Soldato
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Alloys look straight out of chavwheels.com bargain of the week.
Looking at an RS4
- Thread starter panthro
- Start date
Alloys look straight out of chavwheels.com bargain of the week.
I was ideally after the Audi, but having thought about it more Im still trying to think of what else is out there for the price range.
Reasonably practical (need to fit a bike rack to it)
At least 4 seats
Fast
High spec interior - comfy heated seats, decent stereo, sat nav if possible, etc
Decent soundtrack (no 2L 4 cyl engines)
Fun to drive (obviously) but easy to cruise down the motorway
This car isnt going to be used for commuting, just pleasure.
I cant think of much else that Im interested in. Looked at 997's but cant afford a decent Carrera S in my price range, so considered the 996 4S.
I dont want to go over my budget as Im in the early stages of buying a house.
Reasonably practical (need to fit a bike rack to it)
At least 4 seats
Fast
High spec interior - comfy heated seats, decent stereo, sat nav if possible, etc
Decent soundtrack (no 2L 4 cyl engines)
Fun to drive (obviously) but easy to cruise down the motorway
This car isnt going to be used for commuting, just pleasure.
I cant think of much else that Im interested in. Looked at 997's but cant afford a decent Carrera S in my price range, so considered the 996 4S.
I dont want to go over my budget as Im in the early stages of buying a house.
Interesting, but not for me. I actually didnt realise they did an E63 since 2006.
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Any reason you're not looking at Avant RS4s? I've always preferred them to the saloon because they're more practical and slightly more subtle.
I love a good E, but as with all these cars don't even think about one without a full MB warranty, the wallet damage they can rack up is painful without it. My dads 55 wagon had hundreds of little niggles in it, spending way more time in the dealership than the E39 M5 that directly preceded it. It was slightly worse on fuel than the M5 too (20-21 vs 22-23 on a motorway cruise, averaging about 19-20mpg over the 2 years), but that's probably mostly the gearbox, which was the 5 spd auto, rather than the 7 spd the 63 models were fitted with.
The dealers round this way seem worse than the BM dealers, but that probably varies with location, they took over a week to diagnose a faulty sensor in the engine that sent the car into limp home mode because their fault code reader wasn't specific enough, I'm fairly certain they just starting replacing everything till it worked
So its not very reliable, not well built and not very economical, but I absolutely adore them, especially in estate form - you can fill the car to the roof with junk, then add a roof rack and it will still cruise and overtake effortlessly
One thing it was particulaly good at was getting between 50mph in 5th to 90mph in 3rd as quickly as possible, which made overtaking very safe and easy. It took 5 of us through to Holland with all the associated junk that goes with it, the Sat Nav worked, it never skipped a beat and was hugely comfortable doing it.
Its alright on A and B roads you know, but when you're late, its dark and there's a twisty B road between you and your destination you begin to notice the size and weight of the thing, so its just as well the brakes are epic, and epicly expensive to replace too.
I don't know whether it's just my imagination, but the E55 always seemed more fun than the BM, that was quite a serious car, an AMG is more of a point and squirt kind of thing. And you will point and squirt, because its sounds awesome when you cane it, yet the same as an x500 Mercedes when idling - a great sleeper
One thing they won't be is depreciation-free my dad had his from 07-09 from 4-6 years old, and its till managed to shed a silly amount of money in that time ~£10k iirc
that was buying at a peek and then the economy crashing and fuel shooting up again though, which undoubtedly had an affect.
I love a good E, but as with all these cars don't even think about one without a full MB warranty, the wallet damage they can rack up is painful without it. My dads 55 wagon had hundreds of little niggles in it, spending way more time in the dealership than the E39 M5 that directly preceded it. It was slightly worse on fuel than the M5 too (20-21 vs 22-23 on a motorway cruise, averaging about 19-20mpg over the 2 years), but that's probably mostly the gearbox, which was the 5 spd auto, rather than the 7 spd the 63 models were fitted with.
The dealers round this way seem worse than the BM dealers, but that probably varies with location, they took over a week to diagnose a faulty sensor in the engine that sent the car into limp home mode because their fault code reader wasn't specific enough, I'm fairly certain they just starting replacing everything till it worked
So its not very reliable, not well built and not very economical, but I absolutely adore them, especially in estate form - you can fill the car to the roof with junk, then add a roof rack and it will still cruise and overtake effortlessly
One thing it was particulaly good at was getting between 50mph in 5th to 90mph in 3rd as quickly as possible, which made overtaking very safe and easy. It took 5 of us through to Holland with all the associated junk that goes with it, the Sat Nav worked, it never skipped a beat and was hugely comfortable doing it.Its alright on A and B roads you know, but when you're late, its dark and there's a twisty B road between you and your destination you begin to notice the size and weight of the thing, so its just as well the brakes are epic, and epicly expensive to replace too.
I don't know whether it's just my imagination, but the E55 always seemed more fun than the BM, that was quite a serious car, an AMG is more of a point and squirt kind of thing. And you will point and squirt, because its sounds awesome when you cane it, yet the same as an x500 Mercedes when idling - a great sleeper
One thing they won't be is depreciation-free my dad had his from 07-09 from 4-6 years old, and its till managed to shed a silly amount of money in that time ~£10k iirc
that was buying at a peek and then the economy crashing and fuel shooting up again though, which undoubtedly had an affect.
I've never been a fan of the e60 tbh, that said, if one had that 5.0 V10 under its bonnet, I could not give a **** if it came with a plastic turd stuck to the roof!
My folks have a 996 4s, and whilst it has 4 seats the rears are pretty useless, unless you're only 4 foot high.
And whilst the interior is nice it's not what I'd call high spec as such, leather all over but no heated seats, theirs has the sat nav stereo which isn't bad but looks dated now.
In all there's not that much on them, but they are damn good fun to drive
I get it for the week next weekend am looking forward to it
![[TW]Fox](/data/man-of-honor/2009.png){kind=avatar}
A bit bigger than the RS4 but depreciation took a took a bat to these:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/2006-Audi-S8-...6171021?pt=Automobiles_UK&hash=item45fa8b370d
It's dropped 50k odd in 5 years. Nice.
And with a Lamborghini derived V10 it can make noises that shouldn't really come from an Audi. I know this has a modified exhaust, but still (Soarer/SC at 31 secs as well
)
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/2006-Audi-S8-...6171021?pt=Automobiles_UK&hash=item45fa8b370d
It's dropped 50k odd in 5 years. Nice
.And with a Lamborghini derived V10 it can make noises that shouldn't really come from an Audi. I know this has a modified exhaust, but still (Soarer/SC at 31 secs as well
)
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That S8 sounds immense.
Im not fussed if I had an avant or a saloon, but I have no requirement for a hatchback/avant.
Going to look at an E92 M3 tomorrow. I sat in my uncles new E92 330i today and whilst I loved it, I think I preferred the RS4 interior. Will reserve full judgement until tomorrow.
Im not fussed if I had an avant or a saloon, but I have no requirement for a hatchback/avant.
Going to look at an E92 M3 tomorrow. I sat in my uncles new E92 330i today and whilst I loved it, I think I preferred the RS4 interior. Will reserve full judgement until tomorrow.
I didnt notice that to be honest. The side bolster is a little worn, but no more than any other bolster would be on a leather bucket seat.
quote for truth - Taking an RS4 over an M3 is just dumb beyond words.
Just speaking ergonomically the M3 is a nicer place to be, then the drive.... no comparison.
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The interior is one of the main areas I'd put the RS4 above the M3 tbh..... Maybe that's just me
Thats a bit of an overstatement; they both have their merits and disadvantages and Im sure they will drive very differently.
I also personally think the RS4 will be a great car for european trips especially in the winter when I go skiing.
The RS4 is in some ways more accomplished, it does what it does very well and on British roads in British conditions is the better car to be in often I'd suggest. Having said this I think the BMW has a better engine and is more fun to drive, the RS4 does fall apart a bit when pushed really hard and I don't suspect the M would in the same way. The simply do what they do in a different manner and it really depends what you want but both are epic road cars and you'd be happy with either. The RS4 still surprises me in wet conditions, I've never had a car that looks after you so well when the road gets slippy and badly worn for this is where the traction of the RS4 shows itself. Up in the Alps M3 everytime but the RS4 is incredibly accomplished...if flawed.
Test drove the M3 today. The performance was immense and the handling was spot on. The interior still doesnt interest me and whilst it is a nice place to be, its a little underwhelming. The salesman was a plonker too, took it upto about 120mph on a dual carriage way which there was no need for. Plus he didnt have a clue about the spec and had trouble trying to explain what BMW online portal was.
Then as soon as I got back they brought the business manager over. I wasnt interested in their finance but got the figures anyway. 10.3% APR for 50% on the car wasnt too bad, but taking their finance really didnt do much to change the price, the most they would knock off was a few hundred pounds, and for a mid spec 57 plate M3, I thought 30k was a bit high.
However on the way back we drove past this beauty:
http://www.lodgemotor.co.uk/audi-s5-4.2-v8-quattro-6-speed-coupe-sat-nav-1545000
I know I was I wasnt interested in black cars, but I sat inside this and started it up and pretty much fell in love with it. The interior is so much more modern than the RS4 and whilst it doesnt have the bucket seats (or a 400+bhp V8) it really ticked some boxes for me. I said I would drive the RS4 tomorrow and arrange a test drive in the S5 afterwards.
Then as soon as I got back they brought the business manager over. I wasnt interested in their finance but got the figures anyway. 10.3% APR for 50% on the car wasnt too bad, but taking their finance really didnt do much to change the price, the most they would knock off was a few hundred pounds, and for a mid spec 57 plate M3, I thought 30k was a bit high.
However on the way back we drove past this beauty:
http://www.lodgemotor.co.uk/audi-s5-4.2-v8-quattro-6-speed-coupe-sat-nav-1545000
I know I was I wasnt interested in black cars, but I sat inside this and started it up and pretty much fell in love with it. The interior is so much more modern than the RS4 and whilst it doesnt have the bucket seats (or a 400+bhp V8) it really ticked some boxes for me. I said I would drive the RS4 tomorrow and arrange a test drive in the S5 afterwards.