Re: compare this what?

[Geoff Jenkins <jenkinsg@pilot.msu.edu>]

Before buying my current car (a '94 S4), I tried to get a decent number of 
hours in on all of the cars I felt would fit my requirements. As these involved 
a fairly new car with very good performance, at least four seats, four doors 
and a high standard of luxury, my personal list came down to:

(New or used) BMW M3 (e36 chassis)
(Used) Merc. C36
or...
Audi S4, S6 or wait another year (maybe longer) for the new S4

The C36 was impossible to track down in Michigan this spring, so I had to rely 
on a previous (good weather) trip in one and a decent background with MB's 
cars. The M3 and an S4, however, were available for lots of play.

Scott's right, the M3 is a fabulous car, in its element. He's also right in 
that it can, even in bad weather, be made to go very fast. However, when the 
weather's bad (and mid-Michigan's definition of 'bad' can be pretty bloody 
awful), it loses a lot of its charm for me. Yes, it can still be driven fast, 
but the drive becomes a pulse-racing, white-knuckles experience. Wombling along 
at legal speeds, it holds up acceptably. At high speeds, it continues to 
perform adequately, but without instilling anything like the confidence a good 
FWD car does, let alone AWD. For a racing circuit, sure, it'll be fast. But for 
the drive home on snow-covered roads, at the end of a long day, it's not going 
to be fun. I'd bet that I _could_ shift the M3 along at a decent speed in nasty 
weather, but I'd wager more money that I wouldn't _want_ to.

Even if I had the income to support an M3 in summer and an Audi in winter, I 
wouldn't. If I'm going to buy something for the summer only, it's going to have 
two seats, no permanent roof and infinitely more personality than practicality.

Quite aside from the pure driving perspective, having driven the M3 moderately 
extensively, I _personally_ find it to have more than a few faults:

1) Interior build quality: not up to the standards of the Audis or Merc's I've 
known. Plasticky.
2) Attractiveness to State Troopers: high
3) Subtlety and Discretion Quotient: low (this alone rules it out as a Q-ship 
for me (c.f. 1915 and all that))
4) Rarity value: rapidly approaching nil around here

While I'd agree with Scott that it has aspects which beat my ride hands down 
(brakes, but not for too long, I hope), I think that it has its flaws too, 
where the Audi does shine.

The same exact thing can be said for the A4 vs. 3-series comparison. Both are 
excellent cars, high in the upper echelons of what you'll find on US roads. The 
BMW is faster in a straight line from 0-60. The Audi offers, IMO, superior 
handling and road manners. The BMW arrives with more of a (perceived) luxury 
cachet. The Audi's engine won't occasionally commit suicide after 25,000 miles 
of high-sulfur US gas. If I was "forced" to drive either one for evermore, I 
would hardly have a reason for tears. Personally, with my priorities, I prefer 
the Audi. If I was to pick between a 528 and an A6, I might be tempted to take 
the BMW. Actually, I'd take an E-class Merc instead (yes, Scott, I have driven 
all three. No, probably not as much as you may have). But each of the choices 
would be highly subjective and fairly close.

There are people to whom I've recommended Audis, and others for whom I've 
suggested Merc's and others for BMW. I drive an Audi because it suits best what 
I want and need. If Audi followed BMW's path, I wouldn't want Audis any more.

Strangely, most of the Mercedes groups/lists I've seen seem quite contented 
with the performance/luxury/safety of their cars. They like their mix. I like 
ours. More of everything (for less money) would be nice, but building a 
practical car will always be a study in constrained optimization.

Competition between the marques is good. The M3 is good. The (new) S4's 
goodness is probably owed in part to the stimulus of the M3. The new 3-series' 
goodness owes more than a little to the A4 and so on and on... The fact that 
their development is related doesn't mean that they're trying to reach the same 
goal in terms of performance, quality, safety, handling, features and price, so 
a "one-size-fits-all" comparison of who's reached the "One True Goal" will 
always tend to be rather biased by the individual's own definition of that 
goal.

Geoff Jenkins

'94 S4 - In the end, $20k vs $40k for a smaller, less comfortable car didn't 
seem like a bright plan.