Yes its very true!!
But Mercedes have always been able to produce incredibly fast cars in straight lines with awesome noises!, BMW had the handling, but never had the low down torque, and Audi always had the Quattro, but was always in the shade on the Merc and Audi,
But BMW alone has been in the shade of Mercedes ever since the C43 AMG was launched!
The E30 M3 i think was the closest BMW ever came to with Mercedes, in my mind today, the M3 is a paper rival for Mercedes, yeah they might smash Merc's on tracks, but for all day practicality the Merc has it!
And Audi since the early RS2 have been catching BMW, for instance the M5 overtook the E55 AMG, until Mercedes launched the E63 AMG, the Audi took both of them apart with the RS6, then Merc always have a backing plan!.. Brabus!
The M3 isnt as good as the RS4 or C63, and the RS5 or CLK Black and M6 are the best of the companies so far..
This is my personal opinion, what is yours?!