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 'Large family car' segment, the only major difference here really is their wheel drive configuration (front for the Chrysler and rear in the case of the BMW). The first one has a Chrysler-engineered powertrain under the hood, a 6-cylinder, 24-valves 186hp unit, while the other one gets its power and torque from a 6-cylinder, 24-valves 306hp engine designed by BMW.

The fact that the BMW got tested by the European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP), while the other contender didn't, puts it sky-high safety-wise, in my eyes at least. Still, apart from the official crash test results there are other things we need to be aware of. Both vehicles belong to the large family car segment, which is generally a good thing safety-wise, but that fact doesn't break the tie between the two cars. Furthermore, taking kerb weight as an important factor into account, the American car offers a marginal difference of 1% more metal.

Manufacturers have been building their reliability reputation for decades now and, generally speaking, it appears that BMW does have a slight advantage, when all the models are taken into account. These are the official statistics, while our visitors describe reliability of Chrysler with an average rating of 4.4, and models under the BMW badge with 4.2 out of 5. Some independent research have also placed Sebring as average reliability-wise, and 3 Series is more or less at the same level.That apart, owners of different cars powered by the same engine as the American car rank it on average as 3.0, while the one under the competitor's bonnet gets 4.0 out of 5.

BMW is way more agile, reaching 100km/h in 4.5 seconds less than its competitor. In addition to that it accelerates all the way to 250 kilometers per hour, 54km/h more than the other car. When it comes to fuel economy the winner has to be the German car, averaging around 8.8 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (32 mpg), in combined cycle. We can't ignore that 19% difference compared to the American car.

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, the German car 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 outracing its opponent in any situation possible, making it better choice for boy racers. To make things even better, it consumps less fuel! All together, there's not much more to say, in this case I wouldn't even consider anything but BMW. 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™, among more than 12.000 different ones in our database.