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Compare any two cars and get our Virtual Adviser™ opinion

Car #1
Make
Model
Variant
Engine
Car #2
Make
Model
Variant
Engine

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2001. - 2006.
E - Luxury car
wagon, 5 door
front
Badges
Production
Vehicle class
Body style
Wheel drive
Safety
2003. - 2007.
E - Luxury car
wagon, 5 door
rear

Marketing

Dimensons & Outlines

4828 mm
1792 mm
1501 mm
416 liters
1490 liters
75 liters
Length
Width
Height
Boot (min)
Boot (max)
Fuel tank
4843 mm
1846 mm
1491 mm
500 liters
1650 liters
70 liters
2001 SAAB 9-5 Estate
2003 BMW 5 Series Touring

Engine

Petrol
4 - Inline, 4 valves per cylinder
Turbo
2290 cc
220 hp
310 Nm
Engine
Fuel
Configuration
Aspiration
Displacement
Power
Torque
Petrol
6 - Inline, 4 valves per cylinder
Nat. Asp.
2494 cc
192 hp
245 Nm

Performance (manual gearbox)

manual gearbox - 5 gears
1525 kg
8.3 s
230 km/h
13.7 l/100km
7.2 l/100km
9.6 l/100km
229 g/km
Gearbox type
Vehicle weight
Acc. 0-100
Top speed
Cons. (urban)
Cons. (highway)
Cons. (average)
CO2 emissions
manual gearbox - 6 gears
1555 kg
8.2 s
232 km/h
14.1 l/100km
7.5 l/100km
9.9 l/100km
238 g/km

Performance (automatic gearbox)

automatic - 5 gears
1560 kg
9.2 s
225 km/h
15.5 l/100km
7.3 l/100km
10.3 l/100km
247 g/km
Gearbox type
Vehicle weight
Acc. 0-100
Top speed
Cons. (urban)
Cons. (highway)
Cons. (average)
CO2 emissions
automatic - 6 gears
1565 kg
8.8 s
229 km/h
14.7 l/100km
7.9 l/100km
10.3 l/100km
248 g/km

Expenses

1700 EUR
Price from
3000 EUR

Virtual Adviser's™ opinion

Overview

Two significantly similar cars, no doubt about that. Still, each one has something different to offer. Having both cars powered by petrol engines and utilizing the 5-door wagon body style within the same 'Luxury car' segment, the only major difference here really is their wheel drive configuration (front for the SAAB and rear in the case of the BMW). The first one has a SAAB-engineered powertrain under the hood, a 4-cylinder, 16-valves 220hp unit, while the other one gets its power and torque from a 6-cylinder, 24-valves 192hp engine designed by BMW.

Safety

The first thing to look into here would be the results from European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP) tests performed on the two cars. Good thing is that both vehicles got tested, with the SAAB being a slightly better choice apparently. Still, apart from the official crash test results there are other things we need to be aware of. Both vehicles belong to the luxury car segment, which is generally a very good thing safety-wise, but it doesn't do much to help us decide between the two. On the other hand, taking kerb weight as an important factor into account, the German car offers a marginal difference of 2% more metal.

Reliability

Manufacturers have been building their reliability reputation for decades now and, generally speaking, it appears that SAAB does have a slight advantage, at least on all of the models level. These are the results of an independent reasearch, while our visitors describe reliability of SAAB with an average rating of 4.1, and models under the BMW badge with 4.2 out of 5. The same official information place 9-5 as average reliability-wise, and 5 Series is more or less at the same level.We should definitely mention that owners of cars with the same powertrain as the Swedish car rank it on average as 3.0, while the one under the competitor's bonnet gets 2.8 out of 5.

Performance & Fuel economy

BMW is a bit more agile, reaching 100km/h in 0.1 seconds less than its competitor. In addition to that it accelerates all the way to 232 kilometers per hour, 2km/h more than the other car. When it comes to fuel economy things look pretty much the same for both cars, averaging around 9.8 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (29 mpg), in combined cycle.


Verdict

SAAB appears just a bit more reliable, although the difference is truly marginal. The most important thing when deciding between any two vehicles should always be safety, both passive and active. In my opinion, everything taken into account, the Swedish car offers slightly better overall protection and takes the lead. From there things take a different direction, with BMW offering somewhat better performance, just enough to call it quicker. It does come at a cost though, and that's the fuel consumption... No mistake, whatever you decide here, but I'd still go for the SAAB. Anyway, that's the most objective conclusion I could've came up with and it's based solely on the information found on this website. Aspects such as design, practicality, brand value and driving experience are there for you to measure them out. Also, you could use the oportunity to find out which car, everything taken into account, would be the perfect choice for you in the eyes of the virtual adviser, out of 12.000+ vehicles we currently have in our database.

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