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CarsLore / Compare / Large cars / 100 vs 3 Series

Audi 100 vs BMW 3 Series

Two large cars, compared on the same official records: MOT and inspection results, safety ratings, fuel use, recalls and owner complaints. Side by side from official registers: recalls, complaints and registrations.

At a glance

Audi 100BMW 3 Series
Model years in the US safety record1985–20011986–2023
New cars registered in Europe—1,714,816 (2010–2022)
Licensed in the United Kingdom253472,359
On the road in the Netherlands—127,670
In traffic in Finland16841,048

EEA new-car registrations (CC BY 4.0) · DVLA licensed vehicles (OGL v3.0) · RDW (CC0) · Traficom (CC BY 4.0) · generations: Wikidata (CC0).

Reliability and problems

Audi 100BMW 3 Series
UK MOT first-time pass rate—75%
… against cars of the same age—+9%
Illogical odometer records (NL)—5.4%
US owner complaints87843
Most complaints aboutFuel system, gasolineAir bags
Model year with most complaints1992 (22)2006 (202)
US recall campaigns98
Manufacturer service bulletins1391,116
NHTSA defect investigations1123

Complaint, recall and bulletin counts grow with the number of cars sold and are not adjusted for it. UK MOT: DVSA anonymised MOT results (OGL v3.0); New York: DMV inspections; complaints, recalls, bulletins and investigations: NHTSA (public domain); odometer: RDW (CC0).

Safety

Audi 100BMW 3 Series
NHTSA overall rating—5★ (2022)

NHTSA New Car Assessment Program, most recent rated model year (public domain).

Fuel, emissions and price

Audi 100BMW 3 Series
Real-world use in Europe, diesel hybrid—6.3 l/100 km
Real-world use in Europe, petrol—7.9 l/100 km
Real-world use in Europe, petrol hybrid—9.8 l/100 km
Real-world use in Europe, diesel—6.0 l/100 km
Official CO₂ of new cars in Europe—98 g/km
Average power of new cars in Europe—137 kW (184 hp)
Average mass in running order—1,790 kg
Dutch list price when new (median)—€50,742
Average odometer in Finland344,000 km226,000 km

Canada: NRCan Fuel Consumption Ratings, most frugal version of the latest year (OGL Canada). Europe: EEA monitoring of new-car CO₂ and on-board fuel meters (OBFCM), CC BY 4.0. Price: RDW catalogue price (CC0). Finland: Traficom (CC BY 4.0).