I am between this and an E36 BMW. What is selling me on the Audi is AWD and luxury. I'm not a huge fan of RWD. I was wondering what type of maintenance costs I can expect on a '99 A4 and your personal experience with the cars. I also want to know if its possible to modify them to be fast.

 

I've had both, one after the other. I seemed to have to cross my fingers everyday before a start up in the e36 and it was mint and taken care of. I felt that every week I was setting some money aside for a new part continually replacing things. The guidos (drive shaft rubber) are known to go, rear sub frame mounts are KNOWN to break and the whole rear has to come out to re-plate and weld. I had crazy bad experiences with the check engine light, and cooling issues (KNOWN issue) as well as the e36 is famous for headgasket issues and VANOS issues (variable timing). I can honestly say the A4 would be the way to go for sure and would be easier on your wallet!

 

A4s have just as many issues. The BMW is a solid car, reliable if taken care of. From my experience, similar maintenance costs. Both are luxury sedans, and if you don't like RWD you're cracked. The BMW 3 series' reputation for performance and handling is well deserved, they sport perfect weight distribution (something audi can only dream of, hanging the engine off the nose of the car) and RWD trumps quattro for anything but inclement weather and maybe hard launching. (The main bonus for owning a quattro is the excellent rear suspension that comes with it, and being able to grip better in the wet. Which, if you care about your car, you shouldn't be needing anyway.)

I think Audi blows BMW out of the water when it comes to chassis longevity (say hi to all those rusty old e36s) and interior fit and finish. Audi interiors are amazing. Quattro is a nice awd system, but I doubt it makes a difference for most anyone driving one. maybe they didn't spin a wheel one day taking off in the wet. Or that big snowstorm 4 years ago, they didn't get stuck. There's a reason only 2 car manufacturers hang everything on an AWD system, driving one isn't so very different, it's more of a placebo for the driver.

Anyway. If you're looking for a luxury performance sedan, get the BMW. a 328i is pretty fast, handles amazing. OR get a M3 and constantly drive with a silly grin on your face. If you're looking for a daily cruiser a you want to lower a couple inches, put some wheels on and be impressed with the interior every time you get into it, Get the A4. It handles quite well in it's own right, can get out of it's own way, and looks pretty great doing it.

 

"All M3 drivers are *****." - Jeremy Clarkson Also, don't let BMW fool you. My buddy's '03 Mustang GT has 50/50 weight distribution too. It's not some mystical, hard to achieve thing.

 

Then why do barely any cars actually achieve it? I think a quattro A4 is 58/42. Also, Clarkson had an M3, lol. And an M5. Further, the newer mustangs are pretty solid cars. I'm not a fan of the fourth gens (fifth gen looks so much better), but they can be made into monsters.

"M3 is one of the most perfectly balanced machines ever created by man. It makes an F-16 fighter jet look ungainly and lumpen. " -Clarkson.

 

My buddy's Mustang GT has 51/49. My bad. And the reason most cars don't achieve it is because most people don't actually care. If the majority of owners of a particular brand don't care about weight distribution why go through the extra effort if no one will appreciate it? It's like Buick making a 500hp LaCrosse. Most of Buick's buyers look right past that stuff so Buick doesn't even bother.

 

And that's why I said, if you want a performance luxury sedan (or coupe, or cabrio, i guess), get a 3 series or an M3. If you want a sweet daily driver, with top notch build quality, get the A4.

You can't get around the fact A4s are slow, even with some nice upgrades they still don't quite make it to fast. The BMW weighs nearly 400 lbs less than the quattro a4. And produces similar hp/more torque. So to me, it depends on how you want to drive.

For the record, I have an A4, lol. I may be building a track car soon, time permitting, that will be an e30 325i. Different strokes for different German car manufacturers, hah.

 

"M3 drivers have no friends." - Clarkson I guess that's true although I wouldn't call dmaxn's B5 slow. lol

 

Well, when considering upgrades within reason. You can make any car fast, if you have pockets deep enough, and time. I've seen a Superbeetle run a high 8 second 1/4 mile. Those start with something like 35 horsepower, lol.

 

If you look at your post, you have answered your own question. You state that the AWD and luxury aspect of the Audi are its selling points. Well the BMW has RWD (as you mentioned you are not a fan of) and is probably less well appointed than the Audi. Audi interiors are top notch.

Arguing the sportiness between an Audi and a BMW is kinda moot as RWD cars tend to be have better "feel" when driven hard and are typically more fun to push on the road. Its an understeer/oversteer issue really. But unless you track or race your car everyday, or always drive like a dick on the roads, this won't matter much as you will never really push you car that hard.

As far as modifying the car, Audis have a huge aftermarket following (unless you opt for the 2.8). Truth be told, I have yet to see an ugly beater B5 Audi (Im sure they are out there), but for every nice looking B5 I see, I see TONS of beaten E36's, faded paint, rust, most are all made to look like an M3.

I have a feeling you will have better ownership with the Audi than the BMW, at least that is my $.02