Originally Posted by pixeleye

Glad I got my 2015 6MT while I could!

Originally Posted by marnes

So very recently nearly bought a 435i GC. I've always been a BMW fan and have owned them in the past, and I had ruled out Audi because their B8 A4/S4 line is so old, I wasn't even considering one. Nothing against Audi, it was purely coincidental that I had never sat in any Audi in my entire life. But then I caught the announcement for the new B9's and quickly caught up to speed. I really find them attractive and the new dash is completely revolutionary. Love the new headlights too, and the interior.

The BMW on the contrary (3/4 series) just felt a little muted and their interiors a little conservative, but nicer than the B8. So basically it came down to "used BMW vs new B9". I put a deposit down for a new B9 after test driving a B8 S4 and loving it. It felt slightly better and more fun to drive than the 335i/435i. Gives me time to save up.

So my understanding from the dealer in Vancouver BC, is that the new A4s will arrive in March 2016, and the S4s will arrive in November 2016. I'm 3rd in line at my local dealer for an S4, so I would be in the first shipment.

Now my questions are -- what options should I get or skip? I've done some digging and still don't know what the full new options will be so I'm basing these off the current B8 options:

Audi Drive Select - comes standard with Technik package (Prestige in USA). Would want it anyways.

Sport differential - must have. I don't know why this isn't standard. It's so good!

Dynamic steering - don't feel I need it. Didn't test drive a car with it either. I've read up on it and I can see how some people love it, but it's different enough that I don't want to mess with classic steering.

Suspension with damping control - I hear it's really nice to have, but the con is that that they are 4x more expensive to replace than the stock ones, but it gives you more control and dynamic mode gives you a firmer ride than stock. So on the fence here.

Black Optiks Package -- For the B8s it seems to be a must have. For the B9s... it's hard to say. The chrome looks amazing. When I test drove the B8, the grill was plastic but I can't remember if it was the black one or not. I still think I like the look of the black better, but if there is a chance real chrome metal gets replaced with black plastic, for an added cost, I would take issue with that. So on the fence on this one at the moment. I will wait till the A4s come out and see them up close and personal.

I've also heard quite a few discussions even in this thread about lack of DSG and manual transmission. It's pretty obvious that manual transmissions are going the way of the dodo bird. I only drove stick for the first half of my driving life and while it was fun and I swore by it, three things destroyed it for me - big city traffic cramps, significant others, and the rarely humiliating badly grinded shift or stall. Automatic technology is so good now that no skilled racing human with a stick could reasonably outwit an idiot that puts his pedal to the medal in an automatic of the same car anymore. But there are two big reasons why MT is going away -- and that's because only a tiny fraction of people order them, especially in North America and that's a big cost for factory lines to support them and continue to develop them. But more importantly, they are worse for fuel economy and performance. In a way it's like the standard advancement of time. Driving a stick is snail-mail vs email.

DSG on the other hand... it seems like a really nice technology, but apparently they are very expensive to fix and apparently have been failing at a fairly high rate, and I'm kind of happy to go with a straight forward slush-box.

I've also looked up used cars and it seems at least in BC, the S4s retain their value a little better than BMWs. Maybe it's because there are so many more BMWs in the market that there is more competitive pricing (like a 5:1 ratio). But a loaded S4 costs less than a loaded 335/435 and appears to resale a little higher on average for 3-4 year old ones.

Thanks for listening! Only 13 months!

Originally Posted by ramothepharaoh

Hi, it seems like I'm going through a similar decision! I am not sure whether to settle for the brand new BMW 340i ( I was gonna choose the 435i but the 340 is more updated) or the new Mercedes C450 AMG or wait for the coupe version of it, the C43 AMG which looks like a beautiful car or the new Audi S4. The problem is that I don't want to wait that long, the C43 coupe and new S4 arrive in the fall of this year and I wanted to get a car around this spring. Which car did you end up settling for? Did you stick with waiting for the new S4? Thanks!

Originally Posted by tna3

There's no point arguing about it. Everyone knows the pros and cons by now. Die hard fans who prefer the additional involvement of a stick shift will have to leave Audi. Its a bit akin to sailing, sure a motor boat is easier to operate but the additional interaction of working the sails provides more pleasure for some. My commute doesn't involve much traffic. If I am paying this much money on a car, I want the exclusivity and engagement of 3 pedal operation.