cmb13

2011 - why, did they change the shifting algorithm? It is the new body style.

Larry Cable

dont know for sure, but the 2012 has a "new" V6 with 300bhp vs the earlier 268 ... they may have played with the ****fing...

Bruce R

OK David here are my thoughts;

I'm a BMW & Porsche guy so I too am trying to satisfy my wagon urges but am finding it hard in this market with no 5 series wagon. I presently drive an '02 525i wagon. Our family car is a LR3.

Another box I want to check is Euro delivery so in my mind that leaves 2 options:
E350 wagon, you can get it in Designo trim including matt paint - way cool! It also seats 7 in a pinch, which is a bonus but not a necessity for me, kid #4 due soon.
Cayenne, you can configure the heck out of it including a man transmission, on the V6, and some very nice leather options. Downside it's an SUV and only seats five.

Most importantly heed the advice below:

Larry Cable

I think that's easy; since you get a 7% ED discount on the E350, and you probably have to pay for the Cayenne ED ...

p.s
what's designo trim?

p.p.s
you could of course buy my '10 535ix Sport Wagon when the lease terminates! - 6sp manual & M-Sport pkg!

Bruce R

Larry

Designo is MB's "Exclusive" or "Individual" and includes great paint, leather & trim options.
You'd appreciate this, being a Porsche PtS guys, imagine this paint, leather & bamboo below on an E wagon!? Killer I bet. (all are from the Designo dept.)

BMW does not offer Indiviual on the 5 nor a wagon in the US - they are killing me!!

I have no real love for the previous gen BMW 5, but hey a man tran wagon, I might be interested.

Larry Cable

Yeah Bruce I found the designo site, pretty cool but no 'Mexico Blue' option ...

been looking at the E350 I guess I will have to test drive it ... I want to bitch slap BMW for pulling the 5 series wagon, I saw an F11 550 M-Sport last August while doing ED on my GFs 550i ... WHAT A CAR ...

can you imagine a 400bhp 4.4L v8 TT .... brrrm brrrmm ... they'd sell at least 1 to me even with STEPTRONIC ...

Larry Cable

I heard that BMW pulled the wagons due to poor sales and replaced with GTs which have even worse sales ...

have you looked at the 550i GT?

alexb76

+1. LOVE that Designo options... my vote goes to E350 in this case.

@OP, get wife to pick E350, and as bonus through-in a Europe summer trip! Win-Win!

Larry Cable

and the 7% discount on the car too!

pissedpuppy

Euro delivery would be awesome, especially now that I have to begin handling Europe personlly for work (just "managed" it before)

Larry - if it were me, the 6speed 5 series wagon would be the way to go (anything manual, and hearty)

It's sounding more and more like I'm going to take the common advice here and let her choose - and you are all right, if I picked something, and it ended up being problematic - it'd be on my ***. NO THANKS!

will advise when all is said and done, but I'm guessing soccer-mom-look will prevail, Volvo wagon

Bruce R

Never really considered the 550i GT, everyone thinks it's a dog to look at and certainly compared to the wagon it is, but with an M sport package hey it ain't bad. Or is it just lipstick on a pig?

Mike in CA

^^That. Sorry to be blunt, but I think it's b*tt ugly.......

Sharkys

I've always wanted an AMG Wagon - e55 or e63. But I settled for a 997.1 C2S before the because we had no kids. Now that the kids are here, I'm back in the market for a wagon. Both Audi and BMW top of the line sport wagons aren't available here in the US. That's too bad. Out of the three wagons, I prefer the e63 because it has the largest interior space. The e55K is more tuner friendly but that platform goes back to '04 ('05) for the estate. The NA e63 is not as tuner friendly, but what an engine! The latest model is coming to the states designated as the e63, but it is a 5.5 litter block albeit twin turbo and this should make it more tuner friendly (factory AMG or third party) to around 550 hp and 590 torque if not more. Non AMGs are AWD by the way. Nice to see others on this board are wagon fans. In all honesty, would be happy with anyone of the three.

Larry Cable

it is a *bit* of a dog, but the 4.4L V8 TT engine is pretty awesome, 400bhp ... and as you point out the M-Sport pkg helps a lot ... I think its worth a drive ... and you can do ED with 7% discount on it!

Larry Cable

dude you (or your wife) must test the X5 and 5GT as well as the E350... although you could do euro del on the volvo as well!