alphadan

Hi all, I am new to this forum and definitely need some of your valuable advice and opinions. I really appreciate your attention.

So at this moment, I am trying to decide between 2014 Audi S4, BMW 335i or 435i GranCoupe.

My original intention was to get Audi S4 and call it a day. I appreciate its beauty and uniqueness on the road. I think there are just way too many BMWs 320/328s out there these days. Also the new F30 steering doesn't feel as good as the E90.

However... there's a little problem. My family has a E90 328i we want to get rid of. It has some minor mechanical problems here and there. We found a BMW dealership that offers the best trade-in price. The catch is.. we have to "trade" instead of sell directly. The dealership is pretty much forcing us to shop at their place.

Now I don't know what to do, it basically means it will cost more for me to own an Audi. I have to bare extra cost.

The price range of the vehicles I am looking at is around $55k, but I see some 335i can go as long as 51k (w/o M-sport) The m-sport package is another question I have. I think the m-sport look is a pretty significant upgrade. However, m-sport package doesn't offer any extra performance as far as I hear from others.

Any opinion? Stick with Audi or go for F30's?

Thank you

uberwgn

Dan, welcome aboard. If you are in the USA, you may want to see what CARMAX will buy the car for. Their offerings are typically pretty strong.

Don't get caught up in the idea of the BMW dealer giving you significantly more...they're are a lot of discounts on BMWs to be had and that's where it's coming from.

jyges

(well you paid for it) for fours years including, wear items like brakes ect. Audi gives you only one free oil change. Audi service prices are super expensive. example front brakes on s4 $1150! on lesser car A4 $850!

alphadan

Do you mean brake pads for $1150?!
How could that be? Even the ceramic pads only cost at most $100 for a set.

Audi engine oil last 12,000 miles like that of BMW right?
Does Audi have extended warranty up to 6 years?

Our old BMW never cost us a penny for 6 years of ownership (put aside the brakes and tires) In some sense, we did paid for it but I like the idea of having the ease of mind as long as we make the monthly payment on time.
However, after the warranty it was a nightmare.

jyges

I found them crazy. But my point is if you are on the fence factor in 4 years of free service INCLUDING wear items. Check how high audi service prices are you will be very upset. No prices on brakes were for s4 & a4 both do not use ceramic pads.

ob_1jr

I ordered new rotors, ceramic pads, and some brake tools for $650. I already had bought a vagcom cable (needed for rear parking brake when changing the pads) for $300, but I got a discount through EBAY so it was $260. Just be careful if you buy one from a third party to make sure it is a genuine Ross-Tech cable.

So it depends on how mechanically inclined you are, but it can be done yourself.

I did have a 328xi and it wasn't a bad car, but I didn't like the interior...it was much too plain and the ride sucked.

As far as oil for the car...Audi recommends change at 5K and then every 10K after that.

I did get an extended warranty on my car...it was for an extra 2 years/25K miles. So my car is covered for 6yrs/75K miles. I did buy overseas (I'm military) and planned on driving the car quite a bit. I have about a 25 mile round trip commute everyday. I have over 38K miles on my 2012 that I have had just over 2 years.

alphadan

Thanks for the suggestion. I will definitely go check out Carmax.

alphadan

I think now it comes down to whether the performance justifies the extra cost.

Apparently, the Audi costs more to buy and to own. I read many reviews online and saw plenty youtube videos. It seems they all reached different conclusions. There are BMW fanboys constantly exaggerating how 335i smoke Audi. On the other hand, many reviews said BMW has gone soft in recent years. I don't know about 335i, I drove a 328i F30 loaner car couple months ago. I think it wasn't very exciting. It felt too "electronics." I test drove a S4 at the dealer. I couldn't do much with it cause he was sitting next to me. My impression was the dynamic mode of steering was pretty good. It felt very firm.

Some critics say BMW F30 is very floaty for cornering; the body roll is bad. I couldn't test that on the S4. So what do you guys say?

ob_1jr

I am way more happy with my S4 than I was with my 328xi. I think it is worth it and would do it all over again...put a Roc-Euro intake on and listen to the supercharger. The only downside is I find it hard to drive my car at anything less than 80 mph...good think I am in Europe (Italy). I have had some good driving on the Autobaun too.


I did consider a 335 with x-drive, but the extra cost of the x-drive wasn't worth it to me...that and I couldn't stand the dealer here. Also, the maintenance wasn't covered in europe, so I would have had to pay for routine maintenance anyway. My 328xi was AWD, but I can tell you that I do prefer quattro over what I had in my 328.

DrGP

If you are thinking of leasing, you will most likely get a better lease deal on the BMW. Although if you do lease an S4 and don't go over your mileage, you car will probably have equity at the end of the lease which you can capture by trading your car in (doesn't have to be on an Audi/VW)prior to the lease end. If you are buying, financially there will not be a difference. Sometimes, Audi has $1000 Conquest money that they will give you if you currently own or trade in a BMW/MB/Lexus. Not sure if that program is currently being offered. I had an 04 S4, 07 335i, 10 S4, 14 S4 all of which I leased. Overall operating cost for the BMW was less, EXCEPT, I ended up with $3k buying my leased S4and reselling it. Got $6k by trading my 2010 in on a 2014. Was able to get out of my lease in 10 month for $1k and bought a used 2011. (It did make sense for me due to health issues.)

All that being said,the current 335i is a minor evolutionary change from my E92 335i. Its your money and you can spend it as you desire. Both are good cars, IMHO, I was willing to spend more for a car that I felt was significantly better than the BMW. BTW, Car and Driver recently did comparison between a B8.5 S5 and a 435i. Both are pretty much 2 door versions of the S4 and 335i. The S5 blew away the 435i in most categories. Decisive victory for the Audi. I was a guy that always had to have the latest and greatest new thing in cars. When my lease on my 335i was up, I leased an new 2010 with less options on it just to keep the monthly payments the same as I had had on the BMW. I was not sorry. When lease was up on the 10, I could not find anything that I liked better, so I leased a new 2014 S4. When I decided I needed to get out of the lease on the 2014, I realised that there was nothing out there that I would be happy driving, so I found a 2011 in great shape that I purchased. BTW, I recently had a good look at a 335i Grand coupe. It is not pretty!