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

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2011. - 2015.
D - Large family car
sedan, 4 door
front
Badges
Production
Vehicle class
Body style
Wheel drive
Safety
2012. - 2015.
D - Large family car
sedan, 4 door
rear

Marketing

Dimensons & Outlines

4701 mm
1826 mm
1427 mm
480 liters
962 liters
63 liters
Length
Width
Height
Boot (min)
Boot (max)
Fuel tank
4624 mm
1811 mm
1429 mm
480 liters
480 liters
57 liters
2011 Audi A4
2012 BMW 3 Series

Engine

Volkswagen
2.0 TDI CGLC
Diesel
4 - Inline, 4 valves per cylinder
Turbo
1968 cc
177 hp
380 Nm
Engine
Fuel
Configuration
Aspiration
Displacement
Power
Torque
Diesel
4 - Inline, 4 valves per cylinder
Turbo
1995 cc
184 hp
380 Nm

Performance (manual gearbox)

manual gearbox - 6 gears
1455 kg
8.2 s
230 km/h
5.5 l/100km
4.1 l/100km
4.6 l/100km
120 g/km
Gearbox type
Vehicle weight
Acc. 0-100
Top speed
Cons. (urban)
Cons. (highway)
Cons. (average)
CO2 emissions
manual gearbox - 6 gears
1395 kg
7.5 s
235 km/h
5.8 l/100km
3.8 l/100km
4.5 l/100km
119 g/km

Performance (automatic gearbox)

cvt - gears
1495 kg
7.9 s
222 km/h
5.7 l/100km
4.4 l/100km
4.8 l/100km
127 g/km
Gearbox type
Vehicle weight
Acc. 0-100
Top speed
Cons. (urban)
Cons. (highway)
Cons. (average)
CO2 emissions
automatic - 8 gears
1405 kg
7.6 s
230 km/h
5.4 l/100km
3.9 l/100km
4.4 l/100km
117 g/km

Expenses

8300 EUR
Price from
7000 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 4-door sedan 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 177hp unit, while the other one gets its power and torque from a 4-cylinder, 16-valves 184hp engine designed by BMW.

Safety

Both vehicles got tested by European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP), with the same number of safety stars gained in the process. Moving further on, let's take a closer look at some additional safety-related facts. 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, when it comes to weight, a factor that most people underestimate, Audi A4 offers a marginal difference of 4% more metal.

Reliability

Reliability is not the best thing to consider on the make level, but it is worth mentioning 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. Some independent research have also placed 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 3.9, while the one under the competitor's bonnet gets 3.8 out of 5.

Performance & Fuel economy

BMW is a bit more agile, reaching 100km/h in 0.7 seconds less than its competitor. In addition to that it accelerates all the way to 235 kilometers per hour, 5km/h more than the other car. When it comes to fuel economy things look pretty much the same for both cars, averaging around 4.6 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (62 mpg), in combined cycle.


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, Audi A4 offers slightly better overall protection and takes the lead. 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! It's really tough to make a final decision here, but if I'd need to, I'd say 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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