2012 Audi A6 vs. 2011 BMW 535i - Edmunds InsideLine Showdown!

BMW made a decision to be more like Lexus and less "sporty", whereas Audi has been striving to be more sporty like BMW, both achieved their goals - too bad for BMW.

I too share your insight!

I agree with your comment. Both cars achieved their goals (if what you said are indeed their goals), but its too bad BMW is taking that direction. Congrats to Audi.

If you read the article, it hinted numerous times if the 5 series was not on run flats it's numbers would have been on par with the A6.

Also depends on how you define sporty, they still noted the A6 under steered heavily on the slalom, and had a rougher ride compared to the 5 series, and a softer brake pedal...

Plus the quality issue haunts Audi, and on a 70K car!?

"However, we noticed a couple ill-fitting panels in our Audi tester, while the BMW is flawless."

Anyway both great cars, but the BMW is clearly not trying "to be more like Lexus", but it is more in tune with what buyers in the segment look for, and actually use their cars for.

Good to hear Audi has managed to improve the handling characteristics of the A6.

Nope, you're not the only one that see the VV Jetta in this new Audi A6 rear. It really sad to see a lot of the Audi looking like a VW Jetta. I mean the Audi A4 look almost identical to VW Jetta as well. The only cars that I like from Audi are the S4, S5, RS4, RS5 and R8. The rest of their line up is boring and bland looking.

I don't get your comment. Correct me if i'm wrong but wasn't the A4 and A5 out before this new Jetta? How is it possible for Audi to be at fault for using the design that they came up with? I know i'm going to get deboosted but so what at this point. Audi did it first and then the Jetta was designed and the BMW fanatics see it different. WTF!?!?

Agree 100% with Relapse.

There is just to much Jetta from the A6 rear and rest of the exterior is just to plain.

BMW dropped the ball on the F10 5. Too heavy, and lacking the feel of the classic BMW. But its still gonna sell like hotcakes, to the dismay of Audi.

The BMW had summer run flats which are much (harder/less grippy) than the summer performance tires the A6 was on.

On just about every other article I have read on these two cars the Audi was stated to be disconnected and uninvolving. While the 5 is a little softer than their predecessor (which makes sense for the real world) it still was said to be more involving than its rivals. In all fairness the Audi had more torque, better tires, and worse observed fuel economy. Both good cars, but the looks of the 5 are too good to pass up for me.

chris760 "But its still gonna sell like hotcakes, to the dismay of Audi."

You do know that the Audi A6 ALREADY OUTSELLS THE 5-Series and MB E-CLass WORLDWIDE ?

I95, that may be true for the previous generation A6. But that can't be claimed for the new A6, its only been out a few months.

94geo

And the NEW A6 is Worse than the Old ?

Just like the NEW 5 is worse than the old ?

Your statement might be factually correct but it means little as both vehicles were released within a year of each other, the A6 model outsells the 5-series and the E-class Globally FULL STOP.

Now if you claim that the New 5-series will in 6 years time be the Best seller in that class then that is a debate we can have.

It'll be interesting to see a review of the A6 2.0T and how much it gives up vs the 3.0T

Ive driven both and I just feel the Audi is less engaging than the 5 series. Over time, the front heavy A6 feels more and more wobbly, where the 5 series feels more athletic over time. Of course, you want to get the sport package with the dynamic handling package on the 5 series, but its well worth it.
I have a lot of friends and their parents who went the A6 route and are dying to get back to the 5 series. They all say the A6 gets more bland the longer you drive it.

with a name like 2ndbimmer who would believe that you would say otherwise?

Ive driven both and I just feel the BMW is less engaging than the Audi. Over time, the better balanced A6 feels more in control and better grip than the 5 series, which feels disconnected and heavy.

I have a lot of friends and friends of friends and their parents and their parents friends who went the 5-series route and are dying to get back to the A6. They all say the 5-series feels like a bland Lexus and has Hyundai styled rear lights that are so tacky.

One can really say anything in this forum! Fact is, Audi A6 outsells the 5-series worldwide with the less stellar last generation A6, I can only expect Audi to increase its lead with this new awesome beast!

"I have a lot of friends and friends of friends and their parents and their parents friends who went the 5-series route and are dying to get back to the A6. They all say the 5-series feels like a bland Lexus and has Hyundai styled rear lights that are so tacky."

LOL...I think your confusing your fantasies with reality.

This A6 seems to be more sporty,and faster than the previous generation S6. The design is great in person,but an S-line package is an absolute must if you ask me.

Disappointing test for BMW. My observations from reading the article:

First, BMW needs to give magazines a car with the new 4-wheel steering system when they do the performance tests. According to them it increases slalom speed as much as a 6mph. I've driven a 750 that had it and it was incredible (the turning circle, especially, was unbelievable), yet they never have it on cars when they give them out for testing.

Second, BMW needs to make two changes to the 535. For starters, ditch the crappy Goodyear Excellence tires for some RE050's or PS2's or the like. If they're going to keep using runflats, and they are, there are certainly some better summer performance tire choices than the Goodyear Excellences. Finally, ship the vehicle with the 320hp/332lb-ft reflash they're currently offering 2011 335 sedan buyers. The new 2012 335i will likely come with that standard, and the new 640i already does. Magazines have gotten the 640i 0-60 in 5.2 seconds, I'm sure it'd be similar in the 535.

Hopefully BMW recognizes this as the wake-up call that it is. You're supposed to be leading the pack performance-wise. Change the tires, use the new programming, and you will be.

First off... FIGHT ON!

Ultimately, both cars appear to be well matched and at the end of the day, it's not objectively clear who's better but rather subjectively what is it you prefer in terms of features and feel. Personally, I prefer the sound of a straight 6 on start-up and living in Cali, don't really need the AWD that Audi offers, so I can save unnecessary weight by choosing the BMW. That being said, the style of the new BMW is a step back IMO, not entirely taken by it.

That's what you get cutting corners.

We could look at it this way too: The way emission laws are right now, VW which is AUDI's mother company has a big advantage here, having lots of small cars with low emissions to compensate for bigger cars like A6. Why would they opt to supercharge their V6 engine in the A6 for 2012 ? BMW has only MINI and needs to keep even the bigger cars on a small CO2 footprint using turbos and a miriad of other tech things to keep their cars less thirsty.
Every other car manufacturer bangs their heads to find ways of lower emissions and consumption, while AUDI clearly doesn't with the 2012 A6.
I might be wrong but the way I see it, I think law makers should change/come up with some sort of an emission penalty on the car model and not the manufacturer as a whole. If something like this was in place now, we would not see the supercharged V6 engine on the A6.