BMW E36 M3 or Audi B5 S4 - which way would you lean?

[V8Wagon]

I'm after some rapid yet hopefully reliable transport and am dithering between a tidy E36 M3 or the S4 Audi. I know they are different in many ways but the performance is pretty similar.

Anyone got any views on why one would be preferable over the other (bodyshape aside, as I could go saloon, coupe or estate tbh)

[s m]

No experience of them other than M3 but you might like to read this

http://s20.photobucket.com/albums/b213/Mikeshrops/...

Performance Car mag did a similar one

[djdestiny]

I had this dilemma a few years ago and went with the S4.
It's much newer, feels newer, better performance and has massive scope for more power as and when you want it.
A simple remap will see you at 320-330bhp. It won't rust or rot due to being galvanised too.
Obviously some will say the M3 handles better, but that's just personal choice!
I LOVE the quattro, so planted, especially in the wet and huge fun in snow!
A few cheap upgrades such as rear ARB changes the handling bigtime and well worth doing.
Upgrades are easily come by, especially if you go for RS4 bits which all bolt on.
I love them so much I had a unmodified preface lift saloon, then a 500bhp facelift saloon and now a B5 RS4 which is just awesome

There are also some massive bargains to be had at the moment

[s m]

The vids that a guy called 'viper?' did of his S4 were good to watch

[djdestiny]

That's Rich from Viper Tuning, his S4 was running about 6-700bhp in those videos on the isle of man where he lives.
Hes a well respected mapper in the S/RS4 world.
I think his videos are not public anymore though

[Dave Hedgehog]

i had a new B5 S4 avant, the only time i bought a car without driving it and the most disappointing car i ever owned.

steering was just bloody terrible, within a week it was at an MTM tuners getting suspension and a stage 1, fitting very hard walled yoko tyres helped a lot as well, was ok after that, dumped it for an RS4 when they came out about a year later.

bonkers performance, 100-120 in 6th in under 5 seconds lol

very strangely the guy who bought it from me rang me 3 months later to say he had been done doing over 140 in it and sold it, about 6 months later the new owner rang me to say he had been done at over 140 in it, i hadn't even met him???

[nonuts]

A vote for the M3 here, get a late, working Evo in good condition and it will probably not go down in value too much and they are very rapid and excellent fun to drive.

[s m]

djdestiny said:

That's Rich from Viper Tuning, his S4 was running about 6-700bhp in those videos on the isle of man where he lives.
Hes a well respected mapper in the S/RS4 world.
I think his videos are not public anymore though

That sounds like the guy - I remember the one he did at the sprint event and also following the police bike across the mountain

[davidsc]

nonuts said:

A vote for the M3 here, get a late, working Evo in good condition and it will probably not go down in value too much and they are very rapid and excellent fun to drive.

Depends how long you keep it for, I think the E36 has too much of a bad image to keep prices firm, I wouldnt be suprised if they fall down to 328i sport money in the next year or so.

[anonymous-user]

Driven both.

Audi S4 - Easier to tune, faster once tuned, 4wd is asset in poor weather. however not really exciting and expensive to fix if it breaks.(more so than M3)

BMW M3 - Just seems a bit more special (as if more attention went into the build) nicer engine to use to its potential. More exciting drive, RWD. Not as expensive to run as you might think unless its a lemon.

I would go for the M3 in estoril with a set of BBS Lms with Black leather vaders.

[300bhp/ton]

V8Wagon said:

I'm after some rapid yet hopefully reliable transport and am dithering between a tidy E36 M3 or the S4 Audi. I know they are different in many ways but the performance is pretty similar.

Anyone got any views on why one would be preferable over the other (bodyshape aside, as I could go saloon, coupe or estate tbh)

I think this probably comes down to what you want. If you just want a nice car with some pace then both will be fine.

The BMW is probably the more "dynamic" to drive and the more driver focused car. Where the Audi takes the trump has to be tuning, it has the engine and drive train to seriously out gun the BMW. Which can be fun too, just a different kind of fun.

[nonuts]

davidsc said:

Depends how long you keep it for, I think the E36 has too much of a bad image to keep prices firm, I wouldnt be suprised if they fall down to 328i sport money in the next year or so.

I'm biased clearly, however I think they've actually got past the bad image as they're now so old. In good condition I can't see the Evo's getting much cheaper but the key is good condition, I'm sure the crap ones will keep dropping but the e36 Evo must become a classic soon even if just for the engine. If they drop to 2k for a good one I'll be buying all of them I can find. When I was looking for a car I couldn't even find an Evo coupe for sale that was worth buying so I think people are starting to keep hold of them.

[blade7]

davidsc said:

Depends how long you keep it for, I think the E36 has too much of a bad image to keep prices firm, I wouldnt be suprised if they fall down to 328i sport money in the next year or so.

I doubt it, in comparable condition an M3 is a better prospect than a 328. I like quattro's and in the right conditions one would see off an M3 but in the dry I think the S4 would need a lot more power to keep up, and I wouldn't want to pay for a couple of turbo's or 4 cams if the S4 needed them.

[RichTBiscuit]

Simply put:

If you like 'driving' go for the M3. Everytime. Far superior drivers car.

If your more into tuning and straight line speed (and obviously the Audi has the option of an estate) then take the Audi.

[davidsc]

nonuts said:

I'm biased clearly, however I think they've actually got past the bad image as they're now so old. In good condition I can't see the Evo's getting much cheaper but the key is good condition, I'm sure the crap ones will keep dropping but the e36 Evo must become a classic soon even if just for the engine. If they drop to 2k for a good one I'll be buying all of them I can find. When I was looking for a car I couldn't even find an Evo coupe for sale that was worth buying so I think people are starting to keep hold of them.

I doubt they will ever drop to £2k for a good one, I'm just saying that there are very few good ones around so the average 100k plus milers will be very cheap IMO.

[PaperCut]

Audi S4 for me. Only because it's more practical, the engine, quattro, and it looks more modern (compared to the M3) and feels more solid (rightly or wrongly). Also it's much more understated and subtle - more of a Q-car, moreso debadged!

If it was a B6/7 S4 vs an E46 M3 however, it would be the other way around!

You'll have to drive both and see which one you can live with/need/want...

[wackojacko]

M3

/thread

[djdestiny]

1974nc said:

Driven both.

Audi S4 - Easier to tune, faster once tuned, 4wd is asset in poor weather. however not really exciting and expensive to fix if it breaks.(more so than M3)

I would agree that a standard S4 is not that exciting, but a well tuned one could never be described as that!

[VumGarda]

I wish I'd seen this thread yesterday. I wouldn't have started my own (almost identical) thread if I had

[anonymous-user]

djdestiny said:

I would agree that a standard S4 is not that exciting, but a well tuned one could never be described as that!

Hmm I would have agreed with you a few months ago but since then I have driven my mates 500plus hp S4 a few times and although undoubtedly fast and sounded better with straight through pipes it just lacked something?

Maybe its me getting older and looking for different things from cars now. I still like quick metal but its probably better if RWD and has a tuneful n/a engine to listen to..