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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
2007. - 2010.
E - Luxury car
sedan, 4 door
rear
Badges
Production
Vehicle class
Body style
Wheel drive
Safety
2008. - 2011.
E - Luxury car
sedan, 4 door
4 x 4

Marketing

Dimensons & Outlines

4841 mm
1846 mm
1468 mm
520 liters
520 liters
70 liters
Length
Width
Height
Boot (min)
Boot (max)
Fuel tank
4927 mm
1855 mm
1459 mm
546 liters
546 liters
70 liters
2007 BMW 5 Series
2008 Audi A6

Engine

Petrol
6 - Inline, 4 valves per cylinder
Nat. Asp.
2996 cc
272 hp
315 Nm
Engine
Fuel
Configuration
Aspiration
Displacement
Power
Torque
Volkswagen
3.0 TFSI
Petrol
6 - V config, 4 valves per cylinder
Turbo
2995 cc
290 hp
420 Nm

Performance (manual gearbox)

manual gearbox - 6 gears
1505 kg
6.3 s
250 km/h
10.9 l/100km
5.8 l/100km
7.7 l/100km
182 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
1515 kg
6.5 s
250 km/h
10.8 l/100km
5.6 l/100km
7.5 l/100km
178 g/km
Gearbox type
Vehicle weight
Acc. 0-100
Top speed
Cons. (urban)
Cons. (highway)
Cons. (average)
CO2 emissions
automatic - 6 gears
1725 kg
5.9 s
250 km/h
13.2 l/100km
7.1 l/100km
9.4 l/100km
219 g/km

Expenses

5500 EUR
Price from
5800 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 'Luxury 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 Audi). The first one has a BMW-engineered powertrain under the hood, a 6-cylinder, 24-valves 272hp unit, while the other one gets its power and torque from a 6-cylinder, 24-valves 290hp engine designed by Volkswagen.

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 Audi 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 luxury car segment, which is generally a very good thing safety-wise, still it doesn't help us solve our dilemma, does it? On the other hand, if we'd like to consider vehicle mass in this context too, which we definitely should, Audi A6 offers a considerable difference of 15% more metal.

Reliability

I don't like generalizing things when it comes to reliability, although it does seem that both brands display similar results in faults and breakdowns, when all the models are taken into account. These are the results of an independent reasearch, while our visitors describe reliability of BMW, as well as Audi, with the same average rating of 4.2 out of 5. Independent research findings rank 5 Series as average reliability-wise, and A6 is more or less at the same level.That apart, owners of different cars powered by the same engine as 5 Series rank it on average as 3.0, while the one under the competitor's bonnet gets 3.6 out of 5.

Performance & Fuel economy

Audi is a bit more agile, reaching 100km/h in 0.4 seconds less than its competitor. In addition to that it accelerates all the way to 250 kilometers per hour, exactly the same as the other car does. When it comes to fuel economy the winner has to be 5 Series, averaging around 7.7 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (37 mpg), in combined cycle. We can't ignore that 22% difference compared to Audi A6.


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, Audi A6 beats the other contender by far, making it the best choice without even considering other things. It all continues in the same direction, with Audi offering somewhat better performance, just enough to call it quicker. 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 Audi. 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.

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