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CarsLore / Compare / Compact cars / 320i vs Civic

BMW 320i vs Honda Civic

Two compact cars, compared on the same official records: MOT and inspection results, safety ratings, fuel use, recalls and owner complaints. 2 like-for-like measures: the BMW 320i leads on 0, the Honda Civic on 1, 1 too close to call.

Where each one leads

BMW 320i

Ahead on none of the like-for-like measures.

Honda Civic

  • On Canada's official test the most frugal 2026 Honda Civic uses 4.9 l/100 km, the 2017 BMW 320i 8.4.

Too close to call: NHTSA overall safety rating.

Only measures that do not depend on how many cars were sold: pass and failure rates against cars of the same age, ratings, fuel use and CO₂. How we compare

At a glance

BMW 320iHonda Civic
Model years in the US safety record1982–20181981–2026
New cars registered in Europe—419,820 (2010–2022)
Licensed in the United Kingdom—252,016
On the road in the Netherlands—24,648
In traffic in Finland—19,230

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

BMW 320iHonda Civic
UK MOT first-time pass rate—67%
… against cars of the same age—+2%
New York safety inspections failed—1.7%
… against cars of the same year—−3%
Illogical odometer records (NL)—6.0%
US owner complaints15716,237
Most complaints aboutEngineAir bags
Model year with most complaints2014 (53)2006 (1,403)
US recall campaigns874
Manufacturer service bulletins2,2184,345
NHTSA defect investigations959

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

BMW 320iHonda Civic
NHTSA overall rating5★ (2015)5★ (2022)

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

Fuel, emissions and price

BMW 320iHonda Civic
Official combined fuel use, Canada8.4 l/100 km (2017)4.9 l/100 km (2026)
Real-world use in Europe, petrol hybrid—5.5 l/100 km
Real-world use in Europe, petrol—7.1 l/100 km
Official CO₂ of new cars in Europe—124 g/km
Average power of new cars in Europe—109 kW (146 hp)
Average mass in running order—1,469 kg
Dutch list price when new (median)—€28,025
Average odometer in Finland—193,000 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).