The June 30, 1999 issue of Britain's Autocar Magazine tested the C55, CLK55, S55, and the amazing E320CDI common rail turbo diesel(how does 347lb ft of torque sound, 500E?) As a Mercedes fan I was expecting the new AMG offerings to dethrone the M5 as the ultimate performance sedan. Unfortunately, the M5 annihilated the competition by a lot. The 0-60 and 0-100 times follow:
M5 C55 CLK55
0-60 4.6 5.6 5.5
0-100 10.6 12.8 12.5

The new M5 is an awesome performer. We MB fans will have to wait for the supercharged E55 if we want to have the ultimate sedan. Or for MB to finally decide to install a manual trans...

The 6-speed tranny in M5 really make it a tough competitor to beat. Even E55, with electronic 5-speed, will have hard time catching up with M5. However, don't give up your hopes just yet. MB's face-lifted E-Class will be out soon, and when that day comes, we may as well get a 6-speed tranny.

MB is currently in develop of a 6-speep that will be fit in the E-Class. Let's cross our fingers and pray....

P.S. E55 is not far away from M5(when M5 has the advantage of manual), so, I really have faith in MB to make a auto tranny that will work as good as manual(aka. perform as good). Do you have the faith in MB??

Regards,
Andy Kuo
'92 400SE
70,200 KM

[This message has been edited by akry (edited 07-21-1999).]

Hello, As different magazines run tests in different ways, and there is other factors that may impact the test results.
I sure think that the all BMWs are the ultimate driving machine, but I couldn't believed that fact that the M5 is capable of beating the C55 by that much. If the M5 could beat the C55 by that much of a time, the E55 simply became useless incomparison with the M5. : (
The following E55 performance datas are from the July issue of Motor trend.
o-60 4.8
one mile acceleration sec/mph
34.2/150.5
Maxium Lateral G
0.85
0-100mph (sec)
11.7
slalom 600feet mph
65.9
Braking from 60-0 (mph) 114feet
P.S Mercedes do need a manual transmission ! But I think out of its class mercedes hads one of the best automatic transmission !
Pete regards

I think it would be interesting to see a head to head comparison between the E55 and M5, where the cars are equipped with identical tranny's, either auto or manual.
It seems, from what I've read that the M5 is about 3-4 tenths faster than the E55, but that an automatic BMW is about 7 tenths slower than one with a stick, which leads me to think that if the M5 was auto, the E55 would beat it by 3 tenths.



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Darko Vusir
1994 C220

Yes, I am totally agree. M5 just has that slightly "advantage" of having a manual tranny. Actually BMW's manual and auto tranny(say, a M3 manual and M3 auto) can vary up to 1.5 sec. Besides, as Lee has stated before, ppl who can play the stick as a pro are few and far in between.

But it would be interesting if M5 will be offer as tiptronic type auto tranny.

BMW isn't going to offer the M5 with a auto in any form as far as I know. MB may or may not do a stick in the upcoming cars. For now they are both the way they are. Another factor I have noticed. MB seem to get faster as they age. (to a given point of course) BMW's generally seem to be as good as they get when fairly new. Their ultra long term longevity has already been discussed.

To reinterate what I said earlier about 95% of the population and manuals...then consider what the natural reaction is to do under pressure. What you can do on your best run when you have time and nothing else going on and what you do when you are at the starting line (or stoplight) and the heat is on are not always the same things. The likelyhood of driver error goes up exponentially. This contest is close enough that if the bimwad hits the rev limiter once, is slow finding the next gear (2-3 upshift?), spins the rear tires just a little too much, etc the race is over and the E55 is gone. If you get a really good and aggressive M5 driver the clutch and whatnot will be gone after a year or so anyways! (can't get really good without practice...) You can't exactly say that about the E55. (unless we are talking rear tires)

Time will only tell...Lee

My wife has a '96 M3 with a 5-speed. She is not what I would consider a professional driver. But she is competent enough to pop that clutch at 3,000rpm, heat or no heat of the moment, and beat me in my automatic C36. Wouldn't it be better for the buyer to decide if he wants a manual or auto even with the 95% argument? The SLK with a manual has actually tested slower than the auto but which one would you prefer?

Personally I would prefer a stick in any car. But only because I prefer to be more involved in driving the car. I feel that with an automatic you are still more of a " passenger " even if you are driving! Then again I think that cup holders are only for holding my coffee from the donut shop until I get to where I'm going. Maybe I'm old fashioned, but I feel a car is for driving, everything else is secondary.



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Darko Vusir
1994 C220

The E55 is very close to the M5. It should be interesting to see what happens when my friend gets an M5. The E55 is extremely fast. For some reason, Th C55 and CLK55 don't seem to be any faster than the E55. If anything the E55 has been faster. While I sometimes do wish I had a stick, i know that with the amount of power in these machines, its really easy to light up the tires with a stick. If BMW had the SMG tranny out here it would be the best.

The upcoming revision of the E-class platform is supposed to be able to take a 6-speed manual. In theory, it should also be able to do a SMG. Give a E55 a 6-speed SMG and that should be good for another generation of rivalry. Though displacement differs, the E55 has a much greater power-to-gallon ratio compared to the M5. Enlarge the E55's engine (via Brabus, Renntech, usual suspects...) to give it comparable power-gallon as the M5's and the contest would not even be close. MB/AMG knows how to build a bigger engine, they are just not doing it for now. Blame politics if you have to...

LJADJA has a point about drag racing being a "no brainer" for the most part. You must also consider those rolling races? When you pass on the highway at 60mph...those 35mph two-lane road situations. Unless the driver of the stick is expecting it and knows their car REALLY well the electronic 5-speed gives the perfect gear in an instant.

I will also agree with Darko on the point that driving is an activity. I'm not a die hard manual fan, but I am quite happy without cup holders and am the type that when driving, I am driving. Spirited driving is about fun, if you have more fun changing your own gears then a stick is for you. (even in the case of the SLK where the auto/stick is a wash or even the auto is quicker) Hence people buy the car that suits their taste/preferences best.

Lee