I'd put Audi well behind BMW in terms of reliability. The S4's I have driven have not left me with the same notion of performance as the author of this thread -- but hey to each his own.

I find them to be big, heavy and a bit ponderous with the worst shifter this side of a 50's VW Beetle.

 

Let's not forget the rather LARGE problem that has afflicted more than a few E46 M3 owners. Nothing like a complete motor failure !! It goes both ways. Remember too, the S4 has 2 extra doors (more practical) and nearly 400 extra pounds to lug around. Let's face it, they are both great cars.

 

I had my S4 in the shop 4 times for throttle body issues before it hit 8K miles...this was/is a common problem on the S4's. You don't have to search very far to find many people that have previously owned Audi's that had less than stellar luck with them. To say that they are in the same boat with BMW is a farce. Yes BMW has had issues with S54 (E 46 M3) engine failures but I think u will find that they stepped up the warranty to 100K miles and satisfied most of the customers that had this issue. I would bet most are still happy owners of the M3 who had an unfortunate experience. You won't have to leave this forum to find several previous Audi owners who will NEVER own another.

 

My 330HP b5 S4 is for sale. I think it's a great car for those who like sleepers.

brown6@cox.net


Sam

 

derryck, go to the M3 forum to reveal some thoughts of E46 M3 owners who have experienced the oil pump/con.rod bearing failures on their cars. Not many are still happy with their cars, would you be ?? I just sold my 99' E36 M3 and was very involved within that forum. Those owners who have had the service bulletin completed are still inherently nervous to the S54's long term reliability.

 

Maybe they are, but then they have a 6 year 100k warranty to back them up.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by derryck
I had my S4 in the shop 4 times for throttle body issues before it hit 8K miles...this was/is a common problem on the S4's.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by derryck
I had my S4 in the shop 4 times for throttle body issues before it hit 8K miles...this was/is a common problem on the S4's.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by steve c

 

I had an opportunity to test drive one a few months ago while my other car was in the shop for routine maintenance. Whoever put that shifter in that car should be shot. I remember sitting in it at the LA autoshow and wondering why the shifter throws were so incredibly long. I then sat in the 2004 Acura TL and the S2000 and it was not even close. Overall the car is really nice though. Definitely a car I would consider in the $45K-$50K range. On the drive I thought that the torque characteristics were very nice compared to my friend's M3, but it seemed that my friends M3 (and my 911) revved & drove quite a bit nicer. In the Sports Compact Car comparo they marvelled at how well the S4 drove until about 8/10's then the weight really came into play and the chassis started flexing, and the brakes cooked when it was going through the twisties. Great engine, and on the straights it is a really interesting car. Don't know how much more you will be able to upgrade it though, as the V8 seemed to really be crammed into the engine bay when I took a look at it.