BMW 3 Series Gran Limousine

The 3 Series rides quite well for the most part and even handles rather well despite its gain in length. However, the ride quality needs to be improved compared to the Mercedes-Benz. Go over some bumps and undulations, and some sharper ones tend to spill into the cabin, leaving you with large thuds to ruin your peaceful ambience. The overall handling is good, and the steering has good feedback, making this car quite a fun package around your favourite twisty road. It's the practicality of the BMW that really excels. The higher ground clearance makes driving this long car a breeze in the city, and even with all seats filled, I never once had to crawl over a speed breaker, which is commendable. 

Mercedes-Benz C-Class

What bothers me the most is the lower ground clearance on the C 300d. Aesthetically, it may appear more menacing, but it does so at the cost of practicality. Even when alone, I had to drive sideways over most speed breakers, and that only gets exaggerated once you start bringing in passengers. I wonder if this would be a problem if your drive is mainly limited to highways, but inside the city, this can be a huge pain and ruin the driving experience to a certain degree. The overall ride and handling are well done. The suspension seems quite plush, and rarely do thuds creep into the cabin. The handling too on the Mercedes-Benz is surprisingly good for a luxury sedan. It eagerly darts in and out of corners and will happily indulge in drifting and sliding if you let it. All in all, the Mercedes-Benz nails the ride and handling balance too the same way it did the design and the interior.  

Comfort & Convenience

BMW 3 Series Gran Limousine

The BMW 3 Series is clearly the more practical one, and it only adds to it with two new features. The first one is the incredible park assist that memorize your last steering inputs before you park and then will play them back in reverse, so ingress and egress into a tight parking spot becomes as easy as possible. Second, on the list is the inclusion of a digital key. BMW allows you to pair up to 5 different electronic devices (Phones & Smart Watches) that you can use as a key in case you forget your key or choose not to carry it. The BMW has a much higher boot capacity but won't let you drop down the rear seats for added room. 

Mercedes-Benz C-Class

The Mercedes-Benz C 300d doesn't have any fancy gadgets to aid comfort or convenience; it's a tad too old-school like that. Hell, it doesn't even have a dedicated storage space for its spare wheel, and it just sits in the boot as something you can choose to sacrifice in case you want additional space. It has reliable features that do an excellent job of aiding your daily driving. For instance, it's got a 360-degree surround view camera to aid parking, and that's as far as its cool features go. Mercedes could have added some cool features to jazz up this package, but they were busy spending their money on all the other cool things I highlighted earlier, and I can't criticise money well spent.