I thinks its a great comparo. Bmw and MB are always compared, and in the past the bmw usually have a much more sporty character compared to the MB's more luxury.
Previous model comparo's of the SL63 to the M6 cabrio would of shown you that the M6 would kill the SL63 in handling, nimbleness, driving feel, and track times. What I am pointing out is that this is absolutely not the case anymore. These companies are moving in opposite directions; one good and one bad.
When you say its a 2+2 that does not really take away the similarities. There are not really useable backseats, its not like comparing one of these cars to a Bently CGT and saying of course the CGT is not as sporty. Both the AMG and M models are supposed to be very sporty and are always compared to each other. I love all of these car brands, just pointing out the facts as they appear.

 

Amg ftw!!!

 

AutoExpress is a joke, did anyone actually do their research on these cars? The new SL's roof goes down in about 15 seconds, not 20 seconds which they claim in the video. The M6 also goes 0-60 in 4.4 seconds, not 5.3!

He also said the SL's performance package boosts the HP from 556 to....556?! WHAT?! DID ANYONE NOT HEAR THAT?!! I was at my local dealership last week and the HP is 530! As in other words, the performance pack boosts it from 530 to 557!

I am absolutely shocked by how lazy this publication is. It's no wonder no one ever reads these car magazines. Even Top Gear, for all it's humour and pomp, is a more serious car publication.

 

Not sure why you guys would call this comparison an unfair, these cars are in fact in the same category!

Definition of a GT is as follows: "A grand tourer (Italian: gran turismo) (GT) is a high-performance luxury automobile designed for long-distance driving. The most common format is a two-door coupé with either a two-seat or a 2+2 arrangement "

The old M6 would probably beat an SL55 around the track and on a top speed run. MB was able to build a newer, lighter car this time around even with a metal hard top, while this new M6 gained weight.

 

I would love to know how it failed miserably? Because of its sale figures?

In terms of performance a Z8 modeled for 2003 and the SL55.

The Z8 was faster 0-60, quarter mile times, and skid pad times.

How did it fail? If anything the SL55 failed being that it had 100 horsepower and ft-lbs of torque over the Z8 and still didn't manage to beat those figures, how is that failing???

Let's also remember that the Z8 while carrying an M5 engine was never truly called an M car... While the merc was... Well you know... An AMG.

I understand you being a merc loyalist and supremacist but have to say that if the Z8 was a failure so was the SL55 of the time so lets keep this completely based on facts.

 

Thank you, this says a lot of the review. Lets go and call the M6 a failure and M that they have lost their touch based on a review that doesn't even state data correctly...

I do believe the AMG has upped their performance division, but I also believe the M division have made their cars a lot more drivable while maintaining their performance in check.

 

+1 Ditto.

We all did, it's just taken a car from MB to CLEARLY be so much better then BMW to force even the Journo's to be honest about it.

 

Sales wise.. BMW can not pull of cars over the 150k mark.. They sell 3 series that's their game.
Do not attempt to compare the supercar history of mb with BMW.
SL55 isn't even a sports car in the
Mercedes world.

What has BMW ever produced to match any of these:
SLS,SLR,CLK DTM and CLK GTR?

And those are just the recent history of Mercedes supercars.

Despite this people (read BMW
And Their fans) insist to call it the ultimate driving machine.

Hell make a decent supercar and then we can talk.

But then again how can they when every time they creep close to 150k sales drop, as their brand obviously does not have the pull in the higher markets.

 

Well put. As evidenced by the few fan boys left bidding against themselves for the gayest little matchbox car; the 1M. If the 1M is your most exciting model, you are in trouble, BMW!

 

Sales are the best they've ever been. They just slightly outsold MB in the US last year and sold 1.67MM vehicles worldwide. Audi has a goal of catching up by 2015 I think but while I like Audi (and BMW and MB haha), that's a very lofty goal.