Man

You will have more squeeks and rattles with Audi's. I owned two and they both did it. Plus, why lug around the extra weight of AWD unless you absolutely need it?

gi jim

You have to drive both, and most of the time the choice will be obvious. For me there is a gut reaction that will be hard to ignore. For me it was the 2005 A6 and I have been very happy. No problems (so far), great ride/performance, AWD a huge plus in the Pacific NW, very cool Bluetooth, Nav, music system, keyless entry, satellite radio, and sleek and beautiful inside and out. The 530i had arguably better handling and roadfeel, a little slower off the line than my 3.2, and a frustrating iDrive--the A6 MMI is superior. I think there have been problems with satellite radio and nav working together, hopefully these have been fixed? The A6 fuel economy is dreadful, averaging around 18mpg. Something that AWD and a heavy car will give you, and the BMW beat that easily. I am nervous about reliability for both cars, these are very complex machines. I note that the A4 is now recommended by Consumer Reports, and the BMWs lost major points due to reliability. It is clear that the Japanese beat the Germans on this front. Lexus is dreadfully boring to drive however. I think BMW customer service is generally better than Audi, but I have no first hand knowledge. Probably varies depending on area. Good luck, but I am sure you will be happy. Searching and test driving are half the fun, so take your time!

CVTBenhogan

Good subject for me, as I've been trying to decide between the A6 and 5er for the last two months. I've driven the 3.2 and 4.2 2005 A6s and the 2005 530i. Will drive the 545i soon. I also currently own an 3.0 CVT A4 which is two years old.

The new A6 is a big improvement over the old model, which was quite a dated car. The new model handles much better than the old verison, a tribute to a stiffer and more dynamic chasis. The old sway is gone and the car is very flat through the corners. You get a sense that the car is big, but able to handle aggresive driving. Of the two engines, the 3.2 is the most impressive given its displacment. It has decent torque over a broad range, while the 4.2 feels quicker. I pushed the 3.2 hard during a solo test drive. As the for interior, no one puts a cabin together like Audi. This was one of the big reasons I own an A4 over the 3 series. Audis have better color combos and better color tones. Just compare the A6s armaretto to 5s auburn. That said, the new A6 looks a bit flashy and misses the understated semi-retro look of my A4. I was a tad disappointed here, but still a great cabin. My biggest dissappointment has been its exterior, which is just bland. As for the nose, no comment.

Qualitywise using my A4 as a guide, the materials are top flight and the car feels rigid. Like a panzer. However, there have been plenty of bugs with many service visits. 4 small electrical items, 2 CVT tranny problems inclusive of a tranny replacement, and a failed power steering pump. I haven't been happy with this, but one buys a German car for pleasure and not reliability. I spent alot of time at the Audi forums and many there believe that reliability is improving and point to the BMW as having reliability troubles.

In summary, Audis are fine cars and I recommend them. I like that they push technology like BMW and I really dig the CVT tranny in my car for its smooth performance. While I'll keep my A4, I'm looking seriously at the E60 for my second car. If you like a great interior, solid feeling car and available AWD, the Audi is a great choice. IMHO, the current A4 and A8 are among the best looking cars right now.

As for the E60, I really like the way the car looks and feels. The agility and steering are very evident and sport car like. With a great exterior style and decent interior, I'm thinking this is my next car.

CVT Benhogan


Thinking of an ED 545ia, sport/prem/CW/NAV/Hud

realtyman

FWIW, I had a 1998 e36 M3. Then I compared an '01 A6 2.7T Sport with a comparable priced '01 530i Sport. I went with the Audi because there was much more performance fore the $$. Chipped it after a while to keep me interested. Always said "yup, nice car... but not a BMW."
Being outside of Boston the snow factor is an issue for me. Even with the advantage of AWD, I went with the e60 once my Audi lease was up (actually 3 months early) and have not regretted it. I just wish the e60 had a limited slip diff (would make great fun in the snow). Audi/AWD is nice but if you like to drive at 10/10ths every now and again, then BMW is the right choice.

kt8509

I'm glad the Audi dealer sold the A6 3.2 I was going to buy.

I test both the 3.2 and 4.2 when they came in and really liked them. As everyone has noted, the interior is gorgeous. And I actually liked the new design (big nose and all). Up close, the A6 does have a nice presence about it. Technology-wise, it was top-notch: decent oomph with the 6cyl (255hp), bluetooth handsfree, keyless entry (really cool), same electric sunshade, nav, MMI (iDrive equivalent) was very intuitive with separate button for nav/radio/climate. That said, I was ready to trade-in my 02 M3 cab for this 3.2 and the only reason it didn't happen was I waited until after the Thanksgiving holiday to call back the dealer and he had already sold it. The new A6's were selling at sticker price and still selling like hotcakes. I told the dealer to find me another one (dark blue with beige and all gadgets).

I had test-driven the MB E320/500 as well and reaffirmed that I was not an MB guy (yet?). For whatever reason, I had left out the E60 up to that point because I just couldn't quite get over the new design look. So after owning an 97 E39 and the 02 M3 cab, I felt I had to give BMW a fair shake. I went to the BMW dealer, test drove the 530i and remembered why my last two cars were Beemers.

It wasn't the interior just okay for a $50-60k car).
It wasn't the exterior (growing on me each day).
It wasn't all the gadgets (and I love gadgets).

It was the sheer driving pleasure.
No, the 530i's "measly" 225 hp 6 cyl wasn't as powerful (on paper) as the A6 3.2. No, the A6's handling and steering wasn't all that worse. They both were solidly built.
But there was just something about how it all came together as a "driving" car in the BMW vs. the Audi.

But then, I had to test-drive the 545i and it was all over. The A6 4.2 was nice and had noticeable power over the A6 3.2's 6cyl. But the 545 is just a beast. The power comes on low and keeps on coming. And all the while, you can hear it SING.

I loved my E39 540. I loved my E46 M3 cab. But I find myself dreaming about the next time I get to drive the E60 545. Yeah, the M3 is quicker to 60. But the power delivery in the E60 is just sooooo smooth. And it's so much more insulated - major difference between a 3-series and 5-series in terms of luxury.

Anyways, sorry for the long post.
As I started, I'm glad the A6 was sold from under me.

Cheers!

kt8509

Oh, and one last comment regarding AWD. Living in Minnesota, it would be logical to think AWD is a requirement. It's not. AWD is nice to have, I would like to have it.

But only if it didn't impede on the BMW driving pleasure.

Anyways, with over six years of rear wheel drive BMW's in winterland (and every year with dedicated snow tires), I have never gotten stuck or even close to stuck.

Cheers (again)!

KenTO

I agree with the above. Snow tires are far more important that all wheel drive.

I also considered the A6 before I got my 545, part of the reason was last year I wasn't completely set on the styling of the 5. I think they are both great cars, and I think the interiors are great in either one. I like the very modern minimilist look of the e60 with black anthracite, and I like the warm tones of the Audi (even though I think they used an 80's inspiration for the way the dash is laid out to the driver) it seems more luxurious.

I think you should drive both cars and see which one you enjoy more. I found the BMW 545 more sporty, powerful and youthful, while the Audi was more of a tourer, a comfortable luxury car with great comfort.

I always felt BMW was about sportiness first and luxury second, while Mercedes was always more about luxury than sportiness. The Audi fits right in the middle.

uwsc11

Boy, are we all alike.

I was deciding between the new A6 4.2 and the 545i. Being that I currently own an A4 2.8 Quattro my bias was towards Audi. But like other posts have said, the ride was very nice, but more "tourer"-like. The interior is excellent. The exterior is good. The front nose is ugly.

The BMW on the other side is spartanic inside, but that makes it very German efficient and clean. Everything is controlable by the iDrive. Except the few pedals that your feet are going to operate. The exterior is very nice. I really like it. It is sporty, aggressive. The ride is just a notch above the Audi in terms of sportiness and handling. I wish they would offer the 545 in all-wheel drive. That would make the car perfect for me.

RoBMW

Well, the quality of Audi is good, or at least better as my E60! (mine E60 is one of the worst cars i've ever driven. The E39 was better build, but that a-side) And the 4 wheel drive is super. De Audi A6 Quattro will be 'running' better on the snow as the rear-wheel driven BMW, that's a fact. And about the quality, that really good. So good, i'am thinking to trade-in my 5 series for an A6. You will only miss the i-Drive and maybe the HUD
Beware: the Quattro concept is good, very good, but it drives a bit 'boring'. It rides so 'simple', so 'easy'. so 'polite'. I think the BMW will be less 'fault tolerant'. but that has it 'charmes' too!

cashvanveen

I just changed a 2001 A4 2.5tdi Quattro for the 530D Touring E61 and I have to say the BMW is far more hushed. My wife did 3 years and 45K without any faults in the Audi. The BMW is in the dealers again today with a sunroof that won't shut, a cd player that has never played, a rear seat belt that won't retract all the way in and a cd multichanger that won't play anything other than the first track!
The inside of the BMW is a let down after the Audi and it was the first thing we noticed when we test drove it.
The BMW drives better is faster and smoother but the Audi was a Sport model so maybe the ride would be a tad hard. The panel fit on the Audi is a par for the BMW. Fuel consumption on the BMW is a little low with the auto we achieve around 25MPG compared to the Audi's 29.
We did not buy the A6 on resale value and driving fun. All the tests put the Audi at least 10% more loss over three years than the BMW and as a private buyer that is a lot of money on a ?40k car.
Also the BMW five year service pack for a ?1000 swung it for us as the Audi was rather expensive to service on the long life service plan and never did more than 9k between services anyway.

It's your choice and these are my findings.

Cheers Paul