Compare the2024 Audi A6VS 2023 BMW 5 Series Sedan

For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Audi A6 have pretensioners to tighten the seatbelts and eliminate dangerous slack in the event of a collision and force limiters to limit the pressure the belts will exert on the passengers. The BMW 5 Series Sedan doesn’t offer pretensioners for its rear seat belts.

For enhanced safety, the front seat shoulder belts of the Audi A6 are height-adjustable to accommodate a wide variety of driver and passenger heights. A better fit can prevent injuries and the increased comfort also encourages passengers to buckle up. The BMW 5 Series Sedan doesn’t offer height-adjustable seat belts.

Both the A6 and 5 Series Sedan have child safety locks to prevent children from opening the rear doors. The A6 has power child safety locks, allowing the driver to activate and deactivate them from the driver's seat and to know when they're engaged. The 5 Series Sedan’s child locks have to be individually engaged at each rear door with a manual switch. The driver can’t know the status of the locks without opening the doors and checking them.

To provide maximum traction and stability on all roads, All-Wheel Drive is standard on the A6. But it costs extra on the 5 Series Sedan.

The A6 offers an optional Top View Cameras to allow the driver to see objects all around the vehicle on a screen. The 5 Series Sedan only offers a rear monitor and front and rear parking sensors that beep or flash a light. That doesn’t help with obstacles to the sides.

Both the A6 and 5 Series Sedan offer rear cross-traffic warning, but the A6 with Rear Cross-Traffic Assist also has Automatic Brake Activation (automatically applies the brakes) to better prevent a collision when backing near traffic. The 5 Series Sedan’s Cross Traffic Warning doesn’t automatically brake.

Both the A6 and the 5 Series Sedan have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver and front passenger knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, post-collision automatic braking systems, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, rearview cameras and available blind spot warning systems.

For its top level performance in IIHS driver and passenger-side small overlap frontal, moderate overlap frontal, side impact, roof strength and head restraint tests, its standard front crash prevention system, and its headlight’s “Good” rating, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety grants the A6 its highest rating: “Top Safety Pick Plus” for 2019, a rating granted to only 135 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The 5 Series Sedan is only a standard “Top Safety Pick” for 2019.

As tested in Motor Trend the A6 55 TFSI 3.0 turbo V6 hybrid is faster than the 530i 2.0 turbo 4-cylinder:

On the EPA test cycle the A6 gets better mileage than the 5 Series Sedan:

The A6 has 1.3 gallons more fuel capacity than the 5 Series Sedan (19.3 vs. 18 gallons), for longer range between fill-ups.

The A6 offers an available sequential manual gearbox (SMG). With no clutch pedal to worry about and a fully automatic mode, an SMG is much more efficient than a conventional automatic but just as easy to drive. The 5 Series Sedan doesn’t offer an SMG or a conventional manual transmission.

The A6 stops much shorter than the 5 Series Sedan:

For better traction, the A6’s optional tires are larger than the largest tires available on the 5 Series Sedan (255/40R20 vs. 245/35R20).

For better ride, handling and brake cooling the A6 has standard 19-inch wheels. Smaller 18-inch wheels are standard on the 5 Series Sedan.

For better handling and stability, the track (width between the wheels) on the A6 is 1.1 inches wider in the front and 0 inches wider in the rear than the average track on the 5 Series Sedan.

The A6 Prestige handles at .93 G’s, while the 530i pulls only .86 G’s of cornering force in a Motor Trend skidpad test.

The A6 Prestige executes Motor Trend’s “Figure Eight” maneuver 1.4 seconds quicker than the 530i (24.9 seconds @ .75 average G’s vs. 26.3 seconds @ .68 average G’s).

The A6 has .6 inches more rear headroom, .9 inches more rear legroom and .6 inches more rear shoulder room than the 5 Series Sedan.

The A6 has a 3500 lbs. towing capacity. The 5 Series Sedan has no towing capacity.

The A6’s instruments include an oil pressure gauge and a temperature gauge - which could save your engine! Often ‘idiot lights’ don’t warn you until damage has been done. The 5 Series Sedan does not have an oil pressure gauge.

Heated windshield washer nozzles are standard on the A6 to prevent washer fluid and nozzles from freezing and help continue to keep the windshield clear in sub-freezing temperatures. The 5 Series Sedan doesn’t offer heated windshield washer nozzles.

Consumer Reports rated the A6’s headlight performance “Fair,” a higher rating than the 5 Series Sedan’s headlights, which were rated “Poor.”

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) conducts detailed tests on headlights for their range both straight ahead and in curves and to be certain they don’t exceed acceptable amounts of glare to oncoming drivers. The A6’s headlights were rated “Good” to “Acceptable” by the IIHS, while the 5 Series Sedan’s headlights are rated “Acceptable.”

In poor weather, headlights can lose their effectiveness as grime builds up on their lenses. This can reduce visibility without the driver realizing. The A6 Premium Plus/Prestige has standard headlight washers to keep headlight output high. The 5 Series Sedan doesn’t offer headlight washers.

To shield the driver and front passenger’s vision over a larger portion of the windshield and side windows, the A6 has standard extendable sun visors. The 5 Series Sedan doesn’t offer extendable visors.

The A6 Prestige’s Park Assist Plus can parallel park or back into a parking spot by itself, starting, stopping and changing direction automatically. Remote Park Assist Plus will park and retrieve your car remotely: press a button and watch it park itself. This is ideal for tight locations. The 5 Series Sedan doesn’t offer an automated parking system.

According to The Car Book by Jack Gillis, the A6 is less expensive to operate than the 5 Series Sedan because typical repairs cost much less on the A6 than the 5 Series Sedan, including $47 less for a water pump, $403 less for a muffler, $2 less for front brake pads, $66 less for front struts, $722 less for a timing belt/chain and $443 less for a power steering pump.

Consumer Reports® recommends both the Audi A6 and the BMW 5 Series Sedan, based on reliability, safety and performance.