Hey guys I was wanting to get your thoughts on getting a 00-01 S4 with about 50,000-60,000 miles on it. I have been looking at the E36 M3s and really like them but there pretty much at a stop as far as increasing performance (unless you go FI and thats some big bucks). I know that with just a chip I will see big gains on the S4. But I seem to be seeing realibilty issues with this car? Turbo's failing around 100,000 miles and timing chain are the two biggest issues that I have seen. How much would replacing the turbos end up costing me? What about upgrading the turbos with the KO4's when you do this (I belive is the turbo of choice)? Well anyways, if you guys could give me a rundown of the good and the bad I would greatly appreciate it.
Thanks,
Tony

 

well, everyone here is gonna say get an s4, of course! But, if you want better handling around the twisties go with the s4. Chipping your stock k03's will MOST LIKELY (not definetly, but 99% of the time it does) decrease their life. K04's are the turbo of choice, and will givew you a lot more horsepower. To upgrade to them i believe just for hte turbos its around 2500-3000 (dont quote me, i havent looked into ti that much). But yes, a lot of power can be gained off of our s4's with just bolt ons!

 

dude what are u talking about? The m3 will kill the s4 in the twisties stock for stock. The thing with both the cars are they will be costly to fix. I know when you get an S4 you need to have $4000 at will to be able to spend on the car at any second. From a stock clutch(1000), turbos and you will do the clutch at this time too (3-4), Tranny rebuild(2500), the list goes on. But if you are willing to do this think about where you live and what you want to do with the car (track, street, drag)?

 

not really, the 4wd pulls it through much faster.... Watch the top gear on the s4 vs. m3, he even says out loud that the m3 is faster in a straight line, but the s4 is faster around the corners.

 

obv S4 (audiforums)

 

http://forums.audiworld.com/s4/msgs/1407640.phtml

 

^

Perfect

 

Hey thanks guys!!! I figured that I would get the S4-4-Life thing over here just as I get the M3-4-Life over at the bimmer forums. I just wanted to know what to expect $$$ wise... Sadly I think that a higher mile M3 will be the better choice for me at this time.
Thanks again for all the info and have a good one,
Tony

 

Anytime, good luck with your search!