Contrasting Views: Audi S5 vs. BMW 335i vs. Infiniti G37S In A Coupe Shootout

oh... i totally saw this coming

repost btw

I love the S5, but not for 15,000 more than the 335i. I think I like the 335 better anyway.

Wow! That article has amazing photos. All 3 cars look gorgeous. I'm really loving the LED's on the Audi, it gives it a 'trade mark' presence the same way the angel eyes do on the bimmmer. Interior looks amazing as well, but it obviously comes at a cost.

I think the leds look silly. at first i loved them but now i hate them. they look like christmas lighting

Sevor, YOU love the Mercedes GLK.

I think I already saw it... (-;

I would definitely buy the BMW or the Infiniti, but I definitely agree that the S5 has me hooked... I'm waiting for the RS5 to hit the streets (and possibly my garage).

All 3 are gorgeous works of art. I would put my money down on the S5 though, for it has just a bit more flair.

I'm not going to focus on the rest of your novella, but I must note that the S5 has the MOST interior trim options: brchwood, the standard metal, machined aluminum and carbon fiber.

What are you even referring to? The aluminum next to the navigation screen? Is that really a big deal? If you don't want to buy a car for that insignificant a reason, you don't deserve to have it at all.

"true S4, but I assume that it would add to the addl. $15k also? "

By the way... huh? The S5, fully-equipped, is only about $500 more than a BMW 335xi coupe loaded.

S4, that's only if you include things on the 335xi coupe you can't even get on the S5, like active cruise control and an automatic transmission. Loaded up with similar equipment, there's almost a $5k price difference between a 335xi Coupe and an S5. I know, I built both online the other day because I am getting one to replace my 330i at the end of the year.

Okay, fine. $5K is perfectly reasonable, because with the S5 you get a more luxurious interior, more power, quicker acceleration and the exclusivity of the "S" badge.

I'd go for the S5 too, but the 335i and G37 is tempting. Whatever happened to the CLK? I had the 1st generation and the S5 reminds me of that car. The current CLK is too pretty looking to have any kind of street cred. I hope they fix the next CLK. Until then I will take the S5 over even the 6-series.

i mean these cars are all amazing, id roll with the s5 just cause it new and u could can get 'super freak rick james red' interior. but all these cars great.

id take the G over the 3 and put the leftover $ to rims.

you can get a red interior in the 335 as well.

Look at how Datsun ripped off the profile windows from BMW!

:-(

This article is almost a year old. why do the autospies crew allow it?

That's not even possible

I downloaded the article from this site in August of 2007. That makes this article actually 5 months old. ridiculous

where's the CLK500? theres no love for MB!!

i meant CLK550!!!

As someone who's current E46/M3 and E54/X5 mark his 5th & 6th BMW, I simply despise it when these 'reviewers' continually fall back on the likes of,

"but the BMW still nails more intangibles"

"BMW's ability to magically keep the 3-series ahead of the competition makes the 335i"

"sitting in it gives you a direct link to the car's soul"

As reasons To Award BMW (particularly the 3-series) the victor in these 'alleged' comparison test.

Why don't they just announce from the on-set that:

Understand, The BMW Will Be 'Given' The Top Spot Whether It IS Indeed the Better Effort Or Not, But We Can't Be That Blatant About Our Bias, So Here Are A Couple Of Other Cars Thrown In For Good Measure.

In Summary: It's B.S. At Its Most Aromatic!

No...

Question: What does that have to do with what I posted?

I saw it coming, but I'm not concerned. All of these cars are awesome. They all bring something different to the table at a different price. That's the beauty of the free world market!

I'm certainly not getting that from this (direct quote),

"The driver's seat is always inviting, and sitting in it gives you a direct link to the car's soul"

Highly Questionable Hyperbole Is All I'm Reading Here...

Maybe it's deja vu, but I swear I read this exact same article, months ago.

.....and yes, I'm aware of the article's date.

its no deja vu. this is a repost

As soon as you take price into account G is the clear winner!

If you take price into account the Hyundai Coupe is the winner for all coupes.

OLD ARTICLE. This ssame article has been on Autospies.

A suggestion to the editors: check to make sure you don't REPOST articles.

After looking at the pics of the interiors, I wonder how can bmw get away with such a bland, cheap looking interior? Not to mention real leather is extra.

...and why is the bmw's interior never mentioned in comparisons? I don't know about intangibles, but leatherette is definitely tangible!

yes, let's make blanket judgements about the quality of a cars interior from one photo of one color combination. Ingenius! I'm going to do all my decision making and judgement rendering from now on this way! It cuts down on so much time and needless thought!

Actually, since that's a stupid idea, everyone likes the red leather in the S5 right? Go take yourself to a BMW dealer and look at a 335i Coupe interior with red leather and black wood trim. Now go to an Audi dealer and look at gthe red S5 interior. I just did exactly that at the NAIAS. Guess what? They were practically identical. Neither was appreciably nicer or less nice than the other.

So everyono who has neither owned nor even BEEN INSIDE both cars, give it a rest already. They're both nice, probably nicer than whatever you're driving.

Actullay the BMW leather is nicer, for one reason, the use more of it. Instead of leather seating surface you get a complete leather package.

If your looking to buy any of these cars, but have the reasoning to cash out with the s5 because of a 15g price difference, your persona speaks for yourself.

great comparison

Umm ya...i do believe that's what the article is saying.

Oh God, here we go again!

all these cars are nice looking, the g37 though i think looks a little to similar to the Altima coupe .....but i dont understand why people are taking these numbers "price" serious, the S5 is alot more expensive than the base model 335i....40,000 vs 50,000 but a 335i with the stuff the S5 has standard on it including the 19inch wheels from BMW is about 53,000. and thats not fully loaded thats just with what the S5 has. I sat in the S5 i love the way it looks honestly much better in person than pics, but the interior is just the opposite it just didnt look very luxurious with the black everything, thin pieces of aluminum on the doors, and the low end sports cars silver on the dash and instrumentation it just didnt seem as nice as the 335i wood, and leather combinations.

Then sit in an S5 with wood instead. It's available with two different aluminum trims, wood and carbon fiber.

I like the 335i's interior a lot, but I do think the S5's is a bit nicer.

The S5 looks nice. But it is also the most expensive, i think.

Nice comparo. S5 Rocks, though I would also take the 335 in a heartbeat...

I like the BMW most, but they all look nice.
Would like to own the Beemer. The lines of the Audi looks not so good, i think there are something wrong with it.
The G37 i really dont know we dont have it here in Denmark.

The BMW is the best car. They have great technology, awesome seats, and the best thing of all, the 300hp twin turbo engine. The performance with that engine is outstanding.

Nice comparison, all 3 cars are amazing. I think for my personal taste, the G37 has the best visual appeal inside and out of the 3 and the exhaust and performance is killer.

1.BMW 335i 2.S5 3.G37 ... I mean, the S5 looks great, but for the extra $15k more, I'd rather take a Merc CLK550. I mean, 382hp, 0-60 in 4.8, the looks are awesome with the std AMG Sports Pkg, Paddle shifters mounted on a AMG Sports Steering-Wheel.... Black on Black with Black Wood.... *drools* Then again, if you drop the CLK350 into the mix, then it really can't compete with the other 3

The current CLK also has little to no street cred... it's much more of a chick mobile than the S5, as well as the last-gen CLK. I'm just waiting for Merc to redesign it.

The S5 is also quicker than the CLK550 (0-60 in 4.6) in spite of its power deficit... and much less expensive.

You cant go wrong with any of them, you sure can go broke though with that S5.

BMW designers/engineers need spend time in the 635csi. Not advocating going retro, but getting the beauty back in large coupe. Mercedes 560SEC also classic. Well done Audi. S5 looks great.

I think that the S5 is the worst car here. I had the misfortune of getting to sit in one of those and it was such a let down. I didn't even have to drive it to be able to tell you it isn't worth the money. First of all, when you shut the door, horrible sounds come with it: squeaks, clanks, bangs, and rattles. That's just the beginning. The interior is uncomfortable and un-user friendly. I'm very disappointed with the A5/S5.

if people read down this far I predict you're going to be at -20 boost soon. You can't say bad things about Audi's on here, don't you know that?

Well, it's absolutely true. A brand new Audi shouldn't be clunking around like that. I will give it to you, it looks nice. But I wouldn't ever buy this. The impression it gives off before you even start the car is enough to drive away any sane buyer.

Well, today I had the good fortune to be taken out- back of the Audi dealership with a friend and to look at the S5.

I absolutely loved it. It didn’t have a leather dash, but some things can be overlooked. Furthermore, while the article here states that it competes more with the 6-series and XK, it is nowhere near as expensive as either. The one we looked at today was essentially maxed out in terms of options and was a scant $59,000. This vehicle had the same rims and was close to if not the exact color of the car in the article.

I will grant that it was dark by the time we were granted the keys and free reign of the vehicle.

I have been in the other two in the article and was moved to little more than a yawn by either.

all PERFECT cars for different budgets. if they were all priced equally, i would get the S5. i think its the most beautiful/ elegant. the interior is just amazing.
you cant go wrong with any of them.

just wanted to mention that with 2k out of pocket 36months 12k miles the dealer quoted me $625.00 a month for the g37S msrp ( 45,000)

$750.00 for the 335xi coupe 51,000 msrp

and $1,000 a month for the S5 $57,000

basically the bmw and infiniti FULLY loaded were significantly less per month to lease than the S5.

Audi is known for its sucky leases. The only cars with good lease rates are the A4 and Q7, unfortunately.

um... iamdabest1... those numbers are just common sense considering the price tags of the car. The most I've ever paid a month for a vehicle was $600 and that was my last car. At the moment I wouldn't quite pay that much any more for a car. However, I will say that if I'm considering $750 a month for the 335i, an extra $250 probably wouldn't kill me for the S5, which I think is the sexiest looking of them all by far. I've test driven the 335i and I agree with that article. It's a very nice ride, much like all other BMW's, except u can feel the extra horse power, but for some reason the incredibly smooth ride quality of the car sort of took the fun out of it for me when I pressed on the gas. You just don't feel like you're going fast, even though you are. That's not to say that I want a bumpy ride, but the car definitely doesn't throw you back into your seat. The last car I drove that was simply FUN AS HELL to drive was the 2006 Pontiac GTO. Even though I wasn't too fond of the exterior, that car is just simply unbeatable, especially at the price. It rips the Infiniti a new asshole, has a really smooth ride and throws you in the back of your seat when you hit the gas it doesn't stop pulling forward until you reach max speed. No hickups acceleration as you change from gear to gear like a lot of cars have problems with. Holden knows how to build nice cars. Too bad the styling just wasn't there.

I think they all looks brilliant. I checked only the S5 and g37, which were really nice.

I am too tall to fit into either the Audi S5 or the BMW 335i coupe. As I do not have a dog in this fight, I think I can objectively evaluate these two splendid cars. I currently own an Audi and have owned two BMWs in the past, and have liked all three of them, so I cannot be accused of being a "fanboy" of either marque.

The S5 is often described as a GT, while the 335i is described as a better track car. This Motive article follows that tack. However, in the "Car & Driver" and "Road & Track" reviews of these two cars, the Audi and the BMW were very closely matched in terms of actual performance. The Audi had very slightly better acceleration, braking, skidpad and slalom numbers than did the BMW.

Surprisingly, the BMW almost matched the Audi's acceleration numbers, even though the Audi had a 54-hp advantage and a better power-to-weight ratio. The BMW had much better gas mileage than the Audi as well. (Apparently BMW is being very conservative with the hp and torque ratings for that twin-turbo 3.5-liter six.)

The authors of both the "Car & Driver" and "Road & Track" articles praised both car's handling. That said, the author of the "Car & Driver" spec sheet summary expressed some disappointment with the S5's skidpad performance. Yet the Audi had slightly better skidpad and slalom numbers than the BMW. Go figure.

There is nothing really wrong with the 335i's exterior styling, but here the S5 wins hands down.

The Audi's interior design, materials, and fit and finish are better than the BMW's, even though there is nothing really wrong with the Bimmer's interior. The Audi has more front-seat legroom and a larger trunk, but the BMW has more rear-seat headroom. (That said, someone as tall as me - 6'4" with a long torso - would not be comfortable in either car's rear seat.)

If both cars were comparably equipped, the BMW would be a few thousand dollars cheaper. (BMW's price advantage diminishes when the Bimmer is equipped with AWD. However, I wouldn't think a $4-5,000 price difference would mean much when shopping for cars this expensive. That goes double when one is considering cars like these two, where emotions play such a large role in the final purchase decision. These cars are sport coupes, not refrigerators.

So there you have it. No "slam dunk" victory for either car. Six of one and half-dozen of the other. Decide which vehicle is more appealing or better meets your needs, and make your purchase decision accordingly. I don't think you would be disappointed with either one.

Sooooooo glad they put some work into balancing the weight of the A5/S5 better. I waited 6 and a half years to see this happen...