Emission

Thanks for the welcome. Actually, I did non-sport and CVT as my wife will be the primary drive of the A4, and I will start driving her '08 X5. I work from home, and I get press cars, so I really didn't get to enjoy my last car that much anyway (I have other cars for the weekend).

Now that I have had the A4 for a whopping 24 hours, I've noticed:

* Audi xenon headlamps are better than BMW "adaptive" xenon headlamps.
* Audi is quieter on the highway.
* BMW has much better steering feel.
* BMW has much better NVH isolation.

- Mike

equ

Sports package improves steering feel... Also getting used to the car helps, servotronic was my big beef with the car, almost didn't buy it because of this. 2009 q5's don't have servotronic, and it's a revelation how good their steering is in audi-dom.

Real tires and spare are good. It's just a different car from the bmw. I don't hear the road much (p7 cinturato's and michelin alpin's so far), but I do hear a bit of mirror whistle at highway speeds (and above).

I would also like a bit more sound from the engine, though not too much. The b6 4-cyl's sounded just fine to me (while I was never a fan of the b7 sound).

BonedaleA4

I never really cross-shopped since the nearest BMW and Mercedes dealers are 3 hours away. I'm really pleased with this car and love the surefootedness of it on snow. The acceleration is not incredible but it is more than adequate and the gas mileage is equal to my B5 Avant already. Love the interior, the six speed, the sport seats and feel the car is very quiet even with dedicated snow tires. No regrets whatsoever.

matthewsjl

I looked on paper at the 335. Having had a Z4 and Mini I'm used to BMW machines.

The killer for me (and it took me 4 years and two leases to realize) is the runflats. They make the ride really, really harsh.

The nice thing about Audi is that you can get almost all options on the 2.0T - BMW (and other makes) differentiate package availability by engine size.

Another example is VW - the CC required you to go 6 cylinder to get Xenons.

John.

NickZag

I checked out all of those makes and models before I came purchased my A4. I have a C63 AMG MB and going from that to a C300 was like an entire different car. I have very good Mercedes dealers here and they've always taken good care of me and my car, so that much I liked. However, I don't like the C300 interior at all as it has a very cheap feel. The ride was comfortable and soft, but almost too soft as the steering felt almost wooden compaired to the other cars I was looking at. I take my cars out to the track and I couldn't see myself hugging an appex of a turn in one. Top that off with not having a manual and I eliminated it.

Next was the 328i which I thought was an OK enough car, but had some features I didn't like. The steering and suspension felt crisp, with a good ride but sporty at the same time. I thought the interior felt really cheap compaired to the others, and in order to have a good BMW you need to get just about every option they have, which then makes it the most expensive out of all the cars I looked at. The run flats killed it for me as like I said, I go out to tracks and there is no way I'm tracking a car with run flats.

The things I liked about my Audi was the ride, interior, comfort, sportyness, and I thought it was by far the best looking of all of them. 3k miles so far and I've been happy with the car.

av_audi

But the C300 is available with a manual.

redherring

I cross-shopped all 3 also, and found the A4 to be the best combination of size, performance, economy, features and ride quality for the money. AWD was essential to me, and I also felt the Quattro system was superior to that in the other two, without exacting a material fuel economy penalty. It wasn't a matter of cost at all--I'm fortunate enough to not have to worry about that, but that doesn't mean I throw money away unnecessarily. That's what nixed the Benz for me--when comparably equipped, I couldn't justify the cost premium. Due to the cheap look and feel of the interior, I actually think I'd prefer the A4 even if the cost was about even.

As to the BMW, it's just too damn small. I don't have people in the back very often, but want to at least have the option, and I couldn't even fit my briefcase on the floor behind the seat in the 3 series when I was driving.

MrStuff

I don't like the look of the Mercedez at all. Looks "old" (no offence to any of the older members here) Mind you the AMG is kick ***... but that's it for me.

RS > AMG anyways in my opinion.

BMW, well everyone has one, you have to get ALL the options to make it look decent and the interior was not even in the same league as the Audi. In my book, it's "just another" BMW. So meh. Plus i'm younger then most buyers... sales didn't even look at me when I went to BMW. Audi, I had the greatest service and they took me very seriously in my intent to purchase.

Audi, AWD, interior, exterior, style, sales. Feel in love with the interior at the car show. It's just great, everything is where it should be. The car is just solid.

In my opinion Audi is now the standard to follow. They set the bar.

In the others defense... i've ALWAYS wanted a BMW. It was my car to get. When the year 2008/2009 came around Audi did a 180 in market perception (look of the cars). Which was when I wanted to buy. I waited until the 2010s came out because I wanted the LED lights and the 3G NAV. The rest is history and I have not looked back.

mercury26

I am actually going the other way, as I am purchasing a 328i xDrive Touring (Wagon) over an A4 and S4. Since Audi decided to drop the Avant (Wagon) with manual transmission, they forced my hand to get a BMW. Which is a huge bummer, since I really love the B8 body style of the Avant.

Cheers,

Chuck

Bada Bing

We just bought a demo 2009 328i (RWD) sedan this past weekend for my wife. I tried hard to get her to at least test drive the A4 2.0T (FWD, CVT Premium) and C300 Sport, but she just loves the way my current car drives (minus the manual transmission). In the LA area, there is no comparison between the kind of deals one can find on leftover BMWs and the other Germans. We ended up getting a nicely loaded demo car with 8500 miles in the color combo she liked and a lot of nice features/options (auto, Premium and Sport packages, xenons, iPod adapter, heated seats, fold down rear seats, sunshades, sat radio, etc.) for $32,400, down $12,450 from the original MSRP of $44,850.

You can hardly find any xi cars in SoCal but there are lots of good deals on leftover 2009's (and soon on 2010's since 2011 models are coming in the spring). I can't tell you which car is better since I haven't driven the B8 A4 yet, but in terms of deals, it's hard to beat BMW in SoCal. There are so many dealers and so many available cars. I was hoping (and still am) to come back to Audi when my lease is up in 4 months, but I don't know if I can pass up a closeout deal on a new 335i for $11K off like they had been having he past several weeks.