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

compare selected cars
2000. - 2004.
D - Large family car
sedan, 4 door
rear
Badges
Production
Vehicle class
Body style
Wheel drive
Safety
2001. - 2005.
D - Large family car
sedan, 4 door
rear

Marketing

Dimensons & Outlines

4526 mm
1728 mm
1426 mm
455 liters
455 liters
62 liters
Length
Width
Height
Boot (min)
Boot (max)
Fuel tank
4471 mm
1739 mm
1415 mm
440 liters
440 liters
63 liters
2000 Mercedes Benz C
2001 BMW 3 Series

Engine

Mercedes Benz
2.6 M112 E26
Petrol
6 - V config, 3 valves per cylinder
Nat. Asp.
2597 cc
170 hp
240 Nm
Engine
Fuel
Configuration
Aspiration
Displacement
Power
Torque
Petrol
6 - Inline, 4 valves per cylinder
Nat. Asp.
2494 cc
192 hp
245 Nm

Performance (manual gearbox)

manual gearbox - 6 gears
1435 kg
9.2 s
235 km/h
16.6 l/100km
7.9 l/100km
11.1 l/100km
266 g/km
Gearbox type
Vehicle weight
Acc. 0-100
Top speed
Cons. (urban)
Cons. (highway)
Cons. (average)
CO2 emissions
manual gearbox - 5 gears
1395 kg
7.3 s
240 km/h
12.8 l/100km
6.9 l/100km
9.0 l/100km
217 g/km

Performance (automatic gearbox)

automatic - 5 gears
1435 kg
9.5 s
232 km/h
15.7 l/100km
7.9 l/100km
10.7 l/100km
256 g/km
Gearbox type
Vehicle weight
Acc. 0-100
Top speed
Cons. (urban)
Cons. (highway)
Cons. (average)
CO2 emissions
automatic - 5 gears
1430 kg
8.4 s
237 km/h
13.5 l/100km
7.2 l/100km
9.5 l/100km
229 g/km

Expenses

1300 EUR
Price from
1700 EUR

Virtual Adviser's™ opinion

Overview

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 large family car segment and utilize the same 4-door sedan body style and the rear wheel drive system, it all comes up to the specific petrol engine choice they offer. The first one has a Mercedes Benz-engineered powertrain under the hood, a 6-cylinder, 18-valves 170hp unit, while the other one gets its power and torque from a 6-cylinder, 24-valves 192hp 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 same number of safety stars gained in the process. 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. Furthermore, if we'd like to consider vehicle mass in this context too, which we definitely should, Mercedes Benz C offers a marginal difference of 3% more metal.

Reliability

I don't like generalizing things when it comes to reliability, although it does seem 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 Mercedes Benz with an average rating of 4.4, and models under the BMW badge with 4.2 out of 5. Some independent research have also placed C as average reliability-wise, and 3 Series is more or less at the same level.That apart, owners of different cars powered by the same engine as Mercedes Benz C rank it on average as 4.7, while the one under the competitor's bonnet gets 2.8 out of 5.

Performance & Fuel economy

BMW is undoubtly more agile, reaching 100km/h in 1.9 seconds less than its competitor. In addition to that it accelerates all the way to 240 kilometers per hour, 5km/h more than the other car. When it comes to fuel economy an obvious choice would be 3 Series, averaging around 9 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (31 mpg), in combined cycle. That's 23% difference compared to Mercedes Benz C!


Verdict

Mercedes Benz 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, Mercedes Benz C offers slightly better overall protection and takes the lead. From there things take a different 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, among thousands of similar, yet so different vehicles.

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