Compare two cars

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
1998. - 2001.
F - Executive car
sedan, 4 door
rear
Badges
Production
Vehicle class
Body style
Wheel drive
Safety
1998. - 2002.
F - Executive car
sedan, 4 door
rear

Marketing

Dimensons & Outlines

4984 mm
1862 mm
1435 mm
500 liters
500 liters
85 liters
Length
Width
Height
Boot (min)
Boot (max)
Fuel tank
5038 mm
1855 mm
1444 mm
500 liters
500 liters
88 liters
1998 BMW 7 Series
1998 Mercedes Benz S

Engine

Petrol
12 - V config, 2 valves per cylinder
Nat. Asp.
5379 cc
326 hp
490 Nm
Engine
Fuel
Configuration
Aspiration
Displacement
Power
Torque
Mercedes Benz
5.4 M113 E55
Petrol
8 - V config, 3 valves per cylinder
Nat. Asp.
5439 cc
360 hp
530 Nm

Performance (manual 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
 
kg
s
km/h
l/100km
l/100km
l/100km
g/km

Performance (automatic gearbox)

automatic - 5 gears
1955 kg
6.8 s
250 km/h
19.6 l/100km
10.1 l/100km
13.6 l/100km
327 g/km
Gearbox type
Vehicle weight
Acc. 0-100
Top speed
Cons. (urban)
Cons. (highway)
Cons. (average)
CO2 emissions
automatic - 5 gears
1885 kg
6.0 s
250 km/h
19.8 l/100km
9.5 l/100km
13.4 l/100km
320 g/km

Expenses

5800 EUR
Price from
2700 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 executive car segment and utilize the same 4-door sedan 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 12-cylinder, 24-valves 326hp unit, while the other one gets its power and torque from a 8-cylinder, 24-valves 360hp engine designed by Mercedes Benz.

Safety

Unfortunatelly, neither of the two vehicles was submitted to the European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP) testing. This makes it virtually impossible for me to pick one over the other and I'm generally against buying such cars as the safety should really always come first. Moving further on, let's take a closer look at some additional safety-related facts. Both vehicles belong to the executive car segment, which is generally a fortune safety-wise, but it doesn't do much to help us decide between the two. Furthermore, when it comes to weight, a factor that most people underestimate, 7 Series offers a marginal difference of 4% 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, at least on all of the models level. 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 7 Series as average reliability-wise, and S is more or less at the same level.That apart, owners of different cars powered by the same engine as 7 Series rank it on average as 5.0, while the one under the competitor's bonnet gets 3.0 out of 5.

Performance & Fuel economy

Mercedes Benz is a bit more agile, reaching 100km/h in 0.8 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 things look pretty much the same for both cars, averaging around 13.5 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (21 mpg), in combined cycle.


Verdict

BMW 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, 7 Series offers slightly better overall protection and takes the lead. From there things take a different direction, with Mercedes Benz offering somewhat better performance, just enough to call it quicker. To make things even better, it consumps less fuel! It's really tough to make a final decision here, but if I'd need to, I'd say Mercedes Benz. 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. 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, among more than 12.000 different ones in our database.

Check a car by its VIN number

Follow us

AutoManiac Instagram

AutoManiac Facebook

AutoManiac database currently covers:

47worldwide automotive brands
1.565different vehicle models
2.275engines
14.080specific cars