The overall LOOK of MB is better, that I’ll give to them, but BMW interior quality is much nicer, the leather feels better, the buttons don’t feel cheap, the wood actually looks like wood, not some cheap vinyl tacky looking trim.
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Mb exterior styling is awful imo, they used to look as good if not better than bmw specifically those w211 and w212 e63s, the new w213 doesn’t nearly look as good as the f90 m5
Interior only I was speaking about, Benz exterior has been trash since 2013
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Stunning 
wowow
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Same interior I have on my X7 its the best.
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That’s true, had a loaner A class last November for a final service on the e55 before I sold it, obviously it’s an A220 and the driving dynamics suck but I could see the appeal to younger people wanting a “luxury” car, the screen that runs from the driver side to the infotainment screen is nice, the rest of the interior has some cheap plastics but that’s a given at the price point, would have loved to compare to a new S but they weren’t out at the time.
They all look the exact same, before 2013 bmw got flack for all looking the exact same and then the entire Benz S class redesign literally saw every sedan look like a baby S.
I mean tbh that 2014-2016 e63 looked so good, it didn’t resemble the C or S and was very large and boxy but in a muscular way. That was my last favorite amg, everything now aside from the amg gt doesn’t look very appealing to me.
The c e and S always had resemblances, if you were far enough in the mid 2000s you couldnt tell a C from an E just looking at the back. But yeah their new design language isn’t very appealing atm.
I can’t tell the difference between an E and a C unless they are right next to each other, the S class is the only one you can differentiate because of the length of the car but the E class is literally useless nowadays since the C looks and drives the exact same and they sell more units for it
I like the E because it doesn’t drive like a boat like the S and you can put 3 adults in the back without cramming them in the back like sardines like a C.
If we are talking about marginal size differences the x5 interior legroom is such a marginal improvement over the x3.
Ya I even confuse the x3 and x5 sometimes it’s wild how close they are
And ya I always loved the 5 series since it was my dads first bmw and now the m550 is my first bmw lol 
It’s so close that I prefer the x3m to the x5m, the x3m is such a more balanced car as compared to the X5m.
I was looking at x5m at the same time as the m550 and everyone said it just didn’t drive well, but I mean what else do you expect when you put 600hp in a 2.5 ton soccer mom SUV
Last gen x5m was great this gen tho leaves a lot to be desired, with the hellcat twins, the urus, rsq8, etc etc the x5m needed a lot more power.
Problem is if you shove 700 hp under the hood of the x5m the m5 and m8 customers will be p*ssed and it would probably step on their heritage.
Something about this gen doesn’t feel right, I’m sure if they worked on the drive dynamics they could fix it.
Everyone has mentioned the steering feel is very awkward and disconnected but they also said that about the M5/M550 and I have had no such issues which is weird. Also most of the auto journalists/youtubers review the cars as if some maniac is actually going to track/drive like an Ahole with any German luxury vehicle, regardless if its the race version or not.
Don’t paint with a broad brush stroke and I call BS. MB interior may look a bit more modern with the flat video screens but BMW holds their own, and in most cases, BMWs fit and finish are better.
easy keep it, change wheels
This right here… I keep reading these accounts as well, and while I don’t doubt the correctness of those more experienced than I in this aspect, my personal experience dailying my recently acquired 2021 F95 over the past 5 weeks & 5k miles over that interval has been quite the opposite. My wife and I even did a longer distance 1k+ mile trip in it and found it to be fantastic (with the exception of the ridiculously stiff headrests - wth, BMW).
I’m really okay with the steering feel and tbh I’ve felt it be a relatively balanced ride, and while it isn’t as engaged feeling on the ground as say your average M3/M5, this thing is incredibly fun to drive and it is ultimately an SUV.
Then again, my most recent comparators are a 2019 G05 40i, a 2016 F36 428GC, a 2013 981, and a 2004 E60 530i, so I’m not entirely sure if I have a good enough background to even be a judge of these things. All I know is that I’m having an absolute hoot.
OP, in your position I’d do the X5 40i w/ M-Sport in a heartbeat - I drove my 40i into NYC daily for nearly 6 months - strong recommendation if you’re in the city is to get DAP, since the ETJA function really helps take off the edge in the usual bumper to bumper traffic driving.
The interiors aren’t really comparable in my personal opinion (with the X5 winning by a long shot), and the 40i in Sport Plus is surprisingly nimble. I do feel there to be a noticeable space difference between the X3 and X5, but I also fill the vehicle to the brim 2-3x a week.
5ish sec 0-60 times on a 5k lb SUV is bonkers, and the adaptive suspension with M-Sport brakes is great. And at the end of the day, to my earlier point, neither is going to drive like a sedan (and neither also has the full M treatment), so why not take the extra benefits of the X5 then (if the extra #s are palatable)?
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