Morning (Afternoon) Beetle.
No, I've honestly never considered Merc's and model for model, they're slightly higher $$ here in the U.S. I drove a 1992 525i a couple years before I purchased my bimmer, and realized what a fine performance car its was, handling wise and began saving my money. What really sold me was this '92 525 I drove had over 180,000 miles on it, and I thought it was relatively low milege until I looked at the odometer. The owner was a 2nd owner, and nothing had been done to the car except basic wear out items like brakes, clutches, etc. It too had the inline 6.
Thud is right about holding their value, but thats not why I bought the car. I bought it because I test drove alot of different models that were similiar, and none could match the handling that the 3'er had with the sports suspension, combined with the comfortable interior room for my family of 4 and the gas milege (25 city/30 highway, 23 if I'm pushing the car hard) I did not, however, test drive a Merc so I can't give it a fair comparison.
Are you considering a Merc Beetle?
