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Virtual Adviser's™ opinion
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 suv segment and utilize the same 5-door suv body style and the 4 x 4 wheel drive system, it all comes up to the specific diesel engine choice they offer. The first one has a Audi-engineered powertrain under the hood, a 6-cylinder, 24-valves 225hp unit, while the other one gets its power and torque from a 6-cylinder, 24-valves 235hp engine designed by BMW.
SafetyThe fact that the Volkswagen 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. Moving further on, let's take a closer look at some additional safety-related facts. Both vehicles belong to the suv segment, which is generally a very good thing safety-wise, still it doesn't help us solve our dilemma, does it? Furthermore, taking kerb weight as an important factor into account, Touareg offers a considerable difference of 11% more metal.
ReliabilityI don't like generalizing things when it comes to reliability, although it does seem that Volkswagen does have a slight advantage, at least on all of the models level. These are the results of an independent reasearch, while our visitors describe reliability of Volkswagen, as well as BMW, with the same average rating of 4.2 out of 5. The same official information place Touareg as average reliability-wise, and X5 is more or less at the same level.We should definitely mention that owners of cars with the same powertrain as Touareg rank it on average as 5.0 out of 5, exactly the same as the other one.
Performance & Fuel economyBMW 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 216 kilometers per hour, 11km/h more than the other car. When it comes to fuel economy an obvious choice would be BMW X5, averaging around 8.2 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (34 mpg), in combined cycle. That's 27% difference compared to Touareg!
Verdict
Volkswagen 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, Touareg beats the other contender by far, making it the best choice without even considering other things. From there things take a different direction, with BMW offering somewhat better performance, just enough to call it quicker. To make things even better, it consumps less fuel! No mistake, whatever you decide here, but I'd still go for the Volkswagen. 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.