hinckley

First, apologies for some long Sunday morning musings . . . My GTS is hibernating and I’m driving my winter car, an Audi S4 (MT), so I’ve been pretty quiet on this board for a while. The S4 is a great, great car and with four snow tires, it’s a tank in foul weather. But it’ll be five years old after this season so I’m now starting to think about replacing it before next winter and am facing a real conundrum.

I know everyone’s situation is different, and here’s mine. I live in the middle of Boston. I have one parking spot and own two cars. I put my winter car (the S4) in storage during the summer and my summer car (the GTS) in storage during the winter. For a new winter car, I want four things: sporty handling, luxury, AWD and an MT. I think I can only get three of those four things and I’m not good at compromising. So as crazy as it sounds, I’m starting to think about two alternatives for next winter – an M3 or a Macan GTS.

The M3 will give me good handling, (pretty good) luxury and an MT. But I’d have to go back to RWD and after driving the S4 with snows for a number of bad winters, that’s not really appealing. The Macan will give me luxury, AWD and OK handling for a truck, but no MT.

I’m not looking to get into the MT vs PDK thing here. Suffice it to say that my brain knows the PDK is a better transmission, but my heart still wants a MT. Fwiw, in 35 years of car ownership, I’ve never not owned an MT. But I also know that my MT days are numbered, so I’ve been leaning towards the Macan. OTOH, the couple of times I’ve made bad car decisions and flipped a car after only a few months, it’s always been because it falls short on the fun-to-drive quotient, so that history pushes me toward the M3. OTOH, it just seems crazy to buy a RWD M3 for my “winter beater”. OTOH . . . OTOH . . . OTOH . . .

This is the only place that I know I can go to say this stuff out loud, so my 911 brethren, that’s my conundrum. What say you all? Am I missing another vehicle that’s out there or on the way?

spaghettiab

How about a 340xi - you can get all four of your needs: sporty handling, luxury, AWD, and MT. Some may argue about the sporty handling in modern BMWs...

Larry Cable

Macan Turbo ... stay with the brand you already have a summer car I dont think the M3 will cut it as
a winter mobile!

If the new Alfa Giulia was 4WD I'd go for it in an instant

Archimedes

That's a tough one. Why not another S4 or S5? Are they not offering them in a 6MT any more? If you're going to go automatic, how about the RS5? You get the AWD and a lot more power, though you give up some clearance.

Alec Syme

I was in the same boat recently. My 911 is under a vice warm blanket until April. (I'm in Minnesota) My 5 series lease was coming up. I was just going to get another one until I tested the X5. Great car. Perfect for snowy Minnesota winters. It's an M sport 3.5 liter. It's fantastic. Totally recommend it. Don't sweat the manual. Save it for your 911. It's just too limiting. The Macan would be sweet too. It won't laser as well, but if you don't care, go for it!

Alec

GraphiteGrey

The following BMW models appear to be MT and AWD, FWIW:

X3 xDrive20i
118d xDrive 5-door
420i xDrive Gran Coupé
428i xDrive Gran Coupé
435i xDrive Gran Coupé

The 118d has a diesel engine however.

X3 xDrive20i specifications: http://www.bmw.com/com/en/newvehicle...el_2=xDrive20i

Still restless

For a winter car and living in the middle of a large city, I'd give up the MT if I had to give on something. My GTS is MT, while my B8 S4 has the Steptronic (on Pilot Alpins during the winter so I know how good it is).

If ground clearance was OK with the S4, do you need a SUV? Not knowing how much performance and luxury you want, it's hard to give good guidance. But, if it were me, and MT is a must, I'd take a closer look at the Golf R. I think it has enough performance and luxury to not make you feel deprived. I'm not sure if the newest version is available yet, but should not be an issue by next fall.

mathfuzzy

I'll add to the votes urging you to consider an AWD BMW.

As I've said before, I'm quite fond of my 435i MT as a competent, fun, nice, comfortable DD. I think the XI version checks several boxes for you MT, AWD, fairly sporty handling and decent luxury. Mine has all of the factory performance options - including the M Powerkit and performance exhaust - and when I get around to it, I plan to visit Dinan for an update to the steering and performance mapping software.

You could also go a totally different direction and get a 996 or 997 Carrera 4S and put performance snow tires on it. My 996 4S with Blizzak's was great in the winter in Westchester unless the conditions were such that you shouldn't be out and driving in the first place. Obviously, there's zero ground clearance, so you're limited by that, but it's not like you're contemplating a Tahoe.

drsubie

It's nice to have this kind of first-world dilemma! Between the choices folks have listed, I'd opt for the Macan; I'd also think that if you were considering a BMW 3 series in a X-drive (and not a M3), I'd probably go back to a S4 instead...

Chris C.

I've owned an M4 (DCT) and drive the wife's Macan Turbo around our city. The M3 is low and rides a lot less comfy - for your winter car the Macan would be ideal IMO. The transmission should fit the car in my experience - you won't mind shifting with the PDK paddles when you want more performance!

(I have owned X5s and they are excellent too)

mathfuzzy

Forgot to add - after 14k miles, the MT action in my 435 is really, really nice. Good luck finding one at a dealer to test though. I ended up having to order mine on faith that I'd like it because NO Bay Area dealers had ANY MT's on their lots.

Chris C.

Sadly manual transmissions are special order on BMWs and mostly so now on Porsches. The horror.

GTW4CG

I bought a 2015 Macan S this past June. It handles and performs so well, that it spoiled me for our 11 year old Lexus SC430 "sports car", which is a good car. We just traded the SC430 in on a new Carrera 4. The Macan is a great all around car, and I actually prefer it in city traffic. But I love the 991 Carrera 4 out on the country roads. You can't go wrong with the Macan.

Larry Cable

I HATED my E70 X5 ... I wantted to use it as a target for heavy weapons (.50 BMG, RPG...) its the
sort of car you just wanted to repeatedly drive it into lots of concrete repeatedly until the accursed
thing finally and well deservedly stopped working, then pack the parts in a big box and send it
back to BMW with love!

tgcrun

I try to drive my 911 as much as possible in the winter, but when the weather is bad or I need space for clients (I'm a real estate agent) or stuff, I drive my Macan Turbo. It's a fantastic car, and I say car because it doesn't drive like an SUV. I describe it to my friends as a big hatchback. It's truly fun to drive. However, I'd recommend getting winter tires for it. I had a 2008 M3, and while it was bit more fun to drive on the twisties, the comfort, practicality and all weather capability of the Macan more than make up for the slightly reduced fun factor.