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

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2004. - 2007.
D - Large family car
cabriolet, 2 door
front
Badges
Production
Vehicle class
Body style
Wheel drive
Safety
2005. - 2008.
D - Large family car
cabriolet, 2 door
rear

Marketing

Dimensons & Outlines

4573 mm
1777 mm
1391 mm
246 liters
315 liters
70 liters
Length
Width
Height
Boot (min)
Boot (max)
Fuel tank
4580 mm
1782 mm
1384 mm
210 liters
350 liters
61 liters
2004 Audi A4 Cabriolet
2005 BMW 3 Series Cabrio

Engine

Volkswagen
2.0 TFSI AXX
Petrol
4 - Inline, 4 valves per cylinder
Turbo
1984 cc
200 hp
280 Nm
Engine
Fuel
Configuration
Aspiration
Displacement
Power
Torque
Petrol
4 - Inline, 4 valves per cylinder
Nat. Asp.
1995 cc
170 hp
210 Nm

Performance (manual gearbox)

manual gearbox - 6 gears
1600 kg
7.9 s
238 km/h
11.6 l/100km
6.3 l/100km
8.3 l/100km
199 g/km
Gearbox type
Vehicle weight
Acc. 0-100
Top speed
Cons. (urban)
Cons. (highway)
Cons. (average)
CO2 emissions
manual gearbox - 6 gears
1570 kg
9.1 s
228 km/h
9.0 l/100km
5.2 l/100km
6.6 l/100km
157 g/km

Performance (automatic gearbox)

cvt - gears
1630 kg
8.1 s
233 km/h
11.5 l/100km
6.6 l/100km
8.4 l/100km
202 g/km
Gearbox type
Vehicle weight
Acc. 0-100
Top speed
Cons. (urban)
Cons. (highway)
Cons. (average)
CO2 emissions
automatic - 6 gears
1600 kg
9.8 s
226 km/h
9.1 l/100km
5.3 l/100km
6.7 l/100km
161 g/km

Expenses

2500 EUR
Price from
6500 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 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 Audi and rear in the case of the BMW). The first one has a Volkswagen-engineered powertrain under the hood, a 4-cylinder, 16-valves 200hp unit, while the other one gets its power and torque from a 4-cylinder, 16-valves 170hp engine designed by BMW.

Safety

A starting point here would be to take a look at the results from European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP) tests which were performed on both of the cars, 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 it doesn't do much to help us decide between the two. Furthermore, taking kerb weight as an important factor into account, Audi A4 offers a marginal difference of 2% 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, all the models observed together. 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. Independent research findings rank A4 as average reliability-wise, and 3 Series is more or less at the same level.We should definitely mention that owners of cars with the same powertrain as Audi A4 rank it on average as 4.4, while the one under the competitor's bonnet gets 4.3 out of 5.

Performance & Fuel economy

Audi is undoubtly more agile, reaching 100km/h in 1.2 seconds less than its competitor. In addition to that it accelerates all the way to 238 kilometers per hour, 10km/h more than the other car. When it comes to fuel economy the winner has to be 3 Series, averaging around 6.6 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (43 mpg), in combined cycle. We can't ignore that 26% difference compared to Audi A4.


Verdict

Audi 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, 3 Series offers slightly better overall protection and takes the lead. From there things take a different direction, with Audi being considerably quicker, thus putting more smile on driver's face. It does come at a cost though, and that's the fuel consumption... I believe that, when we take all into account, we have only one winner here - the BMW. Nevertheless, let's not forget that people have different preferences and needs, so what really counts is your personal feel. I'm only here to help. 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, out of 12.000+ vehicles we currently have in our database.

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