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

compare selected cars
2015. - 2019.
D - Large family car
wagon, 5 door
rear
Badges
Production
Vehicle class
Body style
Wheel drive
Safety
2014. - 2019.
D - Large family car
wagon, 5 door
4 x 4

Marketing

Dimensons & Outlines

4633 mm
1811 mm
1429 mm
495 liters
1500 liters
57 liters
Length
Width
Height
Boot (min)
Boot (max)
Fuel tank
4767 mm
1832 mm
1477 mm
650 liters
1780 liters
66 liters
2015 BMW 3 Series Touring
2014 Volkswagen Passat Variant

Engine

Diesel
4 - Inline, 4 valves per cylinder
Turbo
1995 cc
116 hp
260 Nm
Engine
Fuel
Configuration
Aspiration
Displacement
Power
Torque
Volkswagen
2.0 TDI CRBC
Diesel
4 - Inline, 4 valves per cylinder
Turbo
1968 cc
150 hp
320 Nm

Performance (manual gearbox)

manual gearbox - 6 gears
1495 kg
11.2 s
200 km/h
5.5 l/100km
4.0 l/100km
4.6 l/100km
120 g/km
Gearbox type
Vehicle weight
Acc. 0-100
Top speed
Cons. (urban)
Cons. (highway)
Cons. (average)
CO2 emissions
manual gearbox - 6 gears
1556 kg
8.9 s
213 km/h
5.7 l/100km
4.1 l/100km
4.7 l/100km
123 g/km

Performance (automatic gearbox)

automatic - 8 gears
1510 kg
11.1 s
198 km/h
5.5 l/100km
4.0 l/100km
4.6 l/100km
120 g/km
Gearbox type
Vehicle weight
Acc. 0-100
Top speed
Cons. (urban)
Cons. (highway)
Cons. (average)
CO2 emissions
 
kg
s
km/h
l/100km
l/100km
l/100km
g/km

Expenses

7900 EUR
Price from
11300 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 diesel engines and utilizing the 5-door wagon body style within the same 'Large family car' segment, the only major difference here really is their wheel drive configuration (rear for the BMW and 4 x 4 in the case of the Volkswagen). The first one has a BMW-engineered powertrain under the hood, a 4-cylinder, 16-valves 116hp unit, while the other one gets its power and torque from a 4-cylinder, 16-valves 150hp engine designed by Volkswagen.

Safety

A starting point here would be to take a look at the results from European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP) tests which were performed on both of the cars, with the same number of safety stars gained in the process. Moving further on, let's take a closer look at some additional safety-related facts. Both vehicles belong to the large family car segment, which is generally a good thing safety-wise, but that fact doesn't break the tie between the two cars. On the other hand, when it comes to weight, a factor that most people underestimate, Passat offers a marginal difference of 4% more metal.

Reliability

Reliability is not the best thing to consider on the make level, but it is worth mentioning that Volkswagen does have a slight advantage, when all the models are taken into account. These are the official statistics, while our visitors describe reliability of BMW, as well as Volkswagen, with the same average rating of 4.2 out of 5. Some independent research have also placed 3 Series as average reliability-wise, and Passat is more or less at the same level.Above it all, drivers of cars with the same engine as 3 Series rank it on average as 4.5, while the one under the competitor's bonnet gets 4.6 out of 5.

Performance & Fuel economy

Volkswagen is undoubtly more agile, reaching 100km/h in 2.3 seconds less than its competitor. In addition to that it accelerates all the way to 213 kilometers per hour, 13km/h more than the other car. When it comes to fuel economy things look pretty much the same for both cars, averaging around 4.7 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (61 mpg), in combined cycle.


Verdict

Volkswagen 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, Passat offers slightly better overall protection and takes the lead. It all continues in the same direction, with Volkswagen being considerably quicker, thus putting more smile on driver's face. It does come at a cost though, and that's the fuel consumption... It's really tough to make a final decision here, but if I'd need to, I'd say Volkswagen. 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, out of 12.000+ vehicles we currently have in our database.

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