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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
wagon, 5 door
rear
Badges
Production
Vehicle class
Body style
Wheel drive
Safety
2004. - 2007.
D - Large family car
wagon, 5 door
rear

Marketing

Dimensons & Outlines

4520 mm
1817 mm
1442 mm
460 liters
1385 liters
61 liters
Length
Width
Height
Boot (min)
Boot (max)
Fuel tank
4541 mm
1728 mm
1465 mm
470 liters
1384 liters
62 liters
2005 BMW 3 Series Touring
2004 Mercedes Benz C Combi

Engine

Petrol
6 - Inline, 4 valves per cylinder
Nat. Asp.
2497 cc
218 hp
250 Nm
Engine
Fuel
Configuration
Aspiration
Displacement
Power
Torque
Mercedes Benz
2.5 M272 KE25
Petrol
6 - V config, 4 valves per cylinder
Nat. Asp.
2496 cc
204 hp
245 Nm

Performance (manual gearbox)

manual gearbox - 6 gears
1445 kg
7.2 s
243 km/h
12.4 l/100km
6.4 l/100km
8.6 l/100km
208 g/km
Gearbox type
Vehicle weight
Acc. 0-100
Top speed
Cons. (urban)
Cons. (highway)
Cons. (average)
CO2 emissions
manual gearbox - 6 gears
1480 kg
8.6 s
235 km/h
13.6 l/100km
7.2 l/100km
9.6 l/100km
229 g/km

Performance (automatic gearbox)

automatic - 6 gears
1475 kg
7.9 s
240 km/h
13.2 l/100km
6.9 l/100km
9.2 l/100km
222 g/km
Gearbox type
Vehicle weight
Acc. 0-100
Top speed
Cons. (urban)
Cons. (highway)
Cons. (average)
CO2 emissions
automatic - 7 gears
1500 kg
9.1 s
228 km/h
13.4 l/100km
7.3 l/100km
9.5 l/100km
226 g/km

Expenses

6500 EUR
Price from
2800 EUR

Virtual Adviser's™ opinion

Overview

Well, these are two pretty similar cars we have here! It's only details that could potentially make the difference. Considering they both belong to the large family car segment and utilize the same 5-door wagon body style and the rear wheel drive system, it all comes up to the specific petrol engine choice they offer. The first one has a BMW-engineered powertrain under the hood, a 6-cylinder, 24-valves 218hp unit, while the other one gets its power and torque from a 6-cylinder, 24-valves 204hp engine designed by Mercedes Benz.

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 same number of safety stars gained in the process. 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, but it doesn't do much to help us decide between the two. On the other hand, taking kerb weight as an important factor into account, Mercedes Benz C offers a marginal difference of 2% more metal.

Reliability

Manufacturers have been building their reliability reputation for decades now and, generally speaking, it appears that both brands display similar results in faults and breakdowns, when all the models are taken into account. These are the official statistics, while our visitors describe reliability of BMW with an average rating of 4.2, and models under the Mercedes Benz badge with 4.4 out of 5. The same official information place 3 Series as average reliability-wise, and C 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 3.8, while the one under the competitor's bonnet gets 3.0 out of 5.

Performance & Fuel economy

BMW is undoubtly more agile, reaching 100km/h in 1.4 seconds less than its competitor. In addition to that it accelerates all the way to 243 kilometers per hour, 8km/h more than the other car. When it comes to fuel economy the winner has to be 3 Series, averaging around 8.6 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (33 mpg), in combined cycle. We can't ignore that 12% difference compared to Mercedes Benz C.


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, Mercedes Benz C offers slightly better overall protection and takes the lead. From there things take a different 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. 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 more than 12.000 different ones in our database.

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