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 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 SAAB). The first one has a BMW-engineered powertrain under the hood, a 6-cylinder, 24-valves 170hp unit, while the other one gets its power and torque from a 4-cylinder, 16-valves 175hp engine designed by Opel.

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 large family car segment, which is generally a good thing safety-wise, still it doesn't help us solve our dilemma, does it? On the other hand, taking kerb weight as an important factor into account, the Swedish car offers a marginal difference of 1% more metal.

Reliability is not the best thing to consider on the make level, but it is worth mentioning that SAAB 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 with an average rating of 4.1, and models under the SAAB badge with 4.2 out of 5. Independent research findings rank 3 Series as average reliability-wise, and 9-3 is more or less at the same level.We should definitely mention that owners of cars with the same powertrain as the German car rank it on average as 4.4, while the one under the competitor's bonnet gets 3.9 out of 5.

Both of the cars accelerate exactly the same, so we couldn't put one above the other. Car No. 2 is faster though, reaching top speed of 225 kilometers per hour, 1km/h more than the other car. When it comes to fuel economy the winner has to be the Swedish car, averaging around 8.3 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (34 mpg), in combined cycle. We can't ignore that 8% difference compared to the German car.

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 much better overall protection, which launches it ahead of the other contender. It all continues in the same direction, with SAAB offering somewhat better performance, just enough to call it quicker. To make things even better, it consumps less fuel! All together, there's not much more to say, in this case I wouldn't even consider anything but SAAB. 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.