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

compare selected cars
2006. - 2009.
S - Sports car
cabriolet, 2 door
rear
Badges
Production
Vehicle class
Body style
Wheel drive
Safety
2004. - 2008.
S - Sports car
cabriolet, 2 door
rear

Marketing

Dimensons & Outlines

4091 mm
1781 mm
1299 mm
240 liters
260 liters
55 liters
Length
Width
Height
Boot (min)
Boot (max)
Fuel tank
4089 mm
1777 mm
1296 mm
208 liters
300 liters
70 liters
2006 BMW Z4 Roadster
2004 Mercedes Benz SLK

Engine

Petrol
6 - Inline, 4 valves per cylinder
Nat. Asp.
3246 cc
343 hp
365 Nm
Engine
Fuel
Configuration
Aspiration
Displacement
Power
Torque
Mercedes Benz
3.0 M272 KE30
Petrol
6 - V config, 4 valves per cylinder
Nat. Asp.
2996 cc
231 hp
300 Nm

Performance (manual gearbox)

manual gearbox - 6 gears
1410 kg
5.0 s
250 km/h
18.2 l/100km
8.6 l/100km
12.1 l/100km
292 g/km
Gearbox type
Vehicle weight
Acc. 0-100
Top speed
Cons. (urban)
Cons. (highway)
Cons. (average)
CO2 emissions
manual gearbox - 6 gears
1340 kg
6.3 s
250 km/h
13.8 l/100km
7.2 l/100km
9.7 l/100km
231 g/km

Performance (automatic gearbox)

 
kg
s
km/h
l/100km
l/100km
l/100km
g/km
Gearbox type
Vehicle weight
Acc. 0-100
Top speed
Cons. (urban)
Cons. (highway)
Cons. (average)
CO2 emissions
automatic - 7 gears
1360 kg
6.2 s
250 km/h
12.9 l/100km
7.0 l/100km
9.3 l/100km
231 g/km

Expenses

8800 EUR
Price from
7400 EUR

Virtual Adviser's™ opinion

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 343hp unit, while the other one gets its power and torque from a 6-cylinder, 24-valves 231hp engine designed by Mercedes Benz.

Safety

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. 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, taking kerb weight as an important factor into account, BMW Z4 offers a marginal difference of 5% more metal.

Reliability

Reliability is not the best thing to consider on the make level, but it is worth mentioning that both brands display similar results in faults and breakdowns, 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 4.2, and models under the Mercedes Benz badge with 4.4 out of 5. Independent research findings rank Z4 as average reliability-wise, and SLK is more or less at the same level.Above it all, drivers of cars with the same engine as BMW Z4 rank it on average as 3.0, while the one under the competitor's bonnet gets 4.0 out of 5.

Performance & Fuel economy

BMW is undoubtly more agile, reaching 100km/h in 1.3 seconds less than its competitor. Still, it lacks the power to win the top speed competition, topping at 250 kilometers per hour, exactly the same as the other car does. When it comes to fuel economy an obvious choice would be SLK, averaging around 9.7 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (29 mpg), in combined cycle. That's 25% difference compared to BMW Z4!


Verdict

Mercedes Benz 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, BMW Z4 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 being considerably quicker, thus putting more smile on driver's face. It does come at a cost though, and that's the fuel consumption... At the end, as much as I'd like to give you a winner here, it's simply a pure tie if you ask me. In any case that's my personal view, built upon all the data available to me. What should decide here though is the way you feel about the two vehicles, and I hope you'll find my guidelines useful in the process. Also, you could use the oportunity to find out which car, everything taken into account, would be the perfect choice for you in the eyes of the virtual adviser, out of 12.000+ vehicles we currently have in our database.

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