I might check out a gasoline MB as my next car... but... at least for me, cruising range is a form of performance of its own. This past weekend I got 487.4 miles on a tankful with my 84 300SD, all this with two to three large people, luggage, and a cooler on board and maybe 75% highway driving. "Only" 25.6 mpg but that's better mileage than I get in most anything other than a Japanese econobox, which I don't feel very safe in now that I have my S-class.