|
I kind of had a similar dilema to yourself except that I was trying to choose between Sport Auto or Professional Nav.
In the end I went with Nav (and therefore) manual because although I really enjoyed using the sport auto with its paddles on the test drive, I had a niggling doubt that it was a novelty that I would get bored of soon enough.
I've been borrowing one of my parent's cars whilst waiting for my car to arrive..... an automatic (no fancy manual paddleshift override) Mercedes..... And there have been plenty of times when I've grown frustrated with not having the added control of a manual. Coming from a high revving Honda Type R, I see changing gear on a slick manual shifter as a real pleasure rather than a chore.
As it happens, my brother took delivery of a F10 5 Series with the Sport Auto and it confirmed my suspicions...... I don't think he has ever used the paddles and has always just whacked the car in straight auto. There's no doubt its an incredible 'box with silky smooth shifts, but if you like your driving I think manual is the way forward.
So I feel pretty happy to have made the choice of manual!
However, my salesman did mention that Auto equipped cars do command a useful premium when it comes to used car sales..... it tends to be the first option buyers look for when checking out used cars if that comes into your thinking at all......
As for the blacks..... well Jet is flat and sapphire is metallic.
I think Jet (when clean and detailed) actually looks deeper and more "black" than Sapphire does. ie. Jet is more defined and darker whereas Sapphire can look a bit more "light" depending on the lighting conditions.
However, being a metallic, Sapphire is slightly easier to maintain and won't show up swirl marks as badly as Jet would. As a general rule, go for Jet if you're someone who spends your time on "Detailing World" but I think most people would be better off sticking to Sapphire.
|