I was in the same market. I drove the BMW 328i, and I liked the driving experience better than the A4. However, I ended up buying a 2013 A4 Quattro 6MT PP with the sport interior. Looking past the sportier ride of the BMW the list of standard creature comforts and the more pleasing look of the Audi with 18" wheels won me over.

I drive 2+ hours daily, so the creature comforts and quality interior gave the Audi the edge. Additionally, the A4 Quattro is hard to beat in the south florida downpours and flooding. Also note that while the A4 is a common vehicle, it is less common than the BMW down here in this part of the country where every other car is a BMW 3-series.

I would have preferred an S4, but with a 100-mile daily commute the gas mileage and the extra insurance cost was not worth it. A few upgrades on the A4 2.0T will improve the drive sufficiently to make it fun to drive and still be economical and reliable.

Good luck with your purchase.

 

I drove a 330i back in 2005 before buying my A6 used. I liked the looks of the beemer but there was no backseat room, and the RWD would have been useless in MI. I put 200k miles on the A6, primarily as a winter driver, and it was surefooted, comfortable, with plenty of performance. I found the same with the newer A4 although I did not use it in the worst of conditions. It had no problems with the one storm that dumped a foot of snow. If you want more power, chip it. It's a quick 40-50hp. I considered it, but it's not really worth it to me at this point in my life and I have a Crossfire SRT6 if I want to accelerate ridiculously fast.

 

I can definitely understand your gas concern with a 100 mile round-trip daily. For a 13000 mile/year user for myself, the difference between 26 average and 20 average (or whatever it is) is fairly minimal, but in your case it's a full gallon of gas per day!

I really do love the sound of superchargers, though, especially if I could find a reeeally quiet exhaust to make the impeller sound more pronounced.