e38 one of the least reliable bmws ever made right along with E31

 

S4 S4!

 

Yeah well the e38 is still a baller car no matter what hfawk:


and only stooges drive e31's...or dudes who still watch Miami Vice.

 

Ah.. danke.

And yes, the E31 had problems, but Lord Almighty...talk about heart-achingly gorgeous!h:

 

no doubt. I know this senior mechanic at a bmw dealer who bought one for $34K 2001 740iL It's pretty damn nice car too.


I know 3 stooges then :chuckles:

 

only E31 I would want is the 850CSi

 

I prefer the 5-series, but I'm pretty much guaranteed to always choose the BMW over brand X.

 

I freakin hate Audis. Every time I drive one I just get angry at it. Even the S4 with its big V8 and spiffy Recaro seats still has all those annoying Audi traits that just piss me off. So that said, I would pick the 530i.

But this isn't really much of a fair comparison, the S4 is a hotted up version of a compact sedan and the 530i is the base version of a midsize sedan.

 

what are "audi traits"? curious...

 

- Electronic gas pedal that makes no attempt to feel like a mechanical linkage, with programming that gives a ton of throttle opening for not a lot of initial travel to trick a driver into thinking the car has more pickup than it really does, but ends up just feeling like the engineers got the gas pedal programmed wrong.

- Long-throw brake pedal, that makes me adjust braking strength by pedal position instead of pedal pressure like any good brake system does.

- Long throw clutch pedal with no feel that makes me flap my left leg around too much.

- Clunky shifter that only lets me shift as quickly as it's willing to be shifted, which isn't that quickly, instead of how quickly I want to shift.

- Steering that feels nicely weighted around town but has no road feel and weak self-centering.

- Suspension settings that seem like a good ride/handling compromise but lose their composure when hustled past 7/10ths.

So because the main tasks I have to accomplish to get a car to go anywhere are using the shifter, pedals, and steering wheel, and I really don't like how any of these things work in Audis, I just can't get past that and say, appreciate the matte-finish plastics that VW/Audi fans rave about so much.

If other people like the cars, fine, that's their money. Me, I just can't stand em. But hope springs eternal, and when new ones come out I give em a look-see just in case those things I don't like have been exorcised. So far, no such luck.

Having recently driven an '06 330i and an '05 S4, I would pick the 330i hands down, even though the S4 has something like a 75 hp advantage.