 I was looking for a V8 E-class when I found this car. I happened to come across it at the right price, so I took it for a test drive. I've seen this car for years and never thought I could afford one but after a couple of minutes it was a done deal. I previously owned a Volvo s60R and was all about turbo charging, but this 5.5 liter V8 has power on tap at any given moment. My vehicle has the optional AMG exhaust which has the meatiest sound on the market. It scares other drivers at full chap which is awesome. A 4.6sec 0-60 is spectacular for a vehicle of this size, at this price point. The hydraulic steering is also meaty, very well assisted but not lite. I recently drove a 2016 C300 and was surprised how woeful the electric steering was, very inconsistent assist at varying speed in slow turns. In Sport mode the chassis stiffen and you can get the car to predictably slide all 4 tires around a corner, inspiring confidence. The transmission is a little slow, but the more you drive it aggressively in manual mode, the quicker it becomes. It's just a little aggressive to get to overdrive, and downshifting can feel like turbo-lag if you haven't been driving the car hard. Still shifts are very smooth. It's also very awesome that downshift can skip gears, basically it can downshift from 5th-3rd  without having to sequentially go through 4th. Make sure the transmission is in Standard mode and not Comfort mode if you want performance. Comfort mode always starts the car in 2nd. I found that out and had to get pain-killers for my neck pain. :) Parking assistance is a must if you live in the city, like I do, and have a smaller garage. The visibility can be an issue with the low roof. People talk about the entertainment center being dated, which it is, but it's very clear and I can operate it easily while driving. There is no comparison when it comes to the quality of material, but the lighter interior colors will require maintenance. I have the Cashmere interior and the steering wheel color started to wear off. I order leather color from Leather World and fixed it perfectly. The air suspension is simply wonderful and makes this car drive different from any Mercedes that has a conventional coil-over spring setup (my back started hurting when driving a CLA, and the C-class felt a little unrefined). As far as maintenance, I do a lot of my own work and the car is remarkably simple to work on, I can do an oil change in 15 minutes. When I had to take the car to the dealer for front brakes because the caliber pins were frozen and I couldn't do it myself, they only charged me $686 for pads, rotors, and new sensors. To put that into perspective, my brother-in-law has a 2015 Taurus that his dealership charged $800 for rear brakes. The car is really just a solid brick down the road. I love it to death and although I'm very much a car guy, I just can't find anything to replace it with. All hale the 5.5 naturally aspirated engine. Here is a review of my car - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QfJhAVyuOQ