[onewhippedpuppy]

What a difference a test drive makes..... I really liked my XJR, there aren't many cars that I've owned once that I'd like to buy again. To qualify my review, I wouldn't consider buying THIS E55. It was a 2001 with 107k at a shady used car dealership, as I suspected the car is fairly rough and doesn't look well loved. On the upside, driving a neglected car does give a good indication of how well they hold up, even to abuse.

To start with the boring stuff, I love the way it looks. Subtle but purposeful, with that old-school rounded box styling that used to characterize Mercedes sedans. The interior is also old-school Mercedes, lots of straight lines and wood trim. I'd give the styling edge to the Jaguar, though I like the Mercedes as well. The interior was in great shape despite being dirty, the leather showed very little wear and there were none of the worn button symbols or fading that you sometimes get with cheap materials. No rattles during the drive, and the doors had the solid Mercedes "thunk" when they shut. It felt very solid and well made so advantage Mercedes, but the Jaguar does have nicer materials. Everything worked inside (remember neglected car) except for a few missing pixels on the digital clock display. The seats were super comfy with better bolstering than the Jaguar, the rear seat is adult sized so advantage Mercedes. Under the hood the engine surprisingly has a lot of space around it, oil filter right on top, maintenance should be super easy so advantage Mercedes. Thus far I'm ready to give a slight edge to the Jaguar just because it looks so great. Then I drove it......

There's really only one way to describe this car: holy @#$%! Wayne won't let me type what I really said on the test drive, but this car is a freaking MONSTER. The Jaguar was very smooth, progressive, and refined in everything it did, despite being very fast. The Mercedes punches you in the face then sleeps with your wife. At part throttle it drives like any other W210 - controlled, quiet, and sedate. Then you step on the gas and all hell breaks loose. The torque is massive and everywhere, no matter what your speed when you step on the gas and the transmission drops several gears, the car slams you into your seat and hauls ass. This is a very angry motor when you poke it with a stick, nothing like the smooth and refined Jaguar. Long story short, I freaking love it. It's a luxury musclecar sedan, very alive and mechanical. As much as I enjoyed the Jaguar, advantage Mercedes.

As for the other stuff, it's pretty good too. The slushbox is better than the Jaguar, it is very intuitive about holding gears after acceleration when in sport mode and shifts smoothly when you're cruising. It has an autostick-like function that's basically worthless, you have to hold the stick left to downshift, slapping it doesn't seem to work. Frankly I don't care, I've yet to drive a shiftable automatic that's any good at pretending to be a manual. The ride is well controlled but still comfortable, it has a little more roll than I'd like but also likely riding on original shocks. With that said, the ride still errs more towards sport than the Jaguar, so advantage Mercedes. Steering is well weighted but still a little vague (I'm driving the Boxster today so I'm jaded) but still way more feel than the fairling numb Jaguar. Brakes are progressive with lots of power. Even with 107k the car was VERY tight, no issues.

So lots of words, bottom line is I want one. It's much more sporty with more attitude than the Jaguar, so I definitely prefer it. After I sell the 318ti, I'm going shopping.