Jason H

* <b>Note: geographic referances will probably only mean something to SoCal people. for the rest of you this occured on the coast highway just north of Malibu and LA.</b>

I'm taking my usual route to work (west LA) from the Agoura area, down Kanan and then along PCH to the 10. As I'm going down PCH near Corral Canyon at about 6:50 this morning, I see another pair of Xenons coming my way from ahead. After a moment I identify him as a Silver E46 coupe and almost dismiss him to futz with the CD changer, then the M5-like lower facia catches my attention and as he passes going the opposite direction I see the side "gills" on the front fenders. A couple loud swear words later I'm pulling a U at the first oppertunity. After working though some traffic I finally catch up with him as he turns up Kanan into the hills (bet he's going to have a real tough day at work, huh?). I'm right behind him on a one lane road, he's being led by a stock looking black M Coupe. The M3 is debadged (except for the Roundel) but the 4 exhaust tips give a dead givaway even from behind (although they were painted black to try and disguise them), he had CA distributer/manufacturer plates. As the road opens up to two lanes I SLOWLY move along side him on the right to get a better look. It has a MUCH more agressive stance than even most aftermarket tricked out Ci's I've seen. Very powerful and elegant looking at the same time. The gills were actually covered by a plastic piece (although not in matching body color, which is odd because that would have really disguised it fairly well), but look as though they are the same size as on the show cars. He wasn't really on the throttle at all, but still had a very nice note (kinda like a Tiger purring, I imagine). I nudge ahead of him (cognicent the whole time that he's LETTING me look, he could lose me in an instant if he wanted. He's got to know that this Audi with Xenons is checking him out), the Bumper is nearly identical to the M5, he had a front Euro plate holder with no plate on it. He didn't really look over at me (30's-ish looking German guy wearing a black polo shirt) as I passed. I got about a car's length in front of him and signaled to turn right into the scenic overlook ahead, but he just kept going up Kanan. I gave him a quick flash of appreciation and headed back down Kanan to PCH and my way to work. He and the M must have been planning on spending the day in the hills on the back roads like Latigo and Mulholland. As I'm trying to memorize all the details I think DAMN I wish I had had a digicam, I could've gotten some really cool on the road pics. Oh well, my 990 is on back order...

No matter what your opinion is in the S4/M3 debate (being an Audi owner I think you know where my loyalties lie), I have to say it is a truly stunning automobile. Qship-ness is fine sometimes, but as with the RS4, sometimes agressive design and functionality just come together in a beautiful way. The car just has a "presense" to it. This is one car that BMW is building for the enthusiasts, you've got to respect that, and when they finally are in production have fun with them but realize its a friendly rivalry between two awesome marques and two nearly perfect vehicles (if just SLIGHTLY different in focus).<p><a href="http://registry.audiworld.com/audi/registry/details.asp?car=2361"> <img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/AudiWorldPics/2000/jasonh_aw_sig.gif" border=0></a>

CraigB

<p><a href="http://www.users.uswest.net/~craiger/a4main.htm">
<img SRC="http://www.users.uswest.net/~craiger/cwb_ottosig.jpg" BORDER=0></a>

Jason H

<p><a href="http://registry.audiworld.com/audi/registry/details.asp?car=2361"> <img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/AudiWorldPics/2000/jasonh_aw_sig.gif" border=0></a>

jyoteen

<p><a href="http://registry.audiworld.com/audi/registry/details.asp?car=3559"><img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/AudiWorldPics/2000/jyoteen_sig3.gif" border="0"></a>

davidjuw

I haven't been as fortunate to see a new M3 on the road, but I think that the car is stunning. It will be a great car, but who knows if it will be as good of a day to day car as the S4. I can imagine it being the perfect car to carve those coastline roads though. I think that's really cool that they had a black M Coupe with the M3 too. Keep in mind this is coming from a previous M Coupe owner! You have to appreciate BMW and how they are committing to their enthusiasts lately.<p>David J
<a href="mailto:dpjubelirer@students.wisc.edu"><img src="http://www.audi.com/motorsport/images/national/s4.jpg" border="0" alt="'01 On Order!"></a>

ChasM3

Thanks for the X-post to E46 board. BTW..Nice car! (nt)

GRocky

M3 badging, rims, lowering all that... one might mistake it, until they notice the big, red banner obscuring the top 1/4 of the windshield, and the single 6" exhaust tip coming from the back.

Gop-Dogg

Now, if only they would make a 4-door version of it...