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 4 x 4 in the case of the BMW). The first one has a Opel-engineered powertrain under the hood, a 6-cylinder, 24-valves 200hp unit, while the other one gets its power and torque from a 6-cylinder, 24-valves 258hp 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. That aside, let's consider some other aspects which affect safety. Both vehicles belong to the luxury car segment, which is generally a very good thing safety-wise, but that fact doesn't break the tie between the two cars. Furthermore, if we'd like to consider vehicle mass in this context too, which we definitely should, the Swedish car offers a marginal difference of 6% more metal.

Reliability

I don't like generalizing things when it comes to reliability, although it does seem that SAAB does have a slight advantage, when all the models are taken into account. That's the official data, while our visitors describe reliability of SAAB with an average rating of 4.2, and models under the BMW badge with 4.1 out of 5. The same official information place 9-5 4% below average, and 5 Series 19% below the first one. We should definitely mention that owners of cars with the same powertrain as the Swedish car rank it on average as 4.0 out of 5, exactly the same as the other one.

Performance & Fuel economy

BMW is undoubtly more agile, reaching 100km/h in 2.4 seconds less than its competitor. In addition to that it accelerates all the way to 245 kilometers per hour, 15km/h more than the other car. When it comes to fuel economy the winner has to be the German car, averaging around 10.1 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (28 mpg), in combined cycle. We can't ignore that 12% difference compared to the Swedish car.

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 much better overall protection, which launches it ahead of the other contender. From there things take a different direction, with BMW outracing its opponent in any situation possible, making it better choice for boy racers. To make things even better, it consumps less fuel! It's not difficult to say then that if I'd need to make a choice, it would definitely be the BMW. 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. In case you have two minutes to spare I invite you to define your needs, desires and budget and see which car would be chosen by the virtual adviser™, among more than 12.000 different ones in our database.