*Batman*

Hey Autounion - question for you - since you seem knowledgeable. I'm returning to the European car fold since Lexus hasn't been able to come up with any new sedans in the past 6 years. I might be interested in buying a new A6 or A7, but it seems they don't have any high power variants. I'm thinking twin turbo V8. I have a deposit down on a 2012 550i M-Sport but my production date isn't till October. Do you know if Audi will have the Turbo V8 variants out by then?

rominl

iTrader: (4)

it's also hard for me to imagine getting a 550i build date that's 4 months from now?!

CDNROCKIES

This.

All 3 of the Germans outsell Lexus up here.

On topic, the A7 is extremely underwhelming in person.

*Batman*

October 15 is the first available pick-up date for 2012 production Euro Delivery 550i. They don't begin production of the 550i till September, but for ED it is a bit later. The 7% saving is something I can't pass up and in my job I can fly to Europe whenever I want (My European colleague invite me over every month).

I'm not sure about color. I love the look of Carbon Black in the sunlight, but I don't like it in the shade. I was thinking Dark Graphite I but it seems that isn't available. I may get either Jet Black, Space Gray, Imperial Blue or Deep Sea Blue. With Oyster/Black, Anthracite.

I'm planning on M-Sport, Active Ventilated Seats, Convenience, PP2, HUD, IAS, Apps. Side and top view cams, Paddles.

It sucks, but its the only way to get a 2012 with 13% off MSRP. Given how these German cars depreciate you want that discount.

One of my associates was trying to buy a used CPO 2008 GS350 with Nav and no Texas dealer would sell below $38. She ended up buying a new one for $44. Makes more sense then spending that much on a 3 year old car. The value retention on these Lexus cars is incredible.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

i suggest ED too, great experience, i really want to try. i wonder how mb's ED is. does audi have it now?

spwolf

hm, i in europe also think that audi is lesser brand to bmw/mb... but also a lot cheaper, hence people buying it a lot.

*Batman*

I looked into MB ED since I was considering the CLS. With MB you only get 7% off and there is no negotiation - price is fixed by MB USA.

With BMW the ED is 7% of MSRP but ED Invoice is another 9% off the ED MSRP so 16% off total. The options don't recieve the ED discount. So if you negotiate say $500-800 above invoice on an ED, after options your blended discount may be 12-14%.

I don't think Audi or Jag offer this. One nice thing about MB is you can delegate the pickup by authorization. So you can have a German friend pick it up for you.

*Batman*

BTW I thought you guys might be interested in this review of the CLS550.

It amazes me that this non-AMG Benz delivered 0-60 in 4.3 seconds. The cornering speeds are amazing too.
http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/...est/index.html

TwiBlueG35

What you said are hard to argue with. True, German brands have much clearer and stronger identity by incorporating the family face in all of their lineups. This is what Japanese companies lack. For general public, most Japanese cars are similar in styling and design. However, in my opinion Audi is the one who has gone too far. Audi vehicles look 80-90% the same throughout the whole lineup, both front and rear designs. I bet a car enthusiast who is very knowledgeable about modern cars can't distinguish between a A4 and A5 and A6(the new one is a bit easier to differentiate due to its new headlights though) from your rear view mirror. Yes Audi vehicles look handsome, but all of them look the same. Just like Porsche, its basic design hasn't change in decades. Whether this is good or bad depends on the person, to me this is not good. Audi designers are simply too lazy or out of idea. BMW designs are very polarizing, some very good looking when the other are ludicrously ugly, as if they are designed by totally different companies. But this is off topic and look are very subjective so I am not here to analyze. Benz vehicles are the ones I admire the most, at least look-wise, since they are easy to tell they are Benz and yet all models look different enough. Lexus vehicles are definitely very stylish, IS, CT, LS, GS, RX are all great looking. But yeah they are just like any other Japanese cars, no one can really tell what brand they are if the emblems are taken off, except to us who look at cars all the time.

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

it's not about the A7 of course, but that CLS550 is amazing. even for $80k it's worth it.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

i don't know what else to add but

hendjaz

Anyone shopping the A7 and can afford $10-15k more should also be looking seriously at the new CLS. Likewise if one is shopping the Panamera S but would be ok with saving $30+k then the CLS should be on the shopping list too.

Seems odd to think of an MB to be the value leader (and perhaps performance too) but in this context the new MB CLS seems like the best bang for the buck.