Hi RickNY,
Your right that this would be comparing apples to oranges because of the many differences between the designs of the two mattresses you are comparing.
Unfortunately the first “rule” of mattress shopping is to always remember that you are the only one that can feel what you feel on a mattress and there are too many unknowns, variables, and personal preferences involved that are unique to each person to use a formula or for anyone to be able to predict or make a specific suggestion or recommendation about which mattress or combination of materials and components or which type of mattress would be the best “match” for you in terms of “comfort” or PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and your Personal preferences) or how a mattress will “feel” to you or compare to another mattress based on specs (either yours or a mattress) or “theory at a distance” that can possibly be more accurate than your own careful testing (hopefully using the testing guidelines in step 4 of the tutorial) or your own personal sleeping experience (see mattress firmness/comfort levels in post #2 here).
“In theory” the firmness level that they suggest for their customers would work well for “most people” based on averages but of course not everyone is inside the averages of other people … even if they are in a similar weight range.
I can certainly confirm that the BME uses high quality materials and there are no lower quality materials or weak links in the design that would compromise the durability or useful life of the mattress but in terms of “comfort” and PPP the only way to know whether you will sleep well on it for certain will be based on your own actual experience.
While I can’t speak to comfort and PPP … I certainly think you made a great quality/value choice … and congratulations on your new mattress.
I hope that the BME works out better for you than your previous two mattresses and I’m looking forward to your feedback once you’ve received it and have had the chance to sleep on it for a bit.
Phoenix