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

compare selected cars
2003. - 2009.
C - Small family car
hatchback, 5 door
front
Badges
Production
Vehicle class
Body style
Wheel drive
Safety
2004. - 2007.
C - Small family car
hatchback, 5 door
rear

Marketing

Dimensons & Outlines

4415 mm
1755 mm
1465 mm
346 liters
1285 liters
55 liters
Length
Width
Height
Boot (min)
Boot (max)
Fuel tank
4227 mm
1751 mm
1430 mm
330 liters
1150 liters
53 liters
2003 Mazda 3
2004 BMW 1 Series

Engine

Diesel
4 - Inline, 4 valves per cylinder
Turbo
1998 cc
143 hp
360 Nm
Engine
Fuel
Configuration
Aspiration
Displacement
Power
Torque
Diesel
4 - Inline, 4 valves per cylinder
Turbo
1995 cc
163 hp
350 Nm

Performance (manual gearbox)

manual gearbox - 6 gears
1385 kg
9.9 s
203 km/h
7.1 l/100km
5.4 l/100km
6.0 l/100km
162 g/km
Gearbox type
Vehicle weight
Acc. 0-100
Top speed
Cons. (urban)
Cons. (highway)
Cons. (average)
CO2 emissions
manual gearbox - 6 gears
1315 kg
7.9 s
220 km/h
7.7 l/100km
4.6 l/100km
5.7 l/100km
152 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 - 6 gears
1325 kg
8.2 s
217 km/h
8.7 l/100km
5.5 l/100km
6.6 l/100km
176 g/km

Expenses

1700 EUR
Price from
2500 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 hatchback body style within the same 'Small family car' segment, the only major difference here really is their wheel drive configuration (front for the Mazda and rear in the case of the BMW). The first one has a Mazda-engineered powertrain under the hood, a 4-cylinder, 16-valves 143hp unit, while the other one gets its power and torque from a 4-cylinder, 16-valves 163hp engine designed by BMW.

Safety

Both vehicles got tested by European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP), with the BMW being a slightly better choice apparently. Still, apart from the official crash test results there are other things we need to be aware of. Both vehicles belong to the small family car segment, which is generally classifying them somewhere in the middle 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, the Japanese car offers a marginal difference of 5% more metal.

Reliability

Manufacturers have been building their reliability reputation for decades now and, generally speaking, it appears that Mazda as a brand displays somewhat better results, all the models observed together. That's the official data, while our visitors describe reliability of Mazda with an average rating of 4.4, and models under the BMW badge with 4.2 out of 5. The same official information place 3 as average reliability-wise, and 1 Series is more or less at the same level.Above it all, drivers of cars with the same engine as the Japanese car rank it on average as 4.1, while the one under the competitor's bonnet gets 4.2 out of 5.

Performance & Fuel economy

BMW is undoubtly more agile, reaching 100km/h in 2 seconds less than its competitor. In addition to that it accelerates all the way to 220 kilometers per hour, 17km/h more than the other car. When it comes to fuel economy things look pretty much the same for both cars, averaging around 5.9 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (48 mpg), in combined cycle.


Verdict

Mazda 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 offers slightly better overall protection and takes the lead. It all continues in the same direction, with BMW being considerably quicker, thus putting more smile on driver's face. 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. I suggest you spend two more minutes in order to find out which car, based on your needs and budget, would be picked by the virtual adviser, out of 12.000+ vehicles we currently have in our database.

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