Hey guys,

I am looking to possibly purchase an S4 sometime in August. So far, the car is very appealing to me.

I just wanted to maybe hear from some potential owners what some of the pros and cons are, from performance to insurance costs to what is absolutely terrible about the car.

I am currently debating between going for an S4, an e36 M3, a reasonably priced newer A8, or something else if another car might spark my interest.

Thanks to all those that respond.

 

What year S4? There is the V6 TT or the V8. Totally different reliability issues (well engine anyways). Daily driver? Weekend Warrior?

 

I am not sure what year. All I know is that my budget will be somewhere in the neighborhood of $14000-$16000. How many different types of s4's are there? I keep seeing all these different models and what not and it confused me. If someone can clarify for me that would be great.

 

the b5 s4 is much more modable at this point.. for 15 grand you could get one with 100k, do some maintenance and throw some k04's on there and have a pretty bad daily driver.. if you go b6 you could have a really nice v-8 sedan, but if you want some major hp gains youd have to pay 10k or so for a supercharger bolt on .. and with the b5 there will be oil leaks, mount failures, auxiliary water pump failures and so forth, so the b6 is more reliable.. although i have a friend with a b6 that had an engine failure due to scoring cylinder walls because of piston rings.. that bill was about 15k.. not sure how prevalent though...

 

hmmm well I suppose my ideal persona for the car would be a daily driver with a little extra power to it. I am not aiming to do some crazy mods and up the HP to massive extents. The most I would probably do is chip it and add an exhaust and intake or something of the sort (performance-wise anyways). A sedan would be fine although I would much rather prefer a coupe of some sort.

So with that taken into consideration, would should I aim for to be the most practical and economical? B5 sounds badass for what it is, but the B6 sounds classier and more reliable.

The mods I plan on doing go as follows:

Performance:
-Exhaust
-Intake
-Chip

Aesthetic:
-Lowering springs (probably 1.5" drop in the front and 1" in the back)
-Rims
-Tint

I feel like these mods will be sufficient for me. I am not looking for anything ridiculous. I think this would look cool on both the B5 and B6. What it comes down to is just which one is more economical in the long run in terms of insurance, gas money, and repair costs.

 

well me personally being a bmw fan over an audi i'd say go for the M3. you can get a very nice M for around 10,000 with low miles and a much more reliable engine than the audi..repairs cost about the same but soo much easier to work on yourself than audis. the M will outperform the S in dry conditions but the S will kick any bmw's *** in the snow even the x-drive bmw's. with a chip and exhaust on the S will be faster than the M but i still love bmw and will love them for life...these are my own opinions so research both cars very thorough, parts prices, performance upgrades, ect.

 

thats the thing.. i dont think bottlecap has a chipped s4.. and for 400 bucks you can get a nice chip that will make you 315 bhp and 340 ft. lbs of torque.. youll be smiling as soon as you get that done for sure.. unless you havent upgraded your tbb and such..

 

Yeah I plan chipping it. What ride would be more comfortable? I have driven my friends manual e36 m3 and it's not a bad ride, something I can deal with for sure. How does the s4 compare? Remember I'm not too concerned with which car is necessarily faster. I am looking to consider all aspects: comfort, performance, costs, etc.

 

well costs alone will push you away from the b5 s4.. i cant say i would take back getting one but you can put a ton of cash into one to fix some of the issues...but all older cars are like that.. and i dont know about the b6.. i know of some major engine problems with the piston rings but i do not know how prevalent the problem is.. it is expensive though..

 

haha this is very true. im still fixing all the basic stuff first that are already broken or would break being chipped...my opinions are based on stock vs stock only, but i am a bmw fan till the day i die. each has its own pros and cons so thats why im sayin research the shiz out of both to get you're own opinion. i think the M says im freakin hot with my sleek sharp lines and my sexy growl of an inline 6 where as the S says hey im here, little more rounded, little bit pudgier, but ill freakin kick your *** if you step on this and you wont even see it comin yo. again thats just my opinion