In reviews of BMW 3's and A4's from 1 or 2 years ago, reviewers would rave bout the silk action of the BMW and criticize the balky, notchy, imprecise audi mechanism. Recently, I've noticed that several people on this forum, as well as several car mags (Car, Car& Driver), have praised the silky action of the audi shifter and characterized the bmw as "notchy."<p>Has anyone driven both a recent A4 and an older A4? Has the shifting action improved noticeably?

My brother has a 325 is and i drive his every now and then. be fore we installed the short shift kit in his car it was very very smooth. but the throw is much longer than the A4's. now with the shift kit the bmw is notchy as hell! it has less throw but it is very heavy to stick it in gear. my A4 seems more nimble to drive than my bro's 325. <p>my uncle ahs a M roadster and his car is notchy too but only that the M series of any bimmer comes wiht a short shift pattern. either way i fell that the A4 is not as silky as a stock BMW but the A4 is kinda notchy especially first gear!<p>over all i think BMW has a better shifter. Audi could have made it alot smoother.