I drive a E36 3 series and I am contemplating moving to the "enemy" camp of Audi. I'm curious to know how the A4 B8 compared to the E90 and C Class in terms of sportiness, price, reliability, etc. Does quattro really make a big difference? Can it match the RWD of the 3 series? How does the ride comfort compare to the C Class? The new A4 I've heard has pretty good low-end torque. I'm seriously considering getting one.

 

The best thing to do is to test drive all of them and see which one you like. I love quattro. It's the best 4WD system available. It was a big reason why I got the Audi. I heard BMWs are the best handling cars out there, generally, so you might be disappointed a little but the quattro handling might surprise you. I've never driven a Benz or BMW so I can't tell you how they compare. The power from even the little 2L turbo might also impress you. If you decide to go with the Benz (C class) be sure to get it fast because I recently heard they won't be made in Germany any more.

 

Thanks for the reply. Yeah I heard Audi's quattro is pretty good and they are getting closer to BMW's handling performance. What about reliability and re-sell value?

 

As far as reliability goes, I haven't had a single problem. Solid car. I have so much confidence in the build that I will buy the car out when the lease is expired this July. The re-sale value is amoung the best in its class, if not the highest, but after you own one you won't care about re-sale anyways. :-)

 

Hi,
I've just migrated from a 330 M sport E90 to a brand new A4 S line and so far I am very happy with the Audi.

I hated the semi-automatic wipers on the BMW, they seem to be the only German manufacturer to make you press a button to invoke the auto wipers.

The iDrive was also not a patch on the Audi AMi system.....I guess BMW have realised they made some mistakes as all brand new models now have additional button for the iDrive.

The Audi certainly doesn't go round corners fast like the BMW did, but that's the only thing that I liked more about it. The Audi dealers also seem to be much more approachable than BMW dealers.

 

As far as reliability, the Audi is far better than the BMWs. I have owned a 7 series and 3 series and they have been nothing but trouble from day 1. Owning the Flagship 7 series was equivalent to maintaining a small airplane. This is the main reason I switched. Once you get used to the way the Audi's handle

 

I've tested both the E90 335i and the A4 quattro. The E90 has superior handling and performance, while the A4 has better low-end torque. The interior of Audi is also better made then Bmw's. It also ride better then the harsher ride of the E90. However, the steering feel is rather light on the A4 and it tends to understeer a bit much when cornering hard. So, which one to pick? Hmmmm...really tough choice.

 

I totally agree with that. It's a close call, definitely the ride was harsh on the M-sport with run-flats.
So it comes down to seemingly unimportant things like the lack of fully AUTO wipers on the BMW (as far as I know, they are the only German manufacturer to do this) the lack of automatic follow me home lights on the BMW, the MMi's superior functionality over the iDrive and the boot release on the Audi.

Also, why would BMW put a DVD drive in the centre console of a car that cannot play DVD's - yes it's for the Nav disc but what a pointless waste of space. You load a disc into the drive and leave it there forever.....so why not put that in the boot or behind the glovebox?

 

ahhh but the iDrive - Test driving alone wont reveal the supreme annoyance with this system that comes over time. While the system has improved over the years, it will still drive you nuts and is overly complicated with way too many details. This feature alone would steer me away from the BMW.

 

I agree - a real good indicator is the fact that later BMW's have many more buttons around the iDrive controller now.