Congratulations on your new ride and welcome to the 6MT club!

 

Congrats, congrats!

 

good deal. I am sure you will be happy with the car. I own a 09 G37 and a 05 S4 currently. I think the S4 is a great car and the B8 is really nice. But I can certainly see your point that it isn't worth $18K more than the G37. No way. Especially since in 3 years they will be much closer in value and you will have paid a lot more in depreciation on the S4. Of course the more a car costs the further it has to depreciate. If I were in your position I would be more likely to pick up a 2008 M3 as a CPO which can be had for about the same price as the new S4. And the E90 M3 is worth the $18K premium over the G37 all day long!! The S4 is just not in that same class, IMHO. Overpriced for what it is new, which is why they drop so much later.

 

Actually I would probably take the B8 S4 over the M3 sedan at the same price. I know the M3 is the beefier of the two, but I prefer the aesthetics, AWD, technology, roominess, etc., of the B8 S4 to the M3. I'd miss that wonderful V8 snarl, though! That's not trying to downplay the M3--it's a fantastic car and I'm so glad they brought back the sedan as an offering--but if I were paying in the mid-$50K range, the B8 S4 would get my $$$.

 

Honestly whoever was comparing 1/4 mile times as a basis of purchase is not being realistic. I thought about this for roughly a few seconds when I first compared the 08 G37S coupe vs. 335 coupe back in 07. After all was said and done, I ended getting the coupe for $36,700 (MSRP was $40,575). Even though it was a lease, a comparably equipped 335 would have cost me $680/mo, compared to the $480/mo I was paying for my G37.

It came down to the exterior, interior, driving dynamics, "feel" of the car, and basically which one I liked more. Similar to what SCWells72 based his decision upon.

Good luck with your new ride, I am extremely jealous of the new look for 2010 sedans. NOW POST SOME PICS ALREADY!!!

 

Heh. I'll post some pics tonight or tomorrow. I have a few I took yesterday afternoon when I got the car back from having the windows tinted. It's a bit dirty from all the rain right now, though, and the pics were taken just before sunset so they're not great. I'll put some up here soon, though...

 

I could not agree with you more. I am big on those things too and as I said before, nothing does mid 50k like the B8 S4.

On residuals, here is my take, I do not think you can extrapolate residuals on the previous S4s to the B8 S4 since the previous versions tanked in competing with the M3, their prices were geared towards that market. The B8 S4 is priced and competes with the 335i and its doing a heck of a good job with consensus around the world that this is a superior being. As far as I remember, 335i's residuals are great. Even BMW had to design the 335"is" to compete with the S4. There is limited production on the B8s and the price is less than the previous versions. It can be modded to produce something like 420HP, making it an alternative for the M3, yet it competes with the 335i. The jury is still out on this one, but I would not extrapolate any sort of judgement based on previous S4s as clearly this one has been more of a success (over the 335i) vs other ones (vs the M3). I would assume B8 S4 residuals would be in line with the 335i's if not better (more HP./tq, more tech, better interior........)

Someone here also referenced my discussion of 1/4 mile times, if that had been the only thing I had discussed I would agree but anyone looking at my original post will find I discussed more than 1/4 mile times.