the race with its 7-speed.

From memory, these were offered by BMW before anyone else (could be off though):

E23 - ABS
E32 - DSC, PDC, 5 speed auto
E38 - M contour seats
E65 - ARS, iDrive, 6 speed auto, Bangle Butt
F01 - side view cameras, chrome accents, speed limit sign recognition

I'm not saying that the F01 is a bad car - just that I wished it offered something significantly truly new and innovative, like its forbears.

Originally Posted by chrischeung

From memory, these were offered by BMW before anyone else (could be off though):

E23 - ABS
E32 - DSC, PDC, 5 speed auto
E38 - M contour seats
E65 - ARS, iDrive, 6 speed auto, Bangle Butt
F01 - side view cameras, chrome accents, speed limit sign recognition

I'm not saying that the F01 is a bad car - just that I wished it offered something significantly truly new and innovative, like its forbears.

1) If ABS means anti-lock braking, the S Class introduced that first to the car world, not the 7...
2) M contour seats? I wouldn't really say newly shaped seats are a first...
3) ARS also wasn't a first, the S Class already had an advanced air suspension with its ABC Active Body Control system.

Originally Posted by manithemoneyman

1) If ABS means anti-lock braking, the S Class introduced that first to the car world, not the 7...
2) M contour seats? I wouldn't really say newly shaped seats are a first...
3) ARS also wasn't a first, the S Class already had an advanced air suspension with its ABC Active Body Control system.

True - Bosch and MB developed ABS. But I think BMW showed it off 1 week prior to MB, and stole some of their thunder. I believe they were quite upset by that . I read this somewhere. However, it is widely acknowledged that MB was the first to have ABS, perhaps propogated by the fact that they invented it. So, I'll drop this as an innovation from BMW.
M contour seats I say are innovative in having the top part of the seat articulate - the first car to have something like that. But if that isn't an innovation, then what is on the E38? I'm sure I'm missing something.
ARS I see as an innovation in controlling the suspension via stiffness of the anti-roll bars. ABC does it differently (control of shocks?), and is a rendition on other systems that have preceded it.

But - if you can point out similar advances in the F01, I will happily acknowledge and eat my words.

Originally Posted by chrischeung

True - Bosch and MB developed ABS. But I think BMW showed it off 1 week prior to MB, and stole some of their thunder. I believe they were quite upset by that . I read this somewhere. However, it is widely acknowledged that MB was the first to have ABS, perhaps propogated by the fact that they invented it. So, I'll drop this as an innovation from BMW.
M contour seats I say are innovative in having the top part of the seat articulate - the first car to have something like that. But if that isn't an innovation, then what is on the E38? I'm sure I'm missing something.
ARS I see as an innovation in controlling the suspension via stiffness of the anti-roll bars. ABC does it differently (control of shocks?), and is a rendition on other systems that have preceded it.

But - if you can point out similar advances in the F01, I will happily acknowledge and eat my words.

I was just pointing out similar technologies that were released first...

I agree that there isnt anything very groundbreaking in the new 7, mostly its taking existing technologies and improving and placing together into a much more cohesive product.

Heads up display, fully generated instrument cluster, new IDrive with much better controls, 4-wheel steering, etc. They're all "new" but really its just a version 2.0 of many existing technologies.

That said I think we might have approached some kind of plateau in car development and it seems like the next major advancements will come from new alternative/hybrid drivetrains with the economy and government regulations.

Originally Posted by manithemoneyman

That said I think we might have approached some kind of plateau in car development and it seems like the next major advancements will come from new alternative/hybrid drivetrains with the economy and government regulations.

I was thinking the same thing. If you look across the board at what was developed from the '80s and '90s to the last 8 years, a lot of the last 8 years is electronics and software based. Something like use of nano technology, airless tires, wide use of exotic materials to really break out innovation (by any manufacturer) would be refreshing.