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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
wagon, 5 door
rear
Badges
Production
Vehicle class
Body style
Wheel drive
Safety
2002. - 2007.
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
4654 mm
1762 mm
1492 mm
419 liters
1273 liters
58 liters
2001 BMW 3 Series Touring
2002 SAAB 9-3 Sport Combi

Engine

Diesel
6 - Inline, 4 valves per cylinder
Turbo
2926 cc
184 hp
390 Nm
Engine
Fuel
Configuration
Aspiration
Displacement
Power
Torque
Opel / General Motors
2.2 Y22DTR
Diesel
4 - Inline, 4 valves per cylinder
Turbo
2172 cc
125 hp
280 Nm

Performance (manual gearbox)

manual gearbox - 5 gears
1590 kg
7.9 s
225 km/h
9.6 l/100km
5.5 l/100km
7.0 l/100km
186 g/km
Gearbox type
Vehicle weight
Acc. 0-100
Top speed
Cons. (urban)
Cons. (highway)
Cons. (average)
CO2 emissions
manual gearbox - 6 gears
1495 kg
11.5 s
200 km/h
7.5 l/100km
4.7 l/100km
5.7 l/100km
157 g/km

Performance (automatic gearbox)

automatic - 5 gears
1600 kg
8.3 s
225 km/h
11.3 l/100km
6.3 l/100km
8.1 l/100km
216 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

1700 EUR
Price from
1500 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 SAAB). The first one has a BMW-engineered powertrain under the hood, a 6-cylinder, 24-valves 184hp unit, while the other one gets its power and torque from a 4-cylinder, 16-valves 125hp engine designed by Opel.

Safety

Both vehicles got tested by European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP), with the SAAB being a slightly better choice apparently. 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, still it doesn't help us solve our dilemma, does it? 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 6% more metal.

Reliability

Manufacturers have been building their reliability reputation for decades now and, generally speaking, it appears that SAAB does have a slight advantage, all the models observed together. That's the official data, while our visitors describe reliability of BMW with an average rating of 4.2, and models under the SAAB badge with 4.1 out of 5. Some independent research have also placed 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 5.0, while the one under the competitor's bonnet gets 3.8 out of 5.

Performance & Fuel economy

BMW is way more agile, reaching 100km/h in 3.6 seconds less than its competitor. In addition to that it accelerates all the way to 225 kilometers per hour, 25km/h more than the other car. When it comes to fuel economy the winner has to be the Swedish car, averaging around 5.7 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (50 mpg), in combined cycle. We can't ignore that 23% difference compared to the German 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 Swedish car offers slightly better overall protection and takes the lead. From there things take a different direction, with BMW outracing its opponent in any situation possible, making it better choice for boy racers. It does come at a cost though, and that's the fuel consumption... No mistake, whatever you decide here, but I'd still go for the SAAB. 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. 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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