Compare two cars

Compare any two cars and get our Virtual Adviser™ opinion

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

compare selected cars
2001. - 2005.
D - Large family car
sedan, 4 door
rear
Badges
Production
Vehicle class
Body style
Wheel drive
Safety
2003. - 2007.
D - Large family car
sedan, 4 door
front

Marketing

Dimensons & Outlines

4471 mm
1739 mm
1415 mm
440 liters
440 liters
63 liters
Length
Width
Height
Boot (min)
Boot (max)
Fuel tank
4435 mm
1743 mm
1430 mm
378 liters
378 liters
63 liters
2001 BMW 3 Series
2003 Alfa Romeo 156

Engine

Petrol
6 - Inline, 4 valves per cylinder
Nat. Asp.
2979 cc
231 hp
300 Nm
Engine
Fuel
Configuration
Aspiration
Displacement
Power
Torque
Alfa Romeo / General Motors
3.2 Busso V6 HP
Petrol
6 - V config, 4 valves per cylinder
Nat. Asp.
3179 cc
250 hp
300 Nm

Performance (manual gearbox)

manual gearbox - 5 gears
1405 kg
6.5 s
250 km/h
12.8 l/100km
6.9 l/100km
9.1 l/100km
218 g/km
Gearbox type
Vehicle weight
Acc. 0-100
Top speed
Cons. (urban)
Cons. (highway)
Cons. (average)
CO2 emissions
manual gearbox - 6 gears
1385 kg
6.3 s
250 km/h
18.1 l/100km
8.6 l/100km
12.1 l/100km
287 g/km

Performance (automatic gearbox)

automatic - 5 gears
1440 kg
7.0 s
247 km/h
14.0 l/100km
7.0 l/100km
9.6 l/100km
230 g/km
Gearbox type
Vehicle weight
Acc. 0-100
Top speed
Cons. (urban)
Cons. (highway)
Cons. (average)
CO2 emissions
automatic - 6 gears
1385 kg
6.3 s
250 km/h
18.1 l/100km
8.6 l/100km
12.1 l/100km
287 g/km

Expenses

1700 EUR
Price from
800 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 '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 Alfa Romeo). The first one has a BMW-engineered powertrain under the hood, a 6-cylinder, 24-valves 231hp unit, while the other one gets its power and torque from a 6-cylinder, 24-valves 250hp engine designed by Alfa Romeo.

Safety

The fact that the BMW got tested by the European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP), while the other contender didn't, offers a slight advantage, as the 4-star rating is better than none. Still, apart from the official crash test results there are other things we need to be aware of. 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, taking kerb weight as an important factor into account, 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 BMW does have a slight advantage, when all the models are taken into account. That's the official data, while our visitors describe reliability of BMW, as well as Alfa Romeo, with the same average rating of 4.2 out of 5. The same official information place 3 Series as average reliability-wise, and 156 is more or less at the same level.Above it all, drivers of cars with the same engine as the German car rank it on average as 5.0 out of 5, exactly the same as the other one.

Performance & Fuel economy

Alfa Romeo is a bit more agile, reaching 100km/h in 0.2 seconds less than its competitor. In addition to that it accelerates all the way to 250 kilometers per hour, exactly the same as the other car does. When it comes to fuel economy an obvious choice would be the German car, averaging around 9.1 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (31 mpg), in combined cycle. That's 33% difference compared to the Italian car!


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, the German car beats the other contender by far, making it the best choice without even considering other things. From there things take a different direction, with Alfa Romeo offering somewhat better performance, just enough to call it quicker. It does come at a cost though, and that's the fuel consumption... All together, there's not much more to say, in this case I wouldn't even consider anything but 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. 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.

Check a car by its VIN number

Follow us

AutoManiac Instagram

AutoManiac Facebook

AutoManiac database currently covers:

47worldwide automotive brands
1.531different vehicle models
2.233engines
13.778specific cars