During the past few months, I have been back to the various dealerships that I was frequenting back in late '98 when we decided to buy the E38. This time BMW were, unfortunately, not included.

I took a test drive (to varying extents) in each of the following cars (some serious, some just for fun, others just because....). Afterwards, i'll mention how I came to MY conclusion.

Lexus: GS430, LS430
Mercedes: E430, S430
Jaguar: XKR, XJ8, 4.0 S-Type
Audi: A6, A8
Volvo: ...to embarrassed to mention :-)
Saab: 9-5 sedan.

Of course the XKR was a bit tongue-in-cheek and the Volvo does not belong in this group (in MY opinion). The Saab was OK, but nothing worth considering. The Audi was also disappointing, as I had thought this may be a "dark horse" in my search - I was left feeling that they are a BMW-wannabe, just not quite getting it.

The Lexus GS430 was easily the most exciting of these to drive (of the serious ones that is - the XKR is just plainly impractical - but very fast!). The take-off was amazing for an automatic - much better than any of the others and easily out-paces with the E38 - which is much heavier.

The LS430, however, just does not do it for me. I was already in negative score on that one as I got into the car - not liking the looks at all. The drive was nice and, er.....well, that about sums it up. I did like the interior layout however - especially the accessible CD changer! They also seem to have kept up with some of the neat gadgets that Infinity have now put in their interiors.

Both of the Jaguars were nice and felt fast, but for some reason I could NOT get conformable in the seats - it feels like they were built for people 1 to 2 inches short then me - and I'm only 6 ft tall. The S-Type also for some reason had nowhere near the take-off acceleration of the XJ8 - and neither were even close to the Lexus.

Finally, the Mercedes. I've had a chance to drive the S430 and the S500 quite a few times since the introduction (a friend has the 430, and the dealer is convinced that I'm going to buy the S500 :). I have come to accept that they are not a BMW - but then neither are any of the competitors. Given that, I liked the feel of the car - nice and stable at high speeds....something I've always felt that the E38 could not be beaten at. Then when taking it along a nice long high-speed bend, I was quite impressed by how much better it drives than the original S-class. It also felt more stable than even the LS430 - which we all know was doing it's best to convince me that I was still driving in a straight line!

My conclusion was that I'm going to be hard pressed to replace the E38. Given that I will be doing so with a non-BMW, the Mercedes took my vote this time around. Why the S430 versus the S500? I didn't think it is worth the extra $$ - just like the 750 versus the 740.