A4 wagon vs. another German

Looking at A4 Avant 1.8T (or 3.0) vs. BMW 3 series wagon

Manual trans. and AWD a must.

Any first hand experiences on offerings from both, espec. in terms of long-term reliability?

We live in New England so foul weather capability is a must...and we live in the city, so "zippiness" would be great too.

So....

Audi or BMW?
1.8T or 3.0?

Thanks in advance.

MD

For a wagon I would prefer the A4 over the 3 series, but if your buying new remember that a new BMW includes service in the price. Audi service and maint. can get costly, although I personally have had no problems. Most of it would be covered by a warranty, but overall I would go with the Audi, i like the styling and Quattro better...