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 'Luxury car' segment, the only major difference here really is their wheel drive configuration (rear for the BMW and front in the case of the Alfa Romeo). The first one has a BMW-engineered powertrain under the hood, a 10-cylinder, 40-valves 507hp unit, while the other one gets its power and torque from a 6-cylinder, 24-valves 240hp engine designed by Alfa Romeo.

The fact that the BMW got tested by the European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP), while the other contender didn't, offers a slight advantage, as the 4-star rating is better than none. Still, apart from the official crash test results there are other things we need to be aware of. Both vehicles belong to the luxury car segment, which is generally a very good thing safety-wise, but it doesn't do much to help us decide between the two. Furthermore, if we'd like to consider vehicle mass in this context too, which we definitely should, the German car offers a considerable difference of 14% more metal.

I don't like generalizing things when it comes to reliability, although it does seem that BMW does have a slight advantage, all the models observed together. These are the results of an independent reasearch, while our visitors describe reliability of BMW with an average rating of 4.1, and models under the Alfa Romeo badge with 4.2 out of 5. Some independent research have also placed 5 Series as average reliability-wise, and 166 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 1.0, while the one under the competitor's bonnet gets 5.0 out of 5.

BMW is undoubtly more agile, reaching 100km/h in 2.7 seconds less than its competitor. In addition to that it accelerates all the way to 250 kilometers per hour, 5km/h more than the other car. When it comes to fuel economy an obvious choice would be the Italian car, averaging around 12.5 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (23 mpg), in combined cycle. That's 18% difference compared to the German car!

Alfa Romeo is apparently more reliable, not too much, but just enough. 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 beats the other contender by far, making it the best choice without even considering other things. 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... It's really tough to make a final decision here, but if I'd need to, I'd say 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. 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 thousands of similar, yet so different vehicles.