The LCi 4-Series is a great update to the 4-Series in general. BMW did a great job with the new headlights, new tail lights and new wheels for the 4-Series. This example in Ferrari Red is also nothing short of stunning. My local dealer also has a new fully loaded 440i Gran Coupe in the new Snapper Rocks Blue. I took picture of it and have them on my phone but the phone camera does not do the color justice. The new Snapper Rocks Blue is simply amazing and I think it looks better than Long Beach Blue and exceeds most of BMW's other blue colors including Monte Carlo, Estoril, and Interlagos, but I have to say I think that San Marino Blue and Atlantis Blue are probably still better than Snapper Rocks.
With that said, even with all of the things the LCi 4-Series has going for it, I do not think it is a better car than the all new Audi S5 Sportback, and this is tough for me to say since I have been a BMW fan for decades. In fact there are rarely any Audi's I like over a BMW, but I gotta say this new S5 Sportback is one of the sexiest cars I have ever seen. For me personally it's even better looking than the standard all new 2018 Audi S5 Coupe and the still yet to arrive 2018 Audi RS5 Coupe. I think the Sportback is a better looking vehicle than those coupes for one thing and one thing alone, the hoffmeister kink. The Sportback utilizes a different hoffmeister kink than those coupes and I have honestly never been a fan of the Audi hoffmeister kink.
Anyways, the all new 2018 Audi S5 Sportback is a superior vehicle to the new 2018 BMW 440i LCi Gran Coupe in my opinion for the following reasons:
2018 Audi S5 Sportback Pros:
- All new design for Audi, they've never done a Sportback version of the A5 or S5 for the American market before.
- The new A5 and S5 are a brand new design in general for Audi for 2018, where as the BMW 4-Series has been around for a few years now.
- The S5 Sportback gets bespoke Sport Seats that are different than the seats in the A5 Sportback. On the BMW 440i, you get the same exact seats as on the 430i, this is lame.
- The S5 Sportback gets alcantara surfaces on the doors as standard.
- The new Audi MMi is very good now.
- The new S5 Coupe and Sportback now make more power than the BMW 440i. Audi's 354hp to BMW's 335hp.
- Audi's AWD Quattro system, although you can certainly get a 440i Gran Coupe with xDrive as well.
- The interior design of the Audi S5 Sportback is more modern while BMW's interior is still very good looking but starting to feel just a bit dated now.
- You can option a Bang & Olufsen Sound System in the S5 Sportback at 755watts.
- Audi S5 Sportback comes with Trunk Spoiler as standard rather than the customer having to shop the M Performance parts catalog for an expensive spoiler for their 440i Gran Coupe.
- 4 tail pipes on the Audi vs 2 on the BMW.
- Better looking sideview mirrors than the 440i Gran Coupe in my opinion.
2018 Audi S5 Sportback Cons:
- Audi's AWD Quattro system. You can't get a RWD version of the S5 Sportback even if you wanted to.
- Audi is still designing their sports cars with the engine block high and forward of the front axle, although for the new 2018 S5 Coupe and S5 Sportback their new single-turbo V6 engine is now lighter than the previous generation S5's engine with the Supercharged V6. So this will help handling a bit better than before, but still not as ideal as BMW's engine being better placed in the chassis.
- Higher base price than BMW 440i Gran Coupe.
- The 2018 Audi S5 Sportback is significantly heavier than the BMW 440i Gran Coupe. To the best of my research the 440i Gran Coupe weighs in at around 3,740lbs while the new 2018 S5 Sportback weighs in at a whopping 4,012lbs. Although, if you add xDrive to the 440i Gran Coupe it will be a bit heavier at 3,885lbs, still lighter than the Audi.
- The floating infotainment screen in the Audi still looks way out of place and a bit stupid in my opinion.
Despite the clear weight advantage of the BMW over the Audi, I'd still take the Audi over the BMW because I wouldn't intend on using either car for track duty where kerb weight really matters.
Anyway, I plan on doing a Euro Delivery trip with the Audi S5 Sportback once my lease is up on my BMW 428i Gran Coupe. Happy driving everyone.
