Poll Audi S5 (B10) vs BMW M340i (G20) vs Mercedes-AMG C43 (W206)

[Gor134]

Similar to the other thread, now I'm interested in seeing the results for near-fully loaded options of these new exec sport saloons!

Went for a red/red combo on all cars with upgrade wheels, tech package, and standard silver trim. Unfortunately BMW can't be optioned with silver window trim unless you do an Individual order I believe.

Exteriors:

Interior:

 

[Design FIRST]

I will say that to me, what this most vividly displays is just how badly Audi designers dropped the ball on the A6 etrons. The A5/S5s look soooo much better.

As far as this particular survey goes...a bit more difficult than the previous survey with the base spec cars.

Exterior: Despite a bit too much bling on the S5, I'd give it the crown. But really just by a hair. BMW and M-B tied.

Interior: Easily the S5. Followed by M340i and C43 respectively.

 

[Merc1]

I have to say the spec of the Audi makes it the winner here. The interior is way better than the BMW and Mercedes. The Mercedes' seats look like an economy car at best. Mercedes needs help on the details. The details are cheap looking.

M

 

[Gor134]

I have to say the spec of the Audi makes it the winner here. The interior is way better than the BMW and Mercedes. The Mercedes' seats look like an economy car at best. Mercedes needs help on the details. The details are cheap looking.

M

Mercedes has nicer brown interior upgrade available, I just wanted to compare the red colours for interior :/

 

[Merc1]

Mercedes has nicer brown interior upgrade available, I just wanted to compare the red colours for interior :/

Oh it's not the color. It's the cheap looking headrest supports. The padding looks paper thin and the rear seats are nearly totally flat. The rear seats in the Audi and BMW look like the go all the way to the door, the C clearly doesn't.

M

 

[Matski]

I think the Audi definitely improves the most.

 

[klier]

And I think the interior of the Audi is really, really, really ugly.
Exterior is ok. But the whole car is on a dead end just like the MB and BMW. ICE cars in this class are a hard sell these days.

There are like 10 Teslas for every BMW/Audi/MB combined in the middle class.

 

[Rolf]

Exterior design its a close call. The Audi silver trim dominates its appearance, but overall, it just about clings the victory, although front view I think the Mercedes looks the best, the BMW has the best profile and the Audi looks best at the rear.

Interior the Audi looks by far the best, it has the most expensive looking seats, combined with the nicest dash and door trim. The BMW is in the middle as it has still decent looking seats and nice door handles and trim. The Mercedes has the worst looking seats. I dont like this seat design, it looks very cheap and the seat padding looks like some stick-on seat pads on a minibus. The cheapness of the interior highlighted by the black shiny door trim, which is absent on both Audi and BMW.

 

[empower77]

The Audi is pushing 2 tonnes. The BMW is around 200kg lighter. Tye extra 50NM in the Audi isn’t that effective. God I hate how heavy these cars get with each passing generation. How does that make them efficient?

 

[martinbo]

Exterior - the BMW and Merc are too close to separate. It's down to personal preference or blind badge worship. The Audi is awkward looking.
Interior - far closer, the BMW's LCI dashboard is distinctly un-special; G20 Pre-LCI is far better. Merc's is weird looking with strange vents, patchy quality and expanses of open surfaces. The Audi's interior looks uninspired and VAGeneric.

 

[GTA45E]

The interior color scheme of the C-Class in this comparison does not help it.

The interior of the A5, I am ok with. It has more surface areas that blend together as a whole and work better than the 3er and C-Class IMO. The door cards are an example of this. The details in the seats give it a little extra level of attention to detail that seems to be lacking in the 3er and C-Class.
It's the dashboard design where the A5 falls apart. The screens are ill-shaped and incongruent with a messy design.
The BMW LCI dash is plain toast with the lack of switchgear and original BMW manual controls which is sad, yep I agree the pre-LCI was better. The C is spec sensitive. In this example, it looks like a rental car that's been decked out. The surface areas on the seats look budget car cheap.

The exterior of the A5 is an evolutionary step and is ok, nothing special.
The C_class and 3er are a tie, both car classy good looking cars.