Mercedes Benz E Combi 220 CDI vs BMW 5 Series Touring 520d

Basic information

Make		click to compare		Make
Model				Model
Variant				Variant
Engine				Engine

	Mercedes Benz E Combi 220 CDI		BMW 5 Series Touring 520d
		Badges
2006. - 2009.		Production		2007. - 2010.
E - Luxury car		Vehicle class		E - Luxury car
wagon, 5 door		Body style		wagon, 5 door
Rear		Wheel drive		Rear
		Safety

Dimensons & Volumes

4850 mm	Length	4843 mm
1822 mm	Width	1846 mm
1496 mm	Height	1491 mm
690 liters	Boot (min)	500 liters
1950 liters	Boot (max)	1650 liters
70 liters	Fuel tank	70 liters

Engine


	Mercedes Benz 2.1 OM646 DE22 LA HP		BMW 2.0 N47D20
Diesel		Fuel		Diesel
4 - Inline, 4 valves per cylinder		Configuration		4 - Inline, 4 valves per cylinder
Bi-Turbo		Aspiration		Turbo
2148 cc		Displacement		1995 cc
170 hp		Power		177 hp
400 Nm		Torque		350 Nm

Performance (manual gearbox)


manual gearbox - 6 gears		manual gearbox - 6 gears
1685 kg	Vehicle weight		1575 kg
9.1 s	Acc. 0-100		8.5 s
218 km/h	Top speed		224 km/h
9.6 l/100km	Cons. (urban)		6.7 l/100km
5.6 l/100km	Cons. (highway)		4.5 l/100km
7.1 l/100km	Cons. (average)		5.3 l/100km
188 g/km	CO2 emissions		140 g/km

Performance (automatic gearbox)


automatic - 5 gears		automatic - 6 gears
1710 kg	Vehicle weight		1595 kg
9.1 s	Acc. 0-100		8.6 s
218 km/h	Top speed		224 km/h
9.8 l/100km	Cons. (urban)		7.7 l/100km
5.9 l/100km	Cons. (highway)		4.7 l/100km
7.3 l/100km	Cons. (average)		5.8 l/100km
194 g/km	CO2 emissions		154 g/km

Expenses


8550 EUR		Price from		10500 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 luxury car segment and utilize the same 5-door wagon body style and the rear wheel drive system, it all comes up to the specific diesel engine choice they offer. The first one has a Mercedes Benz-engineered powertrain under the hood, a 4-cylinder, 16-valves 170hp unit, while the other one gets its power and torque from a 4-cylinder, 16-valves 177hp 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 Mercedes Benz 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 luxury car segment, which is generally a very 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 E offers a marginal difference of 7% 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 4.5, and models under the BMW badge with 4.3 out of 5. Independent research findings rank E 19% above average, and 5 Series 42% below the first one. That apart, owners of different cars powered by the same engine as Mercedes Benz E rank it on average as 4.0, while the one under the competitor's bonnet gets 3.6 out of 5.

Performance & Fuel economy

BMW is a bit more agile, reaching 100km/h in 0.6 seconds less than its competitor. In addition to that it accelerates all the way to 224 kilometers per hour, 6km/h more than the other car. When it comes to fuel economy the winner has to be 5 Series, averaging around 5.3 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (53 mpg), in combined cycle. We can't ignore that 34% difference compared to Mercedes Benz E.

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 E offers much better overall protection, which launches it ahead of the other contender. 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. 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.