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 2-door cabriolet body style within the same 'Sports car' segment, the only major difference here really is their wheel drive configuration (4 x 4 for the BMW and rear in the case of the FIAT). 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.

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. Moving further on, let's take a closer look at some additional safety-related facts. 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 59% more metal.

Manufacturers have been building their reliability reputation for decades now and, generally speaking, it appears that FIAT as a brand displays somewhat better results, when all the models are taken into account. 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 FIAT badge with 4.3 out of 5. Some independent research have also placed 2 Series Coupe as average reliability-wise, and 124 is more or less at the same level.That apart, owners of different cars powered by 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.

BMW is undoubtly more agile, reaching 100km/h in 2.2 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 22% difference compared to the German car.

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. 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 more than 12.000 different ones in our database.