Audi A4 Avant vs Merc B-class vs Volvo V50 vs BMW X3

[niky]

Meron na bang T5 model ang local V50? I love the looks of the facelifted V50 they have here. Para sa akin lang, medyo mas bang-for-your-buck dito ang Volvo, especially considering the price premium you have to pay here for these cars.

These new Volvos are pretty good, little body roll, good ride, and nice turbo engines (oh, okay, the non-turbos are good, too). Medyo mas may prestige, though ang Audi.

[mazdamazda]

if you can afford it, I'll go with the BMW X3.

[ryan]

i meant Kia Sorento.... sorry

Hi EQ, never got the chance to drive an X3 yet although yun madalas ko naririnig. Gaano ka stiff yung ride? Tipong hmm..parang CRV 10-seater ? Ramdam sha sa front seats or sa rear madalas makakapansin?

I know what you mean. Since nandun ka na ren, why not get the model you really like. Aside from engine, meron difference sa options yung 2.5 vs 3.0L ? Meron sunroof yung X3 mo? A friend told me na meron na daw X3 with a big panoramic roof but don't know if thats included for the entire range.

niki, yung 2.4L engine lang ni o-offer ng V50 dito.

[pixelparadigm]

VW Touareg!

[ryan]

Hi Ryan. Yung BMW X3 ... the ride is stiffer pa than the CRV 10 seater. Run flat tires kasi siya so the sidewalls of the rubber are like 3x stiffer than normal tires.Sitting in the front or back, its a stiff ride kaya lang yung can really feel how well the car handles. I guess walang perfect ride. Kung sobrang comfortable naman baka wala na yung 'road feel'.

The difference between the 3.0 X3 vs the 2.5 X3 are (I think) automatic climate control vs manual climate control. The panoramic sunroof is only available in the 2.0 liter CRDi Diesel Version --- yes mayroon sila ng X3 na Diesel version. 150hp daw yung engine and its available only in a 6-speed manual only (no steptronic).

Wow, reminds me of the Mini Cooper S. Sobrang tagtag yung ride nya grabe. Yung regular Mini medyo matagtag ren kaso I guess pwede na.

Hmm..ok sana yung diesel X3 kaso lang pag manual only, medyo kakapagod if used as an everyday car.

Anyways, thanks for your feedback, I will try to check on the X3. Kita ko kasi inaadvertise sa papers. Baka may good deal na pre-owned.

[empy]

EQAddict - where do you live? i'm curious why BMW decided to equip the X3 with run flats in your market....it doesn't seem to make sense. the X3 has all the room in the world for a spare.

my BMW dealer gave me a X3 3.0 for a week while my 330ci was in the shop...it's almost crazy to say this, but the ride and the handling of the X3 is not that far off from a 3-series coupe with sport suspension. yep, that's very good indeed imo.

[Blackraven]

I'm choosing the V50.

This is despite the fact that I wish that it would also have the 2.5 liter T5 and D5 diesel variants here in RP.

[ryan]

The V50 would be nice if Volvo comes out with the T5 variant.

[niky]

Hear hear, sayang kung 2.4 nga lang yung available. Or maybe they're saving the T5 for the upcoming Focus ST?

[ryan]

Hear hear, sayang kung 2.4 nga lang yung available. Or maybe they're saving the T5 for the upcoming Focus ST?

That would be a nice "affordable" hot hatch kung matuloy hehe!

But going back, sayang talga if Volvo will not bring in the T5 variant for their S40/V50 cars. Maybe takot sila that it might affect their S60 sales if ever

[red_wagen]

Post pics of the B class.
Volvo, meh.
Audi is nice in and out BUT I hear a lot of reliability issues here in the States.
The X3 I actually got to drive at a BMW driving event and it did not feel like an SUV! We pushed it to the limit in an autocross track and it took whatever we dished at it. From what you posted re power compared to the others, assuming price is not a limiting factor, it looks like a no-brainer. X3.
Btw how much are these cars selling there? Just curious...

[ryan]

Post pics of the B class.
Volvo, meh.
Audi is nice in and out BUT I hear a lot of reliability issues here in the States.
The X3 I actually got to drive at a BMW driving event and it did not feel like an SUV! We pushed it to the limit in an autocross track and it took whatever we dished at it. From what you posted re power compared to the others, assuming price is not a limiting factor, it looks like a no-brainer. X3.
Btw how much are these cars selling there? Just curious...

Here's a pic of the B-class but this one is the Brabus version.

If I remember correctly, here are the prices...

Audi A4 Avant (2.0L 130hp) - 2.95M
Mercedes B200 (2.0L 136hp) - 2.75M
Volvo S40 (2.4L 170hp) - 2.3 or 2.4M
BMW X3 (2.5L 190hp) - 3.6M (preowned is about 3 to 3.2M)

[red_wagen]

Onie, nice ride bro :inlove:
Ryan, based on those prices I guess Volvo will give oyu the most bang for the buck. And it's not bad looking. The Audi as I said before looks but, well you know. How's the warranty of these cars there? Do they offer free maintenance too?

[niky]

Mahal. There's just around 600,000 pesos separating the base X5 from the top of the line X3. X3s range from 3.5-4.2 million. X5s range from 4.8 - 9 million (for the V8s). Diesel X5s cost around 5 million, and are probably the best buy.

Regarding reliability, to be fair to Audi, there are a lot of minor reliability issues with new BMWs, too. Mostly with regard to electronic systems.

[red_wagen]

Mahal. There's just around 600,000 pesos separating the base X5 from the top of the line X3. X3s range from 3.5-4.2 million. X5s range from 4.8 - 9 million (for the V8s). Diesel X5s cost around 5 million, and are probably the best buy.

Regarding reliability, to be fair to Audi, there are a lot of minor reliability issues with new BMWs, too. Mostly with regard to electronic systems.

Wow! That's a lot of money!
Yes, it's true BMWs have their share of problems but what I've been hearing are that Audis have more reliability and quality issues. At least here in the States anyway. Here's an example. When I was looking at cars, I test drove the A4 3.0 Quattro and we hadn't even left the dealers lot yet when the car developed this grinding sound. We later found out the AC compressor was the culprit. After that it just turned me off to Audis. I think they're nice cars and imho the best looking dashboard in the auto industry but...

[niky]

Taxes Taxes Taxes. If you go grey market, you could probably get them for a little less (grey market H2s can go for "just" 5 million or less), but then you have absolutely no service support.

Sad... a reputation for poor reliability is what hurt VW in the US, you'd think their Audi division would have learned from it.

[onie]

I've had 3 Audis. Never had a problem. Wife wants the new Q7

[onie]

B7 S-Line

[mazdamazda]

IMO... I'll get the BMW just because they have more service centers here in the Philippines (including one in Pampangga).