I currently own a4 b5 and I still love my baby. However, at the end of March, I am going to change my car. I have come down to a narrow choice between a BMW 335xi coupe and a5. My budget is under 48,000(without the tax). What would you guys pick b/w two?

No hate comment please :)

one opinion that matters when spending $50,000 on a car, and that's yours. My bet, once you've driven them both, the choice will be clear. The best news though is that you really can't go wrong with either.

Test drove a 335 this weekend. It definitely performs well. But I thought it lacked something. It just didn't seem to have personality. (Not to mention, that something still bother me in the BMWs styling and you can't even start comparing interior quality and comfort).

Also, not sure I can get over the fact that it is still a 3-series -- they're about as common as rats in DC. However, I am going from an S4 to an S5 (hopefully) and would maybe have a different point of view if I were looking at an A5 versus a 335.

All that being said, it is a personal choice. It all depends on how you prioritize performance, design, comfort, and other factors. If you can track down a dealer with an A5 demo, I would try to test drive them back to back to decide. Then, trust your gut feeling. I got nothing out of test driving a 335, but I still smile thinking about the rumble of the S5 when you hit that start button.

i would definitely go with an A5. Either way would be quicker compared to your A4.

If you like your dealer, and have a soft spot for Audis, it shouldn't be a hard choice. The A5 is a great looking car. I was at my dealer today (inskip in RI) and they had two, one black and one silver, the best two colors available on this car. the A5's black grill is better than the S5. The BMW coupe is a great car, but popular and common on the roads.

To me, the biggest advantage to the A5 would be it's exclusivity and ability to get attention. Be sure to get the package including the LED daytime running lights.

People ask me about my car every time i am getting into or out of it when they are nearby. They are simply amazed to hear it starts at 50K.

As others have said-go test drive the two. It's your call.

see my post below (in the thread wherein i mentioin i just picked up my new A5 :))

I was back-and-forth-and-back-and-forth between the 335 and the A5. the A5 is absolutely a beautiful, unique, transcendent, rare, grand-tourer, and fully-loaded, costs less than the 335. It's also much, much, much nicer on the inside. also, there is about a 6-1 BMW to Audi ratio, for what that's worse.

the 335 is quicker. period. i will concede that. do you really need to go 0-60 really quickly, swerve back-and-forth very quickly, and slam on the breaks from 100-0 very quickly? if so, get the BMW. but i chose the A5. it's just the most beautiful car on the road, and spectacularly luxurious for <$50K. people dont notice a 3-series onthe road, they're everywhere. the A5 is spectacular.

if you go BMW - do European Delivery - save $100 a month or so, or about $3500 up-front. email me if you need details, or i can tell you which dealers in the US will absolutely give you the best deal (1000 or 1500 over invoice). i researched excruciatingly, so i can point you in the right direction.

It's an ugly system the pushes worse than an "Audi". It's not nearly the same driving dynamic as their RWD siblings.

Audi. I had a B5 A4 before my 06 330xi. In the snow and slippery roads, nothing compares to Quattro. X Drive doesn't kick in until it senses slipping. By that time your rear end is starting to come out. The X drive isn't all that bad though. It's better than having FWD or RWD in the snow.

I have an S-Line on order (4/21 arrival) and in the same debate. I really like the design of the Audi - BMW is too plain on the interior. However, I do like that BMW maintenance is included with purchase - looks like this would save a lot of money over the life of the car. I don't think you can get an apples to apples comparison in options for the same price - pretty sure that BMW will be more.

mine was $48,875 MSRP, and i negotiated $48100 plus free Audicare - that's close enough :) i bet you could get below $48,000 if they are aggressive enough.

and bad with both choices.

Usually u can't go wrong with either if everyone in there respected forum praise about there car.

unless you are choosing from a M6 and a civic, no forum will tell you the right answer. I don't know if you know what i'm talking about.

From my experience with my 1998 Audi A4 2.8Q (sport, premium, tiptronic, Bose) and my 2006 BMW X3 3.0i (sport, premium, 6-spd manual, xenons), the Quattro is a much better system.
It's much more seamless and transparent to the driver. For example, taking a sharp left across traffic on wet roads, I was able to get the left rear wheel of the X3 to spin before the traction control kicked in and rein in the spin. In 5 years with my A4, I've never had that kind of experience.
That said, I really enjoy driving my X3, more than the A4. The in-line six loves to rev really smoothly right up to redline. The A4's V6 was much more rough. The 6-spd manual is also a lot of fun. And the suspension is both fun on the windy roads, but also has enough ground clearance for me to get to the trailheads. It's the best of both worlds as far as I'm concerned.

Hope this helps!
James
Seattle, WA

The A5's closest competitor is the 328xi. I priced them out and they actually come in within 1K of each other when similarly loaded.

Same goes for the S5, which has a ton of standard options (sport suspension, premium leather sport seats, 19" wheels, Premium package. Sirius) that the 335 only has as options. Configure a 335xi with the same options as a stock S5 and the BMW will cost MORE.

So again, why even mention the two in the same sentence? The only way to compare both is to pit a bare-bones 335i to a fully-loaded A5.

with bmw, you have a choice which options you want, Audi... Not so much.

I bought one 3 months ago and it's without doubt the best car I've ever owned. I grin every time I get in it. My wife has an A6 3.2 and it feels like an oil tanker compared to the driving feel of the 335xi. Of course, she hates the 335xi "feel". She thinks it's too rough and "masculine". The A6 has a better fit and finish but somehow the 335xi feels more "taut". The handling is superb. It seems that I can go as fast as i want around any corner and I cannot get the car to scare me yet. My 335 has the sport pkg so it also has the sport seats and the fatter steering wheel with the aluminum tranny paddles. I like both marques a LOT but right now nothing beats the 335i/xi. A guy at work got a red S5 and it's a GORGEOUS car. Somehow, I find my 335 a little bit better aesthetically on the exterior. The interior of the bimmer is not as glitzy as the S5 but it's good enough. Also, the 335's back seat is significantly roomier than the S5's. In the snow/ice, I was able to get up my very steep driveway when it was covered with ice while my wife's A6 had a hard time getting up there on the same day.

Your A6 is a family sedan that's quite a bit larger (one model size up) than the 335xi. Your Audi is also fitted with an engine that is one class below the 335's engine. So comparing the two and concluding that the 335xi handles better is just plain weird. Try comparing the A6 3.2 to its actual competitor: the 528xi. That would be fair.

As for the A6's quattro verses the 335xi's xDrive, it's a common fact that Audi's Torsen quattro (permanent, mechanical, instantaneous reaction) is vastly superior to BMW's AWD system (a slow, understeer-prone electronic system that only reacts after there is significant wheel spin). I know this for a fact as I've driven both AWD systems and found Audi's to be far more effective in snow conditions. I drive the Big Bear (a CA ski resort) every weekend during the winter and I can't tell you how many xDrive BMW's I see stuck in the snow or forced to wear chains as I just drive past them (without chains). Quattro is also considerably more performance oriented than BMW's rather awkward AWD setup. Again it's weird that you claim that Audi's universally acclaimed quattro (being developed for 30 years now) is somehow superior to BMW's rather poorly received xDrive.

If you do want to compare the 335xi to anything, it would NOT be the A6 (especially with a 3.2), but to an S5.

I test drove an S5, 335xi and regular 335i back-to-back-to back. All cars had quite different behaviors. The 335i was the most nimble by a slim margin over the S5 and also was the most easy to control tail behavior via the throttle. The S5 had the best grip, best body rigidity, and the best top-end power. The 335xi was the worst car by a wide margin. It exhibited the most oversteer and was the most sluggish. The best overall car was the S5, however its gas mileage was comparibly poor. My conclusion was this: If you love rear-wheel driving, don't drive in the rain or snow, and plan to do a lot of track time, get the 335i. If you want a real-world car with great handling, power, all-weather safety, get the S5. The 335xi to me failed as both a performance car and an AWD car.

I'm sure you love the 335xi, but to use a completely different Audi model to claim its superiority is off-base and invalid.

Finally, I suggest check your A6's tire treads.

I was merely stating facts. Why are you getting all defensive? I think Audis are awesome cars. But, I don't think you are being fair to the xDrive. The newer generation is vastly superior to the previous incarnation and my experience in really slippery conditions confirms (at least to me) that the xDrive performs at least as good as the A6's system which I still consider as the benchmark for any AWD system. As far as the performance of the engine, the 3.2 in the A6 is what you will get in an A5, right? Before I drove the 335, I thought my wife's A6 was plenty powerful. Now it feels anemic but like you said, the 335 is a different class and it should be compared to the S5. Personally, I wouldn't fault anyone for picking any current Audi. From the current BMW stable, only the 335i/335xi appeal to me. Perhaps the X6 will be good as well, the rest look kind of fugly.

I agree. Good advice. Drive both and compare against the objective and subjective criteria that are important to you and you'll pick the car that's right for you. I'm involved in that selection and decisionmaking process right now but haven't completed all of my research and made a final choice.

As Troy H said, you can't go wrong with either car.

I am heading out to buy an S-5 and desperately want to see the diff in the S-line to the regular... mainly external appearance.

PS - I love my A8 and hate to sell it because it's perfect but hey, it's 9 years old now!