meem

i sold my s4 for about $10K less than i paid for it, after 3 years ... obviously, that works out to a little over $3K a year -- it cost me as much to insure it!

btw, according to the irs, 5% of families pull in more than $230K a year ...

meem

60/40 weight distribution will give the m3 a run for its money in the handling department, regardless of what car+driver says.

in any case, the first thing that's being swapped out of my m3 is the suspension, so ... ;-)

nirad

Cars are not just about performance figures- that's why the S4 won. There are plenty of comparison tests where the best performing car, by the numbers, doesn't win. Don't you think it would be ridiculous if they just made it a contest of speed? If performance was all that mattered, we'd all be riding around on Ducatis.

Performance figures tell you nothing about space and comfort or daily drivability. Here are some comments from <a href="http://www.caranddriver.com/xp/Caranddriver/features/2003/march/0303_feature_longterm_m3.xml?&page=1">Car and Driver's Long Term Test</a> of the M3:

"Whatever compliance the base 3-series has that makes it such a delight as a daily driver has been completely dialed out of this machine"

"much prefer the other 3-series cars to the M3. It's just too "in your face" for my tastes."

Of course, there were many positive comments as well, but when people who test cars for a living find a car too hard edged, it tells you something. After a certain point, most people will trade a bit of performance for an increase in comfort. C&amp;D probably thinks that, for the majority of people, the S4 is a better car.

Thats not to say the M3 isn't a great car, but the tradeoffs it makes wouldn't appeal to most people.

BTW, if you don't think the S4 is a "sports sedan," then you really have no idea what a sports sedan is. The M3 is not available as a sedan, and one could argue that cars in the M5/RS6 category are too large (though I wouldn't). So, other than perhaps the slower WRX and the new EVO, the S4 is the definition of "sports sedan."

Ron O

Thanks...

meem

is that it's too plush and not involved enough -- especially as compared to the e36 m3. one of the first mods i'm doing is to swap out the suspension for something considerably more "responsive" -- but that's just me.

personally, i really fear car+driver's testers are just getting old :-(

quickersilver

They always weigh other factors. I notice that when Paul Frere picked the M3 over the Z06 and 911, both of which beat *it* in every performance category, because it was "more utilitarian" (so is an SUV!), I didn't see people on the BMW forum rushing to point out that it hadn't won by performance numbers!

I also notice that when C&amp;D used the *same* criterion to compare the M3 against other cars and it won, you guys weren't whining about it either.

Only when it loses do you start whining about the methodology, eh? What a bunch of babies some of you are.

hman_a4

link?