A4 (B8), 320d or 330d?? What would you choose?

[tweed]

BMW is as useful as a chocolate tea pot in snow and ice!
The BMW would give best first impressions over an Audi, but the Audi would be the better car to live with once the novelty had worn off... been there, done that etc

Thom

I couldnt disagree more. Having had a 528i for two winters and not getting stuck once and driving past stuck vw's and audi's going up hill says enough for me.
Yes I had winter tyres but I still never got stuck. 

Oh and not buying a bmw because of snow? What about the other 50 weeks of the year?

Ive also been there done that and the bmw was much better than my b6 audi.

All boils down to personal preference. I feel BMW has much better build quality and also much more reliable electronically and mechanically.

[Thom89]

BMW is as useful as a chocolate tea pot in snow and ice!
The BMW would give best first impressions over an Audi, but the Audi would be the better car to live with once the novelty had worn off... been there, done that etc

Thom

I couldnt disagree more. Having had a 528i for two winters and not getting stuck once and driving past stuck vw's and audi's going up hill says enough for me.
Yes I had winter tyres but I still never got stuck. 

Oh and not buying a bmw because of snow? What about the other 50 weeks of the year?

Ive also been there done that and the bmw was much better than my b6 audi.

All boils down to personal preference. I feel BMW has much better build quality and also much more reliable electronically and mechanically.

My daughter worked at Sytner BMW in Leicester on reception for 4 years. When it snows, the phone lines are inundated with disgruntled owners that simply can't move their cars! exactly what they want the dealership to do about it I'll never know!
My daughter is now a Sales Executive at Audi Leicester (still Sytners) and bumps into old BMW customers on a regular basis, with most vowing never to buy RWD as a main car again, especially over the last 2 winters! and a 3rd bad winter expected.
I've been in the Motortrade for many years, and I know plenty of the Techy guys, as well as management, people that have worked at either Sytner BMW, and/or Leicester Audi, and I can tell you that their is nothing between an Audi, or BMW reliability wise... both manufactures have issues, like any other! Though VAG seem to come across worse, because there are so many shared components across the different Marques, literally from a Porsche to Polo
When my daughter had her 1 series Motorsport, on various occasions over the last couple of years, I had the dreaded phone call on more the one occasion, for me to go and rescue her, as she was stuck in the snow
So yes, BMW's can be fun in the snow, but as a main car, then I would have to choose something that was at least FWD
As for build quality, really theirs nothing between them

Thom

[Poached]

Winter Tyres make a big difference to RWD cars seemingly...they seem to cope over on the continent with harsher winters.

330d seems a good shout...wouldn't say it was up there with an E46 M3 after a remap though.

Run Flats aren't popular and a number of owners remove them. Watch out for clocking too.

[Gabriel2202]

A4 would be my choice, way too many engine / turbo problems with BMW dervs.

I've heard about issues with the 320d, especially the turbo, but I thought the 330d was pretty bullet proof, especially once you remove the swirl flaps...

[tweed]

Not blowing my own trumpet but I guess im a much better driver than most bmw owners then.

I guess any enthusiast thats done many driving days/schools and races at msa level will be able to have more control over a normal driver that just drives a to b.

I obviously cant see how people think bmw are worse over any other car.

I bet 99% of the bmw owners that ring the dealer have not got winter tyres and most likely got worn out summer tyres on.

Still after owning vag cars and a 5 series and a 3 series the build quality is better.

[Poached]

Or a worn suspension.

Some of these BMW owners may be unaware they are RWD? .

[Gabriel2202]

Winter Tyres make a big difference to RWD cars seemingly...they seem to cope over on the continent with harsher winters.

330d seems a good shout...wouldn't say it was up there with an E46 M3 after a remap though.

Run Flats aren't popular and a number of owners remove them. Watch out for clocking too.

I will definitely be more concerned about a decent set of tyres on a RWD, and my mate bought a clocked bmw, 100k miles below what it should have been! So I'll definitely have my guard up on that.

I'm still going to look at the a4 and 3 series before drawing any conclusions. I'll have my 1.8t golf as well if the snow gets that bad (keeping it as a run around while I work away) so I'm not massively concerned on the winter front as I can always swap over for a few weeks.

My concerns really are the cost of parts, the reliability and the ease of working on the car

[tweed]

Clocked miles relates to any car and im sorry thats your mates fault for not getting the car history. If it didnt have service book and past mot certificates then a hpi check will tell you everything recorded including mileage.


Ive seen a picture of a 1 series with snow chains fitted to the front wheels   

[Gabriel2202]

Clocked miles relates to any car and im sorry thats your mates fault for not getting the car history. If it didnt have service book and past mot certificates then a hpi check will tell you everything recorded including mileage.


Ive seen a picture of a 1 series with snow chains fitted to the front wheels   

Oh yeah massively his fault, he's an idiot and bought an e46 dirt cheap spur on the moment at an auction hoping for a quick turn around - that didn't happen! Haha

[Poached]

Winter Tyres make a big difference to RWD cars seemingly...they seem to cope over on the continent with harsher winters.

330d seems a good shout...wouldn't say it was up there with an E46 M3 after a remap though.

Run Flats aren't popular and a number of owners remove them. Watch out for clocking too.

I will definitely be more concerned about a decent set of tyres on a RWD, and my mate bought a clocked bmw, 100k miles below what it should have been! So I'll definitely have my guard up on that.

I'm still going to look at the a4 and 3 series before drawing any conclusions. I'll have my 1.8t golf as well if the snow gets that bad (keeping it as a run around while I work away) so I'm not massively concerned on the winter front as I can always swap over for a few weeks.

My concerns really are the cost of parts, the reliability and the ease of working on the car

Well the only reason I mentioned clocking was I looked at E90's on Auto Trader and there are some shabby looking examples which don't appear cared for or they haven't 'aged' well. Also there are so many in resale black and silver .

Service history can be forged if invoices for work aren't available or documented. A stamped book on it's own should not be considered 100% proof. As for servicing I would try and find a decent indy as BMW will bend you over, but then again VAG probably aren't far behind (Peter Cooper Chichester £102/hour).

Parts will be expensive just like VAG and there is no Software available for the price of VCDS.

Any idea what spec you're after? I would try and get Xenons/Leather and Pro-Nav. Most of the cars will be slush box, what do you think of this?