Hi mate,I've had an e36 cab for years now and it's a top drivers car,lovely handling etc,great engine,bags of power/torque but if I had to jump in a car now to go to the south of France the merc would win everytime,so comfy,so reliable,really assured and just feel total quality.E46 are great cars but as you said you'd pay nearly double for one comparable to the merc which was why I chose the ml diesel over the x5 as the x5 was 10k,and the ml was 5,I don't think the x5 was twice the car either.