I only disagree on 2 things:
1. the pleather feeling the same. The BMW material does feel nicer, followed by the BYD and then the Merc. Does it matter? I feel that it does.
2. The functionality and integration/ease of use are different. I would still say the Mercs have fallen behind the Chinese here. The Chinese may match features but will not match the integration. Obviously not everyone will care about this, the same way an Android can do everything an iphone can, but people still want something that feels more polished. Mercedes is lagging behind China on
features, but China is lagging behind BMW/Porsche on integration. I feel like they have all chosen the strangest hill to die on.
As much as I say below people are out of touch with what a current gen BMW is, I feel they are also missing a trick not looking up the road at a Macan or Cayenne. I can't bring myself to think about a BMW SUV after having my Cayenne and having driven the newer ones. I also can't see myself buying an X5 or GLE/GLS over a Bentayga. Now if you're shopping at this end of the market, and going those routes all the guys sitting waiting for used BMWs are not going to have many if any. Same with longer ownership cycles of 7 years or so. Chinese win again since there won't be a used BMW suitable to go into at 500-750ish between X1/3 buyers opting for lightly used, substantially better (dynamically, aesthetically, luxury) cars and neither will there be many X5s. Its already happening since half the new cars in my estate are Chinese and the other half seem to be depositing their salaries directly into Toby's bank account
I've said this before, but that used market and enthusiasts stretching into it is what keeps the culture and buzz around a brand alive. All the 20-somethings are going to sound like Alfa Romeo enthusiasts by the time they have to explain how things used to be to their kids: a massive 'missing generation' loading.
On the subject of features it seems like alot of chinese buyers are amazed by features that BMW/Merc have had for a long time. That is the buzz in the market as well as 'warranties'. The guys who have never owned a nice car in their life are now joining us in 2014. These are just what the requirements are in enough countries that it made sense for them to mass produce them with these features eg: cameras, ADAS etc.
You can add the same 'features' with that slapped together level of integration buying a head unit on Aliexpress. When I was shopping for the porsche unit you could even get kits that included surround view cameras and wiring for around 10K. You find the most moronic comments about this as though the chinese have invented this and it is better than everyone else's. It really is not. It is just as annoying as useless in a chinese car as it is in a BMW or Merc or Porsche
On a side note, I find it fascinating that everyone wants this mythical cheap "basic" car with "no frills" and "great repairability" until ADAS, surround view and phone integration are available on a cheap car
. Anyway the Chinese have delivered what the people (indeed the world these days) appears want. 2010s technology dolled up as luxury. I don't think folks know the difference anymore.
BMW cannot afford to go further downscale. The plastics are already extremely poor quality for the money. Even things like 'patchiness' or consistency and rattly/shitty feeling hard plastics that used to be what indian/chinese cars were known for are present in cars costing R1.2M. I feel like guys on here are out of touch with what BMW new pricing now is as well as what it feels like to sit in the very latest models. If you're in an E90/60 or F10/30/8x or even G30/20/82/F90, the newest gen will somewhat shock you, particularly the X1 relative to pricing.
Merc is basically dead to me. There is a huge recall on their very latest cars because the AMG GT, C Class CLE, E class, GLE, SL... all of them... have screens that will spontaneously turn off while driving and not turn back on
Don't worry though, surely turning the entire car into one big screen won't be a problem in 10 years time...
The carpets and materials on anything that isn't an M or doesn't have a "whole BYD-worth" of options boxes ticked feels like crap in the current generation. I'd wager not many have gone and sat in an X1 and looked beyond the big distracting screen. This extends even to the 5 series (and G9x). It isn't just limited to the basic cars. Mercedes has already taken the decision to phase out its cheaper vehicles as it is losing so much brand value (IMHO too late, there are guys like my FIL that have bought every E class blindly since 1983 that have now noped out).
I am with
@r0ckf1re in that the most important thing is to have the blade style batteries that are wired in a way that doesn't brick the car if there are issues. They are all using BYD anyway.
These are already heavily subsidized (thanks Xi) on top of the bottom of the barrel pricing. The game of warranty comparison based on heavily asterisked t's and c's means nothing. I played this stupid game with the Koreans already 15 years ago. No warranty saves you from the massive depreciation either, especially with a non-transferrable warranty. For EV I think BYD is the way to go. PHEV I think is still pointless (For me anyway) but Chery may very well be making a better PHEV. My interest in BYDs are more as glorified city golf-carts than anything that matters. Just a mobile dishwasher or fridge that happens to take up a garage spot. If you heard that Hisense had the same tech as Siemens, would you buy the Hisense because it had Siemens tech or the Siemens because it was the 'originator' and would have implemented it more reliably? There are people who would choose either option for valid reasons in each case. (BTW that is a real thing with Siemens entry and Hisense top end fridges LOL)
Anyway earlier this week Brembo released a fully brake by wire (no hydraulic backup) system to market. At the rate things are going with steer by wire, brake by wire and a car being constantly connected I feel like there is a recipe for disaster loading. Imagine this happening, but with cars
www.geelyauto.co.za
Llew, these features were available way back on older, higher end cars. Now that they are on cheaper entry level cars, they have become more known and all of a sudden it’s WOW! 
