jpinwdc

Decisions decisions. Drove a 3-series xdrive over the weekend. Had been planning on getting an A5. A5 has the looks but the BMW is sportier to drive. Is Quattro much better than xDrive?

paKmaN0206

it depends what type of 3 series you drove. If you drove the 335i series it will keep up with an s5 much or less blow the a5 out the water. But a beamer will always be just a beamer. How many bmw's do you see on the road and say there is just another beamer. But an a5 will get heads turning. Not on an average day do people run into audi's compare to bmw. I say if you want performance get the bmw's. Audi owners appreciate the design and interior quality of their cars. Quality is where Audi will always win where bmw's usually outweight performance before anything else. Seriously, it's not like you gonna drive over 80mph in the city limits anyways...who needs performance when the law will not permit that. Buy the audi because bmw's are becoming an average joe these days.

atombomb33

Quattro vs. Xdrive is no comparison IMHO. Quattro has over 25 years of engineering behind it. Quattro is designed for performance (especially the Quattro in the A5 with it's rear wheel bias). Xdrive is a relatively generic AWD system that is designed with safety in mind...not performance. For me, Quattro is the easy choice when it comes to AWD systems. The only AWD systems I would put up against Quattro is Subaru's system in the STI and Mitsu's system in the Evo.

HoustonA5

Simple, really.. you can drive the same car everyone else has (BMW) or be unique and stand out in the crowd (Audi)

jpinwdc

I am mostly interested in all wheel drive for traction in wet and snowy conditions. I agree on the commonality of the 3-series.

bbmaster

How does the 4matic awd system(mercedes-benz) compare with quattro?

gd10

It doesn't compare. MB only made the 4matic to keep from losing sales to Audi, which is the same reason Bmw developed the Xdrive system.

If you want the best awd, the best looks and a lot of attention then buy the Audi.

wreck111

BMW makes a nice car but with the Run Flats you might as well be driving a Toyota. The tires that they use are good for max 14,000 miles and are crap. After 6 BMW's since 1999 my 335 cab was the last because of the tires and BS that BMW puts you though for service. As we all know tires can make or break a car.

IAS5

all three are good systems. with the ways roads are plowed these days, a good set of snows on a RWD car is actually good.

But you can't go wrong with any of the AWD systems out today. As you stated, you're not going to be rallying the car.....

TopDownDriver

Went through the same analysis. Here's what I found out.

The X-Drive system now being used is the same as what is being used in the X5 SUV.

(Don't know if you saw the Top Gear segment on the X5 - but it was rated as the WORST 4-Wheel Drive system they had ever seen - it took a Range Rover to pull the BMW X5 out of the mud.)

As far as Quattro is concerned, it has over 20 years of development and it works extremely well. One of the nice features is that unlike most, it is a rear-wheel biased system on the A5. This gives you increased performance and handling when the roads are clear - and incredible traction when they aren't.

Additionally, the BWM's now come with run-flat tires. These are integral and required for the TPMS. Everyone will tell you how horrible these are. Very, very hard ride.

I used to have a BMW 3 series (non X). The car was fine with Traction Control and some Snow Tires. Problem is that even with the X drive system you still will need snow tires in Winter.

Lastly, I have to agree with both the number of BMWs on the road being excessive (Chicago area) and how, frankly ugly the current crop is, especially inside. Compare the dash and controls of the BMW to the Audi and see what I mean.

There really is no comparison.

[alright, a comparison]

Audi--->BMW

A5----->328ix
S5----->335ix
RS5---->M3 (no 4 wheel though)