orcfromthesouth

My 2 centimos:

Passion. Follow your heart as life is too short. Use Tuareg as people hauler. Everyone will complain about M3 as transport anyway. And will be scared s***less if you decide to have fun in it. So you will end up solo or 2 up.

Open top. Nobody has mentioned it but I think its a "kuller application" for me. Driving through your fav tarmac in Spring w the top down has no equal. Punto. The other 2 are cages. Even if you can get a sunroof.

Performance. Even if your excel sheet comparo for Hp and power to weight and so on is something I always do, it misses on a few factors. One of them is realistic performance. I think you will find the Box S a very friendly car to drive fast. The S4 is safe as houses but the extra weight and understeer will have you huffing in tight roads. The M3 needs a very experienced hand to extract performance. I believe the S has a very nice balance. By all means try them all out. Its yout 50 grand.

Add to your calculations a depreciation analisis. You need to know which car has the steeper dep curve. I know mine is pretty flat...jeje.

wahoo

Thanks ORC. I'm leaning heavily towards the Box S. Wife really likes it too. It looks like I'll be in an S by mid summer at this point if all goes as planned. In the mean time I'll be on and off the board. Thanks for your post and the depreciation comment. All cars, unfortunately, are depreciable assets. Cost of ownership is as big a deal as anything. Wife is a little concerned about not having run flats on the car.I s'pose thats what road side service is for. regards.

NoPorscheRightNow

Actually, that's what wives with Tuaregs and cell phones are for!

Matt

wahoo

hehheeh. well-true. However, she likes the S so much that she is willing to learn a manual. I think I'll be the one fetching her as she seems to be a magnet for nails.

TedKM3

Wahoo,

We have a '04 330 ZHP and an E36 M3 sedan (mine) and currently thinking of replacing the M3 with a Boxter. I drove the E46 M3 for comparison, and honestly didn't think it was worth the extra cash over our ZHP (which also has 4 doors). You really need to wind that engine out and it wasn't any more fun driving at 7 or 8/10ths than our ZHP. Just too similar to bother.

I got into a 2005 Boxter...totally base model with manual seats and 17"s. I was completely blown away. Sure, it was a lot slower than my M3 (about like our ZHP), but the experience was just so amazing. There is magic in the mid-engine placement. Less weight over the front wheels makes a huge difference in the steering feel (and my M3 is no slouch in that department). Less assist and less weight make for a delicious combo. Turn in was fantastic and the surefootedness of the car made up significantly for the lack of power.

I drove an 987 S shortly thereafter and definitely prefer it to the base model with it's extra oomph. I also drove a 2003 996 and while the acceleration was noticably snappier than the 987S, I didn't think it felt nearly as planted as the Boxter, nor as comfortable over rough pavement (the 996 has huge wheels back there and pretty firm springs to support the weight). Both actually rode more supple than my E36 M6 with Koni/H&R OE combo.

I haven't driven an S4, but my friend did and was impressed by the engine, but complained about the ride quality for the level of handling. BMW seems to have an up on the Audi in that deparment.

I agree that the M3 is not much more practical than the Boxter. You can fit more groceries, but not more people really. No one is going to ride back there. If you drive both, you'll know the answer. For me, I'm saving my dough for a used 2003-4 986 or stripped down 987.

GTEE3

Miken, I am going to order an '06 S....any recommendations on where, who, for the best price?
thanks, Phil