Used test: Audi A4 vs BMW 3 Series costs

Buying and owning

Costs, equipment, reliability, safety

The saving you can make by buying either of these two cars at this age rather than new (nearly £20,000) makes them tempting choices. That you can have such quality motoring for around £15,000 is obviously good news.

The residual values of both cars are pretty evenly matched, so it's unlikely that you'll lose more on one or the other through depreciation during your spell of ownership. 

The 3 Series holds its own at the fuel pumps, because while its official average economy figure isn’t as good as the A4’s (64.2mpg versus 67.3mpg), in our experience it performs better in the real world, getting much closer to its test figure. Both cars were rated under the older NEDC tests that were prevalent at the time.

In our original 2016 test, our three-year running costs figures had the A4 at £2223 in insurance and £1148 in servicing, while the 3 Series comes in at £2295 in insurance and £1611 in servicing. Both cars will cost you £30 a year to tax, while servicing and insurance costs should be broadly similar – although the 3 Series works out slightly cheaper on the replacement cost of some perishable parts.

During crash testing, Euro NCAP awarded both cars its maximum five-star rating. 

The 3 Series is more confidence-inspiring in terms of reliability. In our latest What Car? Reliability Survey, it finished fourth out of 18 cars in the executive car class, while the A4 placed 15th. BMW as a brand finished in 13th place out of 30 manufacturers in our most recent survey, while Audi came in 18th position.

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