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 sports car segment and utilize the same 2-door cabriolet 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 340hp unit, while the other one gets its power and torque from a 4-cylinder, 16-valves 170hp engine designed by FIAT.

Safety

The fact that the FIAT 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 sports car segment, which is generally classifying them somewhere in the middle safety-wise, still it doesn't help us solve our dilemma, does it? Furthermore, when it comes to weight, a factor that most people underestimate, the German car offers a self-explainatory difference of 53% more metal.

Reliability

Manufacturers have been building their reliability reputation for decades now and, generally speaking, it appears that FIAT as a brand displays somewhat better results, all the models observed together. That's the official data, while our visitors describe reliability of BMW with an average rating of 4.1, and models under the FIAT badge with 4.3 out of 5. The same official information place 2 Series Coupe as average reliability-wise, and 124 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 1.0, while the one under the competitor's bonnet gets 4.8 out of 5.

Performance & Fuel economy

BMW is undoubtly more agile, reaching 100km/h in 1.9 seconds less than its competitor. In addition to that it accelerates all the way to 250 kilometers per hour, 18km/h more than the other car. When it comes to fuel economy the winner has to be the Italian car, averaging around 6.4 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (44 mpg), in combined cycle. We can't ignore that 30% difference compared to the German car.

Verdict

FIAT 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 this case though, it seems that both cars show similar levels of passenger protection all together, so that won't break a tie. But one thing that actually could is the performance, 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 FIAT. 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. 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™, out of 12.000+ vehicles we currently have in our database.