I recall several magazine reviews of the 540 six-speed complaining about excess driveline lash, and how difficult it was to drive smoothly in city traffic. Even though it's an amazing car, at least one reviewer commented they probably couldn't live with it, and recommended the automatic.

A while back we had a thread on the automatic transmission on these cars. A check ball, or something, wears out, typically at 150k or so. Steve's shop repairs it, most won't, and a replacement is 50% of the value of the car.

Just FYI. Not intending to dissuade you from a BMW, but don't go in expecting it to be a panacea compared to Mercedes ownership.

- JimY