Thanks for ur experienced input.
By making the Subaru statement, tU obviousely know what ur taking about- My son has a WRX and for a sedan... its a great snow machine.
P.S whats ur opinion as to where the bmw xdrive stacks up?

 

x-drive / quattro will both be fine for the average joe or good driver. If you're racing, it could be different (I guess).

You really have to test drive both and get the one you prefer. Both are great cars but different. I preferred the driving feeling of the bmw but my wife preferred the interior and sport seats of the a4.. and since we needed a bit more room for the kids we went for the a4. I'm super happy with my choice and would have been happy with the bmw as well, both are great choices.

 

Thanks mart242- I'm in the same realm.

 

yup, do what mart242 says, go drive it and see which one you like driving day in and day out. We can give you opinion but it's you that has to live with it. And if you gonna pay the money might as well buy something you like.

Personally i would say i like driving the awd system as follow:
audi, subaru
porsche, bmw, acura, volvo
mercedes, lexus, infiniti

 

Subaru's AWD is nice but that's it. The car is noisy and far from being as comfortable as bmw / audi. It's not the same price though.. unless you go for a full equipped outback / legacy but those are automatic only with the larger engine.

 

I went straight for the 09 A4 without test driving anything else. The look alone was enough to win me over. After I purchased it I went to a BMW show room to check out the 328. I remember clearly opening the door and closing it again. There was this loud, uninviting metal clunk that really turned me off immediately. It sounded like a GM (sometimes I wonder if it was just THAT car). Then I sat inside (after a few months of driving the A4). The interior of the BMW comes nothing close to the comfort of the A4. It's not flashy and it's not robot, it's just absolutely perfect. The click of the buttons, the turn of the dials and the retractable front ash-tray is nothing short of what a perfectly designed interior should be.

Also, the torque in the A4 blows me out of my mind. 258 lb/ft compared to BMW 328 200 lb/ft.

 

Read everything you can. Currently the A4 is better than the 3 by basically every conceivable measure. I'll add that I personally much prefer the way the A4 Quattro drives vice the 3 x-drive.

 

Don't you feel that the A4 still feel quite piggish at the front compared to the BMW? It's a better package overall but for pure driving fun factor, I'd tend to give the edge to the BMW (and it sounds better!).

Drive them. Don't base your purchase on reviews only.

FWIW, If I had to buy now I'd get the base S4 with sport diff.. screw the rest of the options. It's not much more money than the a4 premium w/ sport pack.. but must be much more fun to drive.

 

The RWD 3-series is a better "driver's car" than the A4. The AWD 3-series, not so much. In my opinion the BMW X-Drive loses most if not all of the RWD car's "driver's car" advantage.

 

Good choice on the S5!! they r sexy cars!!