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

compare selected cars
1998. - 2001.
D - Large family car
sedan, 4 door
rear
Badges
Production
Vehicle class
Body style
Wheel drive
Safety
1999. - 2001.
D - Large family car
sedan, 4 door
front

Marketing

Dimensons & Outlines

4471 mm
1739 mm
1415 mm
440 liters
40 liters
63 liters
Length
Width
Height
Boot (min)
Boot (max)
Fuel tank
4478 mm
1733 mm
1415 mm
440 liters
720 liters
62 liters
1998 BMW 3 Series
1999 Audi A4

Engine

Diesel
4 - Inline, 4 valves per cylinder
Turbo
1951 cc
136 hp
280 Nm
Engine
Fuel
Configuration
Aspiration
Displacement
Power
Torque
Volkswagen
1.9 TDI AJM
Diesel
4 - Inline, 2 valves per cylinder
Turbo
1896 cc
115 hp
285 Nm

Performance (manual gearbox)

manual gearbox - 5 gears
1375 kg
9.9 s
207 km/h
7.7 l/100km
4.5 l/100km
5.7 l/100km
152 g/km
Gearbox type
Vehicle weight
Acc. 0-100
Top speed
Cons. (urban)
Cons. (highway)
Cons. (average)
CO2 emissions
manual gearbox - 5 gears
1250 kg
11.3 s
195 km/h
6.9 l/100km
4.3 l/100km
5.3 l/100km
142 g/km

Performance (automatic gearbox)

automatic - 5 gears
1400 kg
10.3 s
207 km/h
9.2 l/100km
5.6 l/100km
6.9 l/100km
207 g/km
Gearbox type
Vehicle weight
Acc. 0-100
Top speed
Cons. (urban)
Cons. (highway)
Cons. (average)
CO2 emissions
automatic - 4 gears
1270 kg
12.8 s
192 km/h
9.0 l/100km
4.9 l/100km
6.4 l/100km
173 g/km

Expenses

1500 EUR
Price from
1200 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 4-door sedan 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 front in the case of the Audi). The first one has a BMW-engineered powertrain under the hood, a 4-cylinder, 16-valves 136hp unit, while the other one gets its power and torque from a 4-cylinder, 8-valves 115hp engine designed by Volkswagen.

Safety

Both vehicles got tested by European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP), with the BMW being a slightly better choice apparently. 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. Furthermore, if we'd like to consider vehicle mass in this context too, which we definitely should, 3 Series offers a considerable difference of 10% more metal.

Reliability

Manufacturers have been building their reliability reputation for decades now and, generally speaking, it appears that both brands display similar results in faults and breakdowns, when all the models are taken into account. That's the official data, while our visitors describe reliability of BMW, as well as Audi, with the same average rating of 4.2 out of 5. The same official information place 3 Series as average reliability-wise, and A4 is more or less at the same level.That apart, owners of different cars powered by the same engine as 3 Series rank it on average as 4.4, while the one under the competitor's bonnet gets 4.1 out of 5.

Performance & Fuel economy

BMW is undoubtly more agile, reaching 100km/h in 1.4 seconds less than its competitor. In addition to that it accelerates all the way to 207 kilometers per hour, 12km/h more than the other car. When it comes to fuel economy things look pretty much the same for both cars, averaging around 5.5 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (51 mpg), in combined cycle.


Verdict

BMW 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, 3 Series beats the other contender by far, making it the best choice without even considering other things. It all continues in the same direction, with BMW 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 not difficult to say then that if I'd need to make a choice, it would definitely be the BMW. Nevertheless, let's not forget that people have different preferences and needs, so what really counts is your personal feel. I'm only here to help. I suggest you spend two more minutes in order to find out which car, based on your needs and budget, would be picked by the virtual adviser, among more than 12.000 different ones in our database.

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