Up until a month ago I owned an '02 M3. My wife owns an '04 S4 which I've driven quite a bit over the past five weeks. So my views will be based on my experiences with both cars.
When you buy a car like an S4 or M3, it's basically going to be an emotional decision. Let's face it we really don't need 340HP engines for driving on public roads. The big thing the M3 has going for it is prestige. Most of us want to drive a car that is almost universaly admired. The M3 has it all over the S4 in that regard. The S4 comes across as a wantabe M3 in most of our minds. If you take off the badges most people can't tell the difference between a $50K S4 and a $30K A4. Most of us who spend that kind of money on a car want something distinctive. BMW did a much better job than Audi in differentiating their performance car from the standard version.
If none of the preceeding means anything to you and you live in an area that gets snow regularly, the S4 makes sense. The price of a decently equipped M3 is around $55K and for an S4 it's about $50K. Almost no one gets a discount on an M3 but I imagine that people will be getting the S4 for around $48K before the end of the year. From an objective point of view the M3 is not worth $7K more than the S4. But if a buyer has an emotional attachment for an M3, the S4 will never make him happy.
If a buyer wants a performance car with lots of torque, high refinement, great traction, and beautifully designed interior and exterior, it's hard to go wrong with an S4. When an S4 owner is working late in the evening and it's the middle of winter, he doesn't have to be concerned about the weather. I imagine that the almost 4K lb S4 with quattro will get you through almost any kind of snow. As a matter of fact with all that weight and traction, you could probably attach a plow to the front of the S4 and plow a path to your home. Sure the M3 equipped with snow tires will drive adequately in the snow, but it's no S4. Also, when it's raining, the S4 will give you loads of confidence because of its superior traction.
Bottom line is that the S4 is superior to the M3 as a daily driver in real world conditions. But if a buyer wants to have the best performing track car, even though he may never track the car himself, the M3 is the clear choice. In other words they are both fine cars for slightly different markets.
When you buy a car like an S4 or M3, it's basically going to be an emotional decision. Let's face it we really don't need 340HP engines for driving on public roads. The big thing the M3 has going for it is prestige. Most of us want to drive a car that is almost universaly admired. The M3 has it all over the S4 in that regard. The S4 comes across as a wantabe M3 in most of our minds. If you take off the badges most people can't tell the difference between a $50K S4 and a $30K A4. Most of us who spend that kind of money on a car want something distinctive. BMW did a much better job than Audi in differentiating their performance car from the standard version.
If none of the preceeding means anything to you and you live in an area that gets snow regularly, the S4 makes sense. The price of a decently equipped M3 is around $55K and for an S4 it's about $50K. Almost no one gets a discount on an M3 but I imagine that people will be getting the S4 for around $48K before the end of the year. From an objective point of view the M3 is not worth $7K more than the S4. But if a buyer has an emotional attachment for an M3, the S4 will never make him happy.
If a buyer wants a performance car with lots of torque, high refinement, great traction, and beautifully designed interior and exterior, it's hard to go wrong with an S4. When an S4 owner is working late in the evening and it's the middle of winter, he doesn't have to be concerned about the weather. I imagine that the almost 4K lb S4 with quattro will get you through almost any kind of snow. As a matter of fact with all that weight and traction, you could probably attach a plow to the front of the S4 and plow a path to your home. Sure the M3 equipped with snow tires will drive adequately in the snow, but it's no S4. Also, when it's raining, the S4 will give you loads of confidence because of its superior traction.
Bottom line is that the S4 is superior to the M3 as a daily driver in real world conditions. But if a buyer wants to have the best performing track car, even though he may never track the car himself, the M3 is the clear choice. In other words they are both fine cars for slightly different markets.
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![[;)]](/images/smilies/wink.png "Wink [;)]")
is about fakes. How many fake M3's are there out there??? or how many times have you overheard someone saying bet its a fake when its real or something similar. If image is improtant to you then to be honest the M3 is almost past its prime. The S4 now is at a stage where all of us would know it and give it respect but the rice boys don't know it that well and would try and Buzz you!
![[:D]](/images/smilies/biggrin.png "Big Grin [:D]")
![[thumb]](/images/smilies/icon_smile_thumb.gif "Thumbs Up [thumb]"){kind=icon}
![[:)]](/images/smilies/smile.png "Smile [:)]")
