jjsC6

As I posted couple of weeks ago, I bought a 2015 Audi A7 Prestige with 20" sport package to replace my 2012 550. The lease is up in about four months on the 550 so I'll have both until then.

My wife's car is a 2014 Lexus GS350 with Luxury Package and Levinson stereo among other small stuff. The Luxury package on the Lexus has incredible multi-adjustable seats that do everything the top Audi and BMW seats do except massage. It also comes with a dynamic suspension that adjusts automatically and has a normal, sport, and sport plus modes which also changes the steering and transmission settings.

My BMW has the top of the line Luxury Seating Package, dynamic suspension, M-Sport, premium sound (Harman Kardon), soft close doors, top view cameras, HUD etc. Oh, and the Elephant in the room - the 400 hp/450 lb ft of torque twin turbo V8.

My Audi has Prestige which has LED lights, HUD, Bose Stereo, Four Zone AC and a few other things, and it has the Sport suspension with 20" wheels (265/35 tires). BTW, I'm posting the specifics of these packages because I'm going to cut and paste this post to all three forums.

Here is my comparison of the cars, which I consider all in the same class. If you consider the review of the A7 to be applicable to the A6 as they are almost identical cars except the body, discount the engine in the 550 to a more comparable 535 (the cars can be equipped identically) they are all comparable cars at slightly different price points.

Seating Comfort: The Lexus and BMW are the most comfortable followed by the Audi. The Multi Contour seats that Audi offers in such cars as the S6/S7 and A8 are not available in the A6/A7…yet. They are an option for the 2016 which has already been announced. I am okay with the comfort of the seats in my A7 though so I didn't wait. The BMW and Lexus seats are almost in a dead heat and both are sinfully comfortable and adjustable.

Ride Comfort: No contest here. The Lexus rides the best, but don't think because they are your Grandmothers Lexus. The car has the tallest tires, and the best suspension tuning. Not only is it comfortable, but it also is very well controlled and the car handles very well. More on that to follow. The 550 is held back in ride comfort by the run-flat tires which is the only way to get it. The ride is not horrible, but you feel the run-flats. The Audi has a good suspension, but on washboard surfaces the 20" wheel/tires get a little upset to the point of being a bit harsh. It handles single impacts well, and only really gets bad on certain road surfaces. If I were ordering the car I'd order it with 19's. As it is, I may change it to 19's sometime down the road if I don't come to grips with the ride.

Handling. Keep in mind that my cars are mostly commuter cars in and around Houston. But I do like a good handling car - years ago I competitively raced motorcycles. I've also got some drag racing and autocross experience. I get my kicks now on some very fast motorcycles. No contest here either, the Audi is the best, followed by the Lexus then the BMW. The Audi steering is by far the best and turn in is very precise and responsive. The car stays pretty flat and handling very neutral. The Lexus also feels responsive and has good steering. This car will not disappoint you if you can get past that its a Lexus, and ours is not even an F-Sport. I'm very impressed with the Lexus. The BMW feels big and heavy. It is competent, but you always know you are driving a big and heavy car. It's well documented that they are not as responsive and nimble as earlier generations.

Engine/Transmission. The Audi wins here also if you discount the 550s power (I've driven a 535 a few times, so my comparison stands with the Audi winning). The Lexus doesn't have much torque and it's hampered by the fact that they have tuned the new eight speed to not want to downshift very aggressively unless you are in the Sport + mode (it has four modes). The car has decent power, it just doesn't want to give it up very easily. The Audi has power and torque, and the transmission is a willing participant, even in the base mode. The BMW 550 is in a different league of course. The torque is truly amazing and the car never feels slow. I've owned much faster cars (a Z06 Corvette for one) yet I'm always amazed at how effortless the acceleration is in the 550. The downside to the BMW is that throttle response can be very annoying and hesitant and the car is not easy to drive smoothly in stop and go traffic. It's one of the major reasons I would not buy another BMW at this time. Some say the newer ones are better, but I'm to going to let BMW "shame on me".

"Infotainment" systems": The BMW I Drive has become accepted, but in nearly three years I still don't always find it intuitive. But I'll say it's not bad. Bad has to be saved for the Lexus. The mouse drive is not very easy to use and many basic functions are buried 3-4 steps deep. Way too much pointing and clicking through the menus to do stuff that is not unusual to want to so while going down the road. This system pretty well sucks. If you are the only one who drives the car you'll learn to live with it. As it's my wife's car, changing things is a fact of life for me. I like the Audi system a lot better than either of them. I have only driven the car a few times, but I quickly got used to how the logic to the system works and am coming to grips with it quickly.

Stereo: The Lexus Mark Levinson and BMW Premium systems are both very good. I actually prefer the BMW, but the Lexus is a very good system. I have no complaints with either. A feature of the BMW is that is has a true equalizer with quite a few adjustments points that allow fine tuning of the system. The Bose in the Audi has surprisingly good clarity and imaging and can be turned up quite loud by my 62 year old standards. Sadly though its lacking in bass. I have to turn the bass to it's highest level and even then it's only marginal. I can live with the system, but I don't love it the way I do the other two cars.

Overall feel: The BMW is very solid and feels like you are going down the road in a bank vault carved from a single piece of granite. I like the car a lot, love the interior and the car has a muscular, all business appearance to it. It also has a lot of small features the other cars don't have, although you pay a premium for this car. There are many things I'll miss about it, but the fact that its so hard to drive smoothly becomes obvious every time I get in one of the other two cars and they drive much better.

The Lexus always feels like an extremely refined car that is a joy to drive. I marvel at what a nice car it is, and I damn near bought a second GS (F-Sport) to go with it. 50 more horsepower and I'd be the owner of two GS's. Everything about the car feels like quality and refinement. And I love the interior in it as much as the BMW.

The Audi was the best of all worlds for me. I knew I was giving up the raw power of the 550, but the Audi splits the cars nicely. I just didn't want to pay the extra for the S6 or S7 which would have gotten me the same performance. The Audi has most of the refinement of the Lexus, most of the performance of the BMW (engine wise) and is the best handling of the three and has the best steering and responsiveness of the three. And the A7 has absolutely killer looks. Neither of the other two cars gets comments from anyone as to how good looking they are. But I've had several folks in a short time do double takes on the A7, and I had a very trendy and attractive couple walk buy it while I was sitting nearby at a Starbucks walk up to me and gush over the car.

I"m sure I'll think of more over to comment on, but this is already a very long thread.

Baloo588

You posted an excellent review! I also owned a 2011 BMW 5 and now a 2013 GS350 F-Sport and want to get the 2016 Audi A7.

I am planning to order the 2016 with sports package but with 19 inch rims because of the problem with harsh ride and choppiness over uneven surface. However, I am still hesitant to get this because I am not sure how much better it is over the standard suspension which I drove. I wanted a better handling car like my GS F-sport which gives an amazing nimble feel around the curves while providing a planted and smooth ride vs the BMW. I want to try to get as close as I can with sporty handling but not sacrificing the ride too much. I wish we could order the optional air suspension to help customize the car more like the GS with the dynamic dampers. Well, let me know what you think. Have you driven the standard suspension A7? If so, does the sport suspension help much?

iceburg02

That's a thoughtful and well-balanced review...thanks for sharing.

Do you get the sense that swapping out the run flats on the 5-series would have helped the ride on the Bimmer at all? I had looked at the 550 after it got the engine upgrade a year or so ago.

cheers

looking@audi

Excellent comparison - I mostly agree with you on all points.

It's interesting how Lexus has become more sport orientated (F-Sport) along with Mercedes - while BMW has gone in the opposite direction with a more solid, comfortable cruising feel.

All 4 (Audi A7/A6, BMW 535, Lexus GS350, Mercedes E-350) are excellent cars - and buyers have the luxury of deciding what individual characteristics are most important to them.

Let us know what other forums you posted this in (Bimmerfest? / MBWorld?) as I enjoy reading different opinions.

Best,

Pratfall

Thanks for the thoughtful write up. I am with you on the GS350. I tried one and was shocked by how much I liked it. Like you, though, my nagging reservation was the engine. Compared to the immediate power in the A6/A7 or Caddy cts vsport, or relatively immediate power in the 535i, it felt starkly sluggish. Throw a supercharger or couple of turbos in there, though, and the GS350 would become a super attractive alternative to the German mainstays.

Btw one other advantage to the A7, killer cargo space.

jjsC6

Comparison of my BMW 550, Lexus GS350 and Audi A7 - Bimmerfest - BMW Forums

Comparison of my Lexus GS350, BMW 550 and Audi A7 - Club Lexus Forums

Absolutely. I had several Corvettes that came from the factory with run-flats that I changed out to non run-flats. The difference was very noticeable. I just wasn't willing on doing that with my daily driver that I drive on the freeways through Houston almost daily.

ckelly14

Jim:

I am also evaluating these cars after coming off 8 years of back to back LS460's. Looking for something more sporty, and owned an A4 with manual transmission and 2001 A6 2.7T in the past.

Drove the A7 twice and I think this is one of the best looking sedans out there. Unfortunately, every one I found to drive has the 20" rims with lower profile tires and just couldn't get over the harsh road noise and jittery ride of the car over bridges and road imperfections. Tough coming from the serene (and numb) drive of the Lexus.

I really liked the GS f-sport that I drove but have difficulty getting over the ho-hum looks. I think the power is adequate in sport mode and if GS came in the exterior package of the A7, I would buy it in a second.

Anyone out there ever drive a A7 without a sports package or 20" wheels? Don't think they exist....

The 2016 A7 has better looking standard wheels so I am considering ordering a 2016 without the sports package:

jjsC6

I think we are on the same page. My feeling is that 18 or 19 inch wheels will make a big difference. The suspension seems to handle many bumps in the road just fine including some jolts that I drive almost daily. As you say, it is mostly concrete roads with a series of uneven seams close together that starts the jiggling. I think there is a very good chance I'll be changing mine out to 19s. I still am driving the BMW most days for a few months and will drive the Audi every couple of weeks until it is gone, so I have a little time to decide what to do.

ckelly14

19" wheels is the smallest I can order. I'm going to drive the A6 with the non-sports package and see how I like the ride (my dealer has no A7's available to drive, sport or otherwise). If I don't like it, it pains me that I may need to stick with the Lexus. Keep me posted.

jjsC6

I thought all of them with 19s have the sports package. Even with the sports package I'm thing the 19s will be a noticeable improvement.