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

compare selected cars
1999. - 2002.
F - Executive car
sedan, 4 door
front
Badges
Production
Vehicle class
Body style
Wheel drive
Safety
1998. - 2001.
F - Executive car
sedan, 4 door
rear

Marketing

Dimensons & Outlines

5034 mm
1880 mm
1440 mm
525 liters
525 liters
80 liters
Length
Width
Height
Boot (min)
Boot (max)
Fuel tank
4984 mm
1862 mm
1435 mm
500 liters
500 liters
85 liters
1999 Audi A8
1998 BMW 7 Series

Engine

Volkswagen
2.8 V6 30v
Petrol
6 - V config, 5 valves per cylinder
Nat. Asp.
2771 cc
193 hp
280 Nm
Engine
Fuel
Configuration
Aspiration
Displacement
Power
Torque
Petrol
6 - Inline, 4 valves per cylinder
Nat. Asp.
2793 cc
193 hp
280 Nm

Performance (manual gearbox)

manual gearbox - 5 gears
1510 kg
8.4 s
236 km/h
14.2 l/100km
7.4 l/100km
9.9 l/100km
238 g/km
Gearbox type
Vehicle weight
Acc. 0-100
Top speed
Cons. (urban)
Cons. (highway)
Cons. (average)
CO2 emissions
manual gearbox - 5 gears
1685 kg
8.6 s
228 km/h
13.7 l/100km
7.9 l/100km
10.0 l/100km
241 g/km

Performance (automatic gearbox)

automatic - 5 gears
1560 kg
9.9 s
233 km/h
16.2 l/100km
7.5 l/100km
10.7 l/100km
257 g/km
Gearbox type
Vehicle weight
Acc. 0-100
Top speed
Cons. (urban)
Cons. (highway)
Cons. (average)
CO2 emissions
automatic - 5 gears
1705 kg
9.6 s
226 km/h
16.5 l/100km
8.0 l/100km
11.1 l/100km
267 g/km

Expenses

3200 EUR
Price from
5800 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 4-door sedan body style within the same 'Executive 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 6-cylinder, 30-valves 193hp unit, while the other one gets its power and torque from a 6-cylinder, 24-valves 193hp engine designed by BMW.

Safety

Unfortunatelly, neither of the two vehicles was submitted to the European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP) testing. This makes it virtually impossible for me to pick one over the other and I'm generally against buying such cars as the safety should really always come first. Still, apart from the official crash test results there are other things we need to be aware of. Both vehicles belong to the executive car segment, which is generally a fortune safety-wise, still it doesn't help us solve our dilemma, does it? On the other hand, taking kerb weight as an important factor into account, 7 Series offers a considerable difference of 12% 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, at least on all of the models level. These are the official statistics, while our visitors describe reliability of Audi, as well as BMW, with the same average rating of 4.2 out of 5. The same official information place A8 as average reliability-wise, and 7 Series is more or less at the same level.That apart, owners of different cars powered by the same engine as Audi A8 rank it on average as 4.9, while the one under the competitor's bonnet gets 5.0 out of 5.

Performance & Fuel economy

Audi is a bit more agile, reaching 100km/h in 0.2 seconds less than its competitor. In addition to that it accelerates all the way to 236 kilometers per hour, 8km/h more than the other car. When it comes to fuel economy things look pretty much the same for both cars, averaging around 10 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (28 mpg), in combined cycle.


Verdict

BMW 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, 7 Series offers significantly better overall protection, taking the lead here. From there things take a different direction, with Audi 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 Audi. 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. 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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