[G4EDW]

Hi guys,

Just been looking through Autotrader and found this:

http://search.autotrader.co.uk/es-u...cleYearOfManufacture=2004&vehicleRegLetter=04

I want your opinions and i no you will be bias cos its not a BMW but do you think i should sell my car and go for one of these?? It seems like a hell of a car for the money and very quick to!!

Im hoping you guys will put me off cos i love my car but tempted to put it up for sale and try and get this!! :thumbsup

 

[steve23002]

If you are gonna buy it, check it has had a cam-belt, water pump and thermostat.
Im pretty sure these are due every 4 years if the mileage has not been reached but i will confirm this for you tomorrow.:confused
If the stat and h2o pump has been changed at the same time that will confirm that it has had a careful owner because it is a cambelt off job to change them if they fail and i have known of these waterpumps failing!
To change these parts you will have a bill of approx £600 ish.
They are very very good to drive, but the parts are very expensive even compared to BMW prices.
If it were mine i would ONLY use genuine VAG parts and be-friend a good vag specialist.
Awsome cars but the choice is yours. :thumbsup

 

[jaming]

Dont do it.

 

[DSK]

Firstly i'm not biased towards BMWs. I think BMWs are great as they feel like precision tools when you get the bigger engines and the M cars are special. However I do believe BMW leave a lot to be desired quality and reliability wise. As a result I will never say 'always BMW' like some peole who are blinded towards a marque. You have to look at the pro's and cons of each marque critically.

I used to be a Audi quatrro fan, especially having sacrified my life to own the 20V turbo Coupe as my 3rd car at 20!

The Audi will be a much more classier and ambient car than your 325i (or most BMWs full stop) in terms of quality, but despite being a 4.2 V8, its not hugely quick, similar to an M3 but feels more relaxed. So for me its a case of big engine, big thirst but not really that fast overall so just don't think you're getting RS4 grunt just because its a 4.2 V8 (if you see what I mean). They are also nose heavy which you will notice when you 'push on'. Take one for a drive and see what you think ....... At that price, its a fabulous car compared to BMWs you get for even more than the asking price for that!

Alternatively, take a look at the 2002 Model Audi RS4 Avant. 380bhp as standard, easily chipped to 420bhp! 2.7 Bi-turbo, 6 speed, leather, TV/Nav, climate etc - but they do cost £12K plus ...............

 

[steve23002]

Firstly i'm not biased towards BMWs. I think BMWs are great as they feel like precision tools when you get the bigger engines and the M cars are special. However I do believe BMW leave a lot to be desired quality and reliability wise. As a result I will never say 'always BMW' like some peole who are blinded towards a marque. You have to look at the pro's and cons of each marque critically.

I used to be a Audi quatrro fan, especially having sacrified my life to own the 20V turbo Coupe as my 3rd car at 20!

The Audi will be a much more classier and ambient car than your 325i (or mots BMWs full stop) in terms of quality, but despite being a 4.2 V8, its not hugely quick, similar to an M3 but feels more relaxed. So for me its a case of big engine, big thirst but not really that fast overall so just don't think you're getting RS4 grunt just because its a 4.2 V8 (if you see what I mean). They are also nose heavy which you will notice when you 'push on'. Take one for a drive and see what you think ....... At that price, its a fabulous car compared to BMWs you get for even more than the asking price for that!

Alternatively, take a look at the 2002 Model Audi RS4 Avant. 380bhp as standard, easily chipped to 420bhp! 2.7 Bi-turbo, 6 speed, leather, TV/Nav, climate etc - but they do cost £12K plus ...............

Im the same as DSK, i love BMWs but im not biased towards them. The Audi quality is very good and the quattros drive superb. My mate has an A4 2,5 Tdi quattro and it eats my 325i round the twisty bits. He is 30hp down and about 100kgs heavier but the handling is awsome!
Have a drive and check the service history before you make your choice. :thumbsup

 

[G4EDW]

Nice one some good info there... gonna have a little look at the RS4's you mentioned but would that be a high mileage one for that sort of money?.. i can go up to about 15K... will probably take one for a test drive.. wouldnt mind driving both the hard top and the conv to see if there is much difference in performance/handling... have always said i would get an E46 M3 but cant believe what you can get for your money at the mo.

 

[DSK]

Oh BTW - that place Kieghly Trade is massive!!!! they have more than 1 site (3 I think) and their cars are usually very well priced.

if you do decide to trade yours in for the S4, the 325i is somethng that Keighly will be able to shift easily so just ensure you geta reasonable p/ex price for yours. Usually you can get away with pretending that you can only deal if they drop their car more in price or give you a better p/ex price, this usually comes up trumps fter what seems like a stalemate position.

At that price I think anyone would be a fool not get that over a typical 3 series.

 

[DSK]

Also, fwiw, the 2003 model Audi RS6's are dropping ever so slightly, about £11-13K should get you a decent mileage example, 4.2 Bi-turbo, 450bhp ...... that can be easily chipped to 505bhp easy peasy .......

Now that, from an everyday perspective blows BMWs into the weeds IMO.

 

[G4EDW]

nice one.. Gonna have a look now.. Cheers for all you advice!

 

[Desiboijatt]

Just saying but how does a E39 BMW M5 sound ?

 

[DSK]

Just saying but how does a E39 BMW M5 sound ?

I recently test driven 2 and had one in the family until about 2 years ago from new........ Nice cars, excellent performance saloon on a track but as a big 4 door car in the real world its outclassed by the monsterously more powerful and much more refined AMG E55K and also the Audi RS6 (imo).

 

[G4EDW]

Just saying but how does a E39 BMW M5 sound ?

Possibly would look at one of these I have seen a few low mileage ones quite reasonable.

Without wanting to sound like a boy racer I do want somethin with big power but still subtle like the cars mentioned.

DSk.. I saw an e55 amg with 40000 miles up for 18000 again thought that was reasonable.. Do you rate these?

 

[DSK]

Possibly would look at one of these I have seen a few low mileage ones quite reasonable.

Without wanting to sound like a boy racer I do want somethin with big power but still subtle like the cars mentioned.

DSk.. I saw an e55 amg with 40000 miles up for 18000 again thought that was reasonable.. Do you rate these?

E55K 5.5 V8 with 476bhp! and 555ish lbs of torque is just :rofl I do seriously rate these (cousin had a the E55K and now got the E63 AMG). The E55K is stonger car as it got more torque than the E63. The cars are seriously impressive, very savage but when you don't want to hoon about they become proper sublime cruisers. Runnign costs aren't that bad either. In 87,000 miles my cousins previous E55K needed nothing outside routine servicing and brakes. Servicing was never over £490 for the big services at MB but the brakes are VERY expensive, even more so than the BMW M cars. The standard specification on these is extremely impressive as well, far beyond the likes of what BMW could offer. Expect about 20mpg from one! which on balance is pretty good in my opinion.

The E55K is what I want but I'm holding off for about a year as their prices are yo-yoing far too much for my liking at the moment.

The M5 would be better on a track, but on real roads, day to day scenarios the E55K and RS6 are in a league of their own. The RS6 is great value, the E55K is just bonkers in a good way, but both can be great fun or great cruisers, whereas the M5 can't cruise like the other 2.

 

[Tabbs]

i had my heart set on a audi s4 cabrio until i drove the bmw i now own. but to be honest my next car will be the s4 cabrio or the rs4 cabrio, after that it will be the m5, so my advice would be get an m3 cabrio or the s4 cabrio, just stay away from the merc clk as they are very boring

 

[Joe9087]

I see some of the Audi's as great replacement for BMW's, best bet is like others have said, test drive one and see what you think :thumbsup

 

[G4EDW]

Cheers for the comments guys... lots of food for thought.. not gonna rush into anything... always worry that taking test drives is wasting peoples time but this time im gonna take an E55, an s4 and an M3 all for a drive before i buy and make a decision from there.... will keep you posted!!! if nothing stands out i will keep my baby and save some more money... i like my car to much to let it go for peanuts at the mo anyway!!! :thumbsup

 

[DSK]

Cheers for the comments guys... lots of food for thought.. not gonna rush into anything... always worry that taking test drives is wasting peoples time but this time im gonna take an E55, an s4 and an M3 all for a drive before i buy and make a decision from there.... will keep you posted!!! if nothing stands out i will keep my baby and save some more money... i like my car to much to let it go for peanuts at the mo anyway!!! :thumbsup

Enjoy.

 

[Dazh66]

One thing I'd add is do a search on Keighley Trade Centre before you buy. I won't say why but do your homework, there's lots of info on the Jap forums
I'm not biased either way but I've read a lot of 'unhappy threads'

 

[markgixxer750]

One thing I'd add is do a search on Keighley Trade Centre before you buy. I won't say why but do your homework, there's lots of info on the Jap forums
I'm not biased either way but I've read a lot of 'unhappy threads'

I will second that, as well as my bmw I have 2 jap cars and ktc are NOT very well thought of on the other forums I use.

 

[G4EDW]

cheers gents, not necessarily gonna go there.. Just used it as an example cos I have seen others closer to home but good to know.. Very fussy about the cars I buy so would have hated to find that after purchasing one from there! :thumbsup