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

compare selected cars
2006. - 2010.
E - Luxury car
sedan, 4 door
front
Badges
Production
Vehicle class
Body style
Wheel drive
Safety
2007. - 2010.
E - Luxury car
sedan, 4 door
rear

Marketing

Dimensons & Outlines

4836 mm
1792 mm
1448 mm
500 liters
500 liters
75 liters
Length
Width
Height
Boot (min)
Boot (max)
Fuel tank
4841 mm
1846 mm
1468 mm
520 liters
520 liters
70 liters
2006 SAAB 9-5
2007 BMW 5 Series

Engine

Petrol
4 - Inline, 4 valves per cylinder
Turbo
2290 cc
185 hp
280 Nm
Engine
Fuel
Configuration
Aspiration
Displacement
Power
Torque
Petrol
6 - Inline, 4 valves per cylinder
Nat. Asp.
2497 cc
190 hp
235 Nm

Performance (manual gearbox)

manual gearbox - 5 gears
1470 kg
8.3 s
230 km/h
12.8 l/100km
6.6 l/100km
8.9 l/100km
212 g/km
Gearbox type
Vehicle weight
Acc. 0-100
Top speed
Cons. (urban)
Cons. (highway)
Cons. (average)
CO2 emissions
manual gearbox - 6 gears
1475 kg
8.2 s
237 km/h
10.1 l/100km
5.7 l/100km
7.3 l/100km
174 g/km

Performance (automatic gearbox)

automatic - 5 gears
1505 kg
9.5 s
225 km/h
14.8 l/100km
7.2 l/100km
10.0 l/100km
238 g/km
Gearbox type
Vehicle weight
Acc. 0-100
Top speed
Cons. (urban)
Cons. (highway)
Cons. (average)
CO2 emissions
automatic - 6 gears
1500 kg
8.7 s
236 km/h
10.3 l/100km
5.9 l/100km
7.5 l/100km
178 g/km

Expenses

3000 EUR
Price from
5500 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 4-door sedan 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 185hp unit, while the other one gets its power and torque from a 6-cylinder, 24-valves 190hp engine designed by BMW.

Safety

Both vehicles got tested by European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP), 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, still it doesn't help us solve our dilemma, does it? On the other hand, if we'd like to consider vehicle mass in this context too, which we definitely should, the German car offers a marginal difference of 1% 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, when all the models are taken into account. 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. Independent research findings rank 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 out of 5, exactly the same as the other one.

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 237 kilometers per hour, 7km/h more than the other car. When it comes to fuel economy the winner has to be the German car, averaging around 7.3 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (39 mpg), in combined cycle. We can't ignore that 22% 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 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. To make things even better, it consumps less fuel! I believe that, when we take all into account, we have only one winner here - the BMW. In any case that's my personal view, built upon all the data available to me. What should decide here though is the way you feel about the two vehicles, and I hope you'll find my guidelines useful in the process. 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, among thousands of similar, yet so different vehicles.

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