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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
wagon, 5 door
rear
Badges
Production
Vehicle class
Body style
Wheel drive
Safety
1999. - 2004.
D - Large family car
wagon, 5 door
front

Marketing

Dimensons & Outlines

4478 mm
1739 mm
1409 mm
435 liters
1345 liters
63 liters
Length
Width
Height
Boot (min)
Boot (max)
Fuel tank
4736 mm
1760 mm
1460 mm
526 liters
1741 liters
70 liters
1998 BMW 3 Series Touring
1999 Peugeot 406 Break

Engine

Diesel
4 - Inline, 4 valves per cylinder
Turbo
1951 cc
136 hp
280 Nm
Engine
Fuel
Configuration
Aspiration
Displacement
Power
Torque
Diesel
4 - Inline, 2 valves per cylinder
Turbo
1997 cc
109 hp
250 Nm

Performance (manual gearbox)

manual gearbox - 5 gears
1460 kg
10.1 s
207 km/h
7.8 l/100km
4.7 l/100km
5.9 l/100km
156 g/km
Gearbox type
Vehicle weight
Acc. 0-100
Top speed
Cons. (urban)
Cons. (highway)
Cons. (average)
CO2 emissions
manual gearbox - 5 gears
1400 kg
11.4 s
185 km/h
7.5 l/100km
4.6 l/100km
5.7 l/100km
149 g/km

Performance (automatic gearbox)

automatic - 5 gears
1485 kg
10.6 s
207 km/h
9.6 l/100km
5.7 l/100km
7.1 l/100km
190 g/km
Gearbox type
Vehicle weight
Acc. 0-100
Top speed
Cons. (urban)
Cons. (highway)
Cons. (average)
CO2 emissions
automatic - 4 gears
1435 kg
13.0 s
185 km/h
9.3 l/100km
5.2 l/100km
6.7 l/100km
178 g/km

Expenses

1500 EUR
Price from
600 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 front in the case of the Peugeot). 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 109hp engine designed by Peugeot.

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, the German car offers a marginal difference of 4% more metal.

Reliability

I don't like generalizing things when it comes to reliability, although it does seem that Peugeot as a brand displays somewhat better results, at least on all of the models level. That's the official data, while our visitors describe reliability of BMW with an average rating of 4.2, and models under the Peugeot badge with 4.3 out of 5. Independent research findings rank 3 Series as average reliability-wise, and 406 is more or less at the same level.That apart, owners of different cars powered by the same engine as the German car rank it on average as 4.4, while the one under the competitor's bonnet gets 4.5 out of 5.

Performance & Fuel economy

BMW is undoubtly more agile, reaching 100km/h in 1.3 seconds less than its competitor. In addition to that it accelerates all the way to 207 kilometers per hour, 22km/h more than the other car. When it comes to fuel economy things look pretty much the same for both cars, averaging around 5.8 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (49 mpg), in combined cycle.


Verdict

Peugeot 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 German car offers much better overall protection, which launches it ahead of the other contender. 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... I believe that, when we take all into account, we have only one winner here - 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, out of 12.000+ vehicles we currently have in our database.

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