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

compare selected cars
2005. - 2008.
D - Large family car
sedan, 4 door
rear
Badges
Production
Vehicle class
Body style
Wheel drive
Safety
2004. - 2007.
D - Large family car
sedan, 4 door
front

Marketing

Dimensons & Outlines

4520 mm
1817 mm
1421 mm
460 liters
460 liters
61 liters
Length
Width
Height
Boot (min)
Boot (max)
Fuel tank
4586 mm
1772 mm
1427 mm
460 liters
720 liters
70 liters
2005 BMW 3 Series
2004 Audi A4

Engine

Petrol
4 - Inline, 4 valves per cylinder
Nat. Asp.
1596 cc
122 hp
160 Nm
Engine
Fuel
Configuration
Aspiration
Displacement
Power
Torque
Volkswagen
1.6 8v ALZ
Petrol
4 - Inline, 2 valves per cylinder
Nat. Asp.
1595 cc
102 hp
148 Nm

Performance (manual gearbox)

manual gearbox - 6 gears
1335 kg
10.9 s
210 km/h
l/100km
l/100km
5.9 l/100km
142 g/km
Gearbox type
Vehicle weight
Acc. 0-100
Top speed
Cons. (urban)
Cons. (highway)
Cons. (average)
CO2 emissions
manual gearbox - 5 gears
1300 kg
12.6 s
190 km/h
10.8 l/100km
6.0 l/100km
7.7 l/100km
185 g/km

Performance (automatic gearbox)

 
kg
s
km/h
l/100km
l/100km
l/100km
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

6500 EUR
Price from
2500 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 Audi). The first one has a BMW-engineered powertrain under the hood, a 4-cylinder, 16-valves 122hp unit, while the other one gets its power and torque from a 4-cylinder, 8-valves 102hp engine designed by Volkswagen.

Safety

A starting point here would be to take a look at the results from European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP) tests which were performed on both of the cars, with the BMW 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, 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 marginal difference of 3% more metal.

Reliability

Reliability is not the best thing to consider on the make level, but it is worth mentioning that both brands display similar results in faults and breakdowns, at least on all of the models level. These are the official statistics, 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 3.0, while the one under the competitor's bonnet gets 3.7 out of 5.

Performance & Fuel economy

BMW is undoubtly more agile, reaching 100km/h in 1.7 seconds less than its competitor. In addition to that it accelerates all the way to 210 kilometers per hour, 20km/h more than the other car. When it comes to fuel economy the winner has to be 3 Series, averaging around 5.9 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (48 mpg), in combined cycle. We can't ignore that 31% difference compared to Audi A4.


Verdict

Audi 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 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. 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 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. 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.

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