The October 5 issue of Britain's Autocar magazine has a three-way comparison of the new BMW M5, the updated Jaguar XFR and the Mercedes E63 AMG with its fresh new motor. The winner of the test is the Merc. Autocar says the E63 is more dramatic to drive than the M5 - the Merc comes out on top with its more explosive power delivery, better sounding motor and sharper handling. Surprisingly, the E63 driven in the test is the "base" car without the Performance Pack's LSD and extra power. The conclusion is that the M5 is the better DD while the E63 is the bigger thrill ride.

It seems BMW has softened the M5 compared to the previous E60 generation, while Mercedes has made the E63 more hardcore since the platform transition from W211 to W212. The E63 with Performance Pack should be a monster.

 

Sad to hear that the new M5 is less exciting. Would have been interesting to add the CTS-V in for kicks. I know that it is not new, but in many ways, it is IMO the performance benchmark or the luxo sedans right now.

 

That new 5.5 liter AMG engine is a real power house. I think it makes like 664 lb ft of torque with the power pack.

 

The Jag is a beautiful car, someone needs to de-ugly the BMW and unstodgy the E-class.

 

seems like the bimmers get softer with each generation...
it's unfortunate but when you max out your customer base with a given formula, you need to slightly change the formula to attract more buyers..

 

A friend has a 2010 E63 with the NA V8. The thing is a beast but not my style. I still have a thing for the E39 M5.

 

Id stll buy the jag.... Its my next car.

 

So let me get this straight: The new M5 is significantly faster than the old M5 that trounced the E63 in every sort of performance comparison to the point where it was clear which one was better in that regard, and the relatively unchanged E63 (non performance pack version has the same power as the old engine) is now magically faster than the new M5. What?

 

The 2012 E63 is not "relatively unchanged". It has a new 5.5l twin-turbo V8 replacing the 6.2l NA V8.

 

The new 5.5 liter has a lot more torque than the old 6.2 and it's available a lot earlier in the rev band. I want to see a proper comparison of all the 2012 high performance mid size sedans.