S4 and M3 ... once again

[bachma]

While traveling to San Francisco back in April I picked up the May 2003 edition of Car & Driver since I saw they had a comparison between the M3, S4 and C32. I was a little miffed to see they preferred the S4 above the M3 with the S4 getting an overall rating of 96 and the M3 with 90. Anyway, I kinda brushed it off and I believe there were many posts on the subject on this forum.
Last week I was on my way to DC when I saw Road & Track (December 2003) running a similar comparison with the M3 SMG, S4 and C32. Again, they rated the S4 higher. However, when I looked at the breakdown of the results, they had the M3 getting maximum points for Performance (200 out of a max of 200), with the S4 getting 190. In the next category, Subjective Ratings (by the 3 test drivers), the M3 got 192 out of a possible 200 and the S4 got 189.2. So the M3 was again at the top in this category. Then I looked at the third and final category, Price, and here they decided that the M3 was too pricey (as tested $55815, compared to the S4 at $50,790) and gave the M3 185.7 out of 200 points and the S4 200 points. As a result, the S4 got 579.2 and the M3 got 577.7 total points, placing it second behind the S4.
In my opinion, the extra $5000 worth of better performance (acceleration and braking), driving excitement and handling is worth it.

 

[Tom]

I think C&D or MT did the same thing to the 3-Series during a comparo of it vs. the Lexus and G35. The G35 edge the 3-Series because of the pricing.

 

[CarbonReptile]

I can't stand these comparisons, where the Audi edges out the M3 because of price. However, perhaps this will drive BMW to make further improvements to an already Ultimate Driving Machine.

 

[mikev]

you need an honest car journalist. all most do is drive it say its amazing then say but you can't afford it so you for the worse car. I'm sorry if this sounds a little stuck up but price is th LAST thing i consider when buying a car.

 

[MrElussive]

Yeah, I don't like it when they factor in price, either, but the Audi S4 really is a great car. I kind of feel bad for the C32 AMG...it always comes in third in these S4 vs M3 vs C32 comparos and I feel like that is the losing position...C32 AMG doesn't deserve that. I am saying this because the C32 AMG is a great car because it knows exactly what it is and it does its job perfectly and I feel like they sort of punish the C32 for being what it is.
Either way, I think pricing shouldn't be so important and it's not always accurate. For example, they did that review of G35 vs BMW 3-series vs several other sport sedans. G35 came out on top and the price really helped it, but I don't think that's accurate. If you one is trying to decide between a G35 Coupe and a 330Ci (i.e. like I was), that one will find that the lease prices are very similar despite a $7,000 difference in MSRP, due to BMW's stronger 60-65% resale value vs Infiniti's 50-51% resale value (after 3 years).

 

[frolf]

http://www.bmwboard.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=3899

 

[CarbonReptile]

If price wasn't a factor (and I don't think it should be), wouldn't the new CLK55 AMG be a better match for the E46 M3?

 

[MrElussive]

The CLK55 AMG is significantly more loot, though...it is like $80K nicely-loaded.

 

[CarbonReptile]

Then it sounds to me like MB has no challenger in the M3's class.