I bought this car instead of a 540i six speed. My reasons were simple:

1. The styling is in my epinion (ha), better than that of the 540i which in 1999 sported styling several model years old.
2. The Mercedes is a coupe, which I feel is sportier.
3. The Mercedes is a better value on paper, weighing in at $54k with all the available option packages.

So, has experience born out theory? Alas, the love affair with my Mercedes is now over. While not completely disenchanted, I do not generate the excitement I think $54k ($60k with taxes, fees) entitles me to when I drive this car. What are the issues?

1. Automatic transmission has a delay while it interprets the depth of the pedal push and selects an appropriate gear. Moreover, in order to ensure a downshift to a low gear, you must fully depress the pedal, which after a delay REALLY shoots this car forward. This hamstrings your ability as a driver to create small, controlled bursts of acceleration to "squirt" your car around. Something a manual transmission would remedy since the powerplant is more than adequate.
2. Build quality is sub-par. My last car, an Audi A4 had fewer issues in the 2 years I owned it than this car has had in 3 months. In short, I feel for the money that this car’s issues have been legion: the sunroof has broken twice; there is a whistle from the side windows; the rear headrests have squeaked requiring replacement; the wood in the dash squeaks when going over bumps; and the piece de resistance, the cellular phone supports only analog service and there are no longer any high minute analog plans in California (nice $750 option - useless).