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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
1999. - 2001.
D - Large family car
wagon, 5 door
front
Badges
Production
Vehicle class
Body style
Wheel drive
Safety
1998. - 2001.
D - Large family car
wagon, 5 door
rear

Marketing

Dimensons & Outlines

4478 mm
1733 mm
1417 mm
390 liters
1250 liters
62 liters
Length
Width
Height
Boot (min)
Boot (max)
Fuel tank
4478 mm
1739 mm
1409 mm
435 liters
1345 liters
63 liters
1999 Audi A4 Avant
1998 BMW 3 Series Touring

Engine

Volkswagen
2.5 TDI AFB
Diesel
6 - V config, 4 valves per cylinder
Turbo
2496 cc
150 hp
310 Nm
Engine
Fuel
Configuration
Aspiration
Displacement
Power
Torque
Diesel
6 - Inline, 4 valves per cylinder
Turbo
2926 cc
184 hp
390 Nm

Performance (manual gearbox)

manual gearbox - 6 gears
1405 kg
9.2 s
218 km/h
9.7 l/100km
5.2 l/100km
6.8 l/100km
184 g/km
Gearbox type
Vehicle weight
Acc. 0-100
Top speed
Cons. (urban)
Cons. (highway)
Cons. (average)
CO2 emissions
manual gearbox - 5 gears
1615 kg
7.9 s
225 km/h
9.6 l/100km
5.5 l/100km
7.0 l/100km
186 g/km

Performance (automatic gearbox)

automatic - 5 gears
1435 kg
10.4 s
212 km/h
11.5 l/100km
5.8 l/100km
7.9 l/100km
208 g/km
Gearbox type
Vehicle weight
Acc. 0-100
Top speed
Cons. (urban)
Cons. (highway)
Cons. (average)
CO2 emissions
automatic - 5 gears
1625 kg
8.3 s
225 km/h
11.3 l/100km
6.3 l/100km
8.1 l/100km
216 g/km

Expenses

1200 EUR
Price from
1500 EUR

Virtual Adviser's™ opinion

Overview

Two significantly similar cars, no doubt about that. Still, each one has something different to offer. Having both cars powered by diesel engines and utilizing the 5-door wagon body style within the same 'Large family car' segment, the only major difference here really is their wheel drive configuration (front for the Audi and rear in the case of the BMW). The first one has a Volkswagen-engineered powertrain under the hood, a 6-cylinder, 24-valves 150hp unit, while the other one gets its power and torque from a 6-cylinder, 24-valves 184hp engine designed by BMW.

Safety

The first thing to look into here would be the results from European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP) tests performed on the two cars. Good thing is that both vehicles got tested, with the BMW being a slightly better choice apparently. That aside, let's consider some other aspects which affect safety. 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. On the other hand, taking kerb weight as an important factor into account, 3 Series offers a considerable difference of 15% more metal.

Reliability

Manufacturers have been building their reliability reputation for decades now and, generally speaking, it appears that both brands display similar results in faults and breakdowns, when all the models are taken into account. These are the results of an independent reasearch, while our visitors describe reliability of Audi, as well as BMW, with the same average rating of 4.2 out of 5. The same official information place A4 as average reliability-wise, and 3 Series is more or less at the same level.Above it all, drivers of cars with the same engine as Audi A4 rank it on average as 2.3, while the one under the competitor's bonnet gets 5.0 out of 5.

Performance & Fuel economy

BMW is undoubtly more agile, reaching 100km/h in 1.3 seconds less than its competitor. In addition to that it accelerates all the way to 225 kilometers per hour, 7km/h more than the other car. When it comes to fuel economy things look pretty much the same for both cars, averaging around 6.9 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (41 mpg), in combined cycle.


Verdict

BMW 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 my opinion, everything taken into account, 3 Series 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... 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. In case you have two minutes to spare I invite you to define your needs, desires and budget and see which car would be chosen by the virtual adviser, among thousands of similar, yet so different vehicles.

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