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The tiptronic's learning ability is not a function that much improves the car, or the way it drives, IMO. The A6's and A8 that I've driven (lots of miles in the A8) have it.
Generally if you pay close attention to it: if driving lightly for a few miles, then you'll find if you start putting your foot down a little more, it'll still change up quite early (earlier than you're expecting). Annoyingly, if you put your foot to the floor (say, to overtake), then it'll think for the next 30 seconds you want to be Ayrton Senna and hold on to a low gear, and eventually change back to how it was before.
Sadly, it doesn't really seem to provide any more function than the simple 'E' and 'S' mode selector on many Mercedes (and other cars), but it just changes modes automatically rather than you having to bother switching it yourself. Unfortunately you find yourself waiting for it to decide how Sporty or Economy you want to be, when often I'd rather force it into a mode myself with a switch.
But maybe that's because I do more miles in my 190E than in the A8 tiptronic.
Either way, it's no more reason to buy a car than I said tiptronic is..
On the other hand, you get a nice selector and screen to show you what gear you're in:
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