not even close to the same car. Not if you are getting a Quattro.

Hopefully the B8 avant is larger than the B7. I always included the B7 Avant in past buying decisions but could never get past that it felt way too narrow and way to cramped with the sloping roofline. Feels like a 3/4 scale car to me. Allroad felt like right-sized to me. But maybe the B8 Avant is the perfect San Fran city car for you, and when you have more than one normal sized passenger, you can treat them to a much more pleasant ride in the M5.:D

I also think you should try a previous generation 6-speed manual sport pack X3 before you pull the trigger on the A4.

I drove an X3....didn't do much for me. If I did that, I'd keep the X5 (still may). Manual tranny is out and I want maybe try something other than a BMW. Calculating fuel costs, the savings to us is around $450/year if we get the A4 Quattro. Why did you sell your M5? Great and fun car but it can get real expensive very quickly. I may just keep the X. We own it and know the car pretty well. We keep spending money on the usual stupid repairs but it's still a fun SAV/SUV to drive. Not a bad situation to be in.

Selling the M5 can be chocked up to a mistake but I was looking to simplify my garage and get away from taking care of 3 cars.

I have 2 little ones so my cars are always rolling disasters inside and the X5 is the perfect hauler for me. But still looking every now and then for another E39 M5 or even E60 manual. We'll see. Good luck!

Also a former Audi owner and lover... I think comparing the X and the Avant will be tough in a direct comparison, both are great vehicles in their own right.

Test drive the different motor options to find one that suits. I have found the Turbo 4's to be much more enjoyable then the 6's. I did however HATE the 2.0T with the 6 speed manual. it seemed to me the lower gears were too tight together, prompting WAY too many shifts in town. The 5 speed manual was much more to my liking

just my $0.02 plus tax

As a household that owns both brands (an X5 and an S4) I think you enjoy it. I LOVE my S4 and my wife LOVES her X5. She just crest 100k on the X5...

Funny to post to come across this thread...i've been thinking about trading in my '06 4.4i and have been looking at AWD wagons also. For me the driving force is the CPO is running out soon and wife thinks we should trade before then. I love our X, but it is definitely is not the most reliable car out there, and repairs are insanely expensive, even outside the dealership. Mine just died on the way home from a vacation, had to have it towed to the dealership. Turned out to be just the alternator, but either way was fully covered under CPO. I know the mechanic at the dealership who did the work and he told me it probably would've cost close to a grand otherwise! He also told me that my X5 with the N62 (V8) engines have lots of problems. A few months ago they had to replace some levers/camshaft or concentric shaft issue, cost over $6,000 but again was fully covered by the CPO. So I asked the mechanic about the 535xi wagons as a choice for a trade in, he told me they're replacing the turbos on those at only 20K miles! What is going on with BMW reliability?

My two cents....

The only Audi that I would consider replacing my X5 with would be the Audi R8 :)

Let me say also that I think it is in fact a strange comparison (X5 to A4), but this was previously stated by another member...