Is the S-type Jaguar better than the new 04 5-series?
An interesting commentary from England
Top Cat - Jaguar rejoice as UK car magazines rate S-Type as best drivers car, whilst stating the new BMW-5 is "Average" and the E-Class "Mediocre".
Insiders at BMW are initially quoting this as a disaster, indeed there are rumours that the Quandt family are singularly unimpressed with both designers and engineers for trying too hard to out-do Jaguar and Mercedes. The result? Lack of interest from customers. Where orders once went in sight-unseen, people are now waiting to see the car in person. BMW's board is stunned.
Meanwhile, Jaguar engineers at Browns Lane, Coventry, England are rejoicing as UK car magazines rate the new BMW-5 as "Average" and "no longer the ultimate driving machine" in recent road test reviews. Pitted against the 3-litre S-Type, 3.2-litre E-Class and a 3-litre 5-Series, the big cat came out on top as the best car,and most importantly, the best overall drivers car. The Bee Emm has been champion for a long time now and already it has a bloody nose from it's first fight!
According to reporters, BMW have made the new 5 "ponderous" and "strangely uninvolving" and some suggest that the variable rate steering is "not a success". Whilst inside the car, ergonomics are best described as "ill thought out". Those who have seen the car in British sunlight say that the BMW 7 looks better - and you know how lamented that has been!
In the UK, buyers are being offered cars within weeks of the launch, and some importers quicker than that - suggesting an apathy to the car from an early stage. I have it on quiet authority that those in the BMW board who are not completely arrogant are aware that the 5-series is the companies most important model range and were it to fail (ala 7-series), the unthinkable could happen. After all, it is rumoured that Daimler/Chrysler are still looking for acquisitions!
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