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

compare selected cars
2008. - 2012.
D - Large family car
wagon, 5 door
rear
Badges
Production
Vehicle class
Body style
Wheel drive
Safety
2009. - 2012.
D - Large family car
wagon, 5 door
4 x 4

Marketing

Dimensons & Outlines

4527 mm
1817 mm
1442 mm
460 liters
1385 liters
63 liters
Length
Width
Height
Boot (min)
Boot (max)
Fuel tank
4775 mm
1780 mm
1535 mm
526 liters
1677 liters
64 liters
2008 BMW 3 Series Touring
2009 Subaru Legacy Touring Wagon

Engine

Petrol
6 - Inline, 4 valves per cylinder
Bi-Turbo
2979 cc
306 hp
400 Nm
Engine
Fuel
Configuration
Aspiration
Displacement
Power
Torque
Subaru
2.5 EJ252
Petrol
4 - Boxer, 4 valves per cylinder
Nat. Asp.
2457 cc
167 hp
229 Nm

Performance (manual gearbox)

manual gearbox - 6 gears
1590 kg
5.7 s
250 km/h
12.1 l/100km
6.4 l/100km
8.5 l/100km
199 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

Performance (automatic gearbox)

automatic - 6 gears
1605 kg
5.9 s
250 km/h
12.6 l/100km
6.5 l/100km
8.7 l/100km
203 g/km
Gearbox type
Vehicle weight
Acc. 0-100
Top speed
Cons. (urban)
Cons. (highway)
Cons. (average)
CO2 emissions
cvt - gears
1499 kg
10.3 s
205 km/h
11.3 l/100km
6.8 l/100km
8.4 l/100km
196 g/km

Expenses

6000 EUR
Price from
2700 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 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 4 x 4 in the case of the Subaru). The first one has a BMW-engineered powertrain under the hood, a 6-cylinder, 24-valves 306hp unit, while the other one gets its power and torque from a 4-cylinder, 16-valves 167hp engine designed by Subaru.

Safety

The first thing to look into here would be the results from European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP) tests performed on the two cars. Good thing is that both vehicles got tested, with the same number of safety stars gained in the process. 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, taking kerb weight as an important factor into account, 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 Subaru does have a slight advantage, all the models observed together. These are the official statistics, while our visitors describe reliability of BMW, as well as Subaru, with the same average rating of 4.2 out of 5. Independent research findings rank 3 Series as average reliability-wise, and Legacy 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 4.0, while the one under the competitor's bonnet gets 2.0 out of 5.

Performance & Fuel economy

BMW is way more agile, reaching 100km/h in 4.6 seconds less than its competitor. In addition to that it accelerates all the way to 250 kilometers per hour, 45km/h more than the other car. When it comes to fuel economy things look pretty much the same for both cars, averaging around 8.5 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (33 mpg), in combined cycle.


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 offers slightly better overall protection and takes the lead. It all continues in the same 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... I believe that, when we take all into account, we have only one winner here - the BMW. 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. In case you have two minutes to spare I invite you to define your needs, desires and budget and see which car would be chosen by the virtual adviser, among thousands of similar, yet so different vehicles.

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