Compare the2027 Dodge Charger VS 2026 BMW 3 Series Sedan

For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Dodge Charger have pretensioners to tighten the seatbelts and eliminate dangerous slack in the event of a collision. The BMW 3 Series Sedan doesn’t offer pretensioners for its rear seat belts.

For enhanced safety, the front seat shoulder belts of the Dodge Charger 4-Door 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 3 Series Sedan doesn’t offer height-adjustable seat belts.

Both the Charger and 3 Series Sedan have child safety locks to prevent children from opening the rear doors. The Charger 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 3 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 Charger. But it costs extra on the 3 Series Sedan.

The Charger has a standard blind spot warning system that uses sensors to alert the driver to objects in the vehicle’s blind spots where the side view mirrors don’t reveal them. A system to reveal vehicles in the 3 Series Sedan’s blind spot costs extra.

To help make backing out of a parking space safer, the Charger has standard Rear Cross Path Detection, helping the driver avoid collisions. BMW charges extra for Cross Traffic Warning on the 3 Series Sedan.

Both the Charger and the 3 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, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, rearview cameras, driver alert monitors and available around view monitors.

The Dodge Charger weighs 733 to 2184 pounds more than the BMW 3 Series Sedan. The NHTSA advises that heavier cars are much safer in collisions than their significantly lighter counterparts.

Dodge’s powertrain warranty covers the Charger 1 year and 10,000 miles longer than BMW covers the 3 Series Sedan. Any repair needed on the engine, transmission, axles, joints or driveshafts is fully covered for 5 years or 60,000 miles. Coverage on the 3 Series Sedan ends after only 4 years or 50,000 miles.

There are almost 7 times as many Dodge dealers as there are BMW dealers, which makes it much easier should you ever need service under the Charger’s warranty.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2025 Initial Quality Study of new car owners surveyed provide the statistics that show that Dodge vehicles are better in initial quality than BMW vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Dodge above average in initial quality. With 16 more problems per 100 vehicles, BMW is rated below average.

The Charger has more powerful engines than the 3 Series Sedan:

	Horsepower	Torque
Charger R/T 3.0 turbo 6-cylinder	420 HP	468 lbs.-ft.
Charger Scat Pack 3.0 turbo 6-cylinder	550 HP	531 lbs.-ft.
Charger Super Bee 3.0 turbo 6-cylinder	600 HP	531 lbs.-ft.
Charger Daytona Scat Pack electric motors	670 HP	627 lbs.-ft.
330i 2.0 turbo 4-cylinder hybrid	255 HP	295 lbs.-ft.
M340i 3.0 turbo 6-cylinder hybrid	386 HP	398 lbs.-ft.

As tested in Car and Driver the Charger R/T 3.0 turbo 6-cylinder is faster than the 330i 2.0 turbo 4-cylinder:

	Charger	3 Series Sedan
Zero to 60 MPH	4.7 sec	5.2 sec

Motor Trend magazine performs a classic 0 to 100 MPH and back to 0 MPH performance test. The Dodge Charger Daytona Scat Pack Two-Door completed this feat in only 11.8 seconds. It took the BMW 330i 18.6 seconds.

On the EPA test cycle the Charger running on electricity gets better mileage than the 3 Series Sedan:

			MPGe
Charger
	AWD	Scat Pack 305 Tires Electric Motors	93 city/79 hwy
		Scat Pack All Season 325 Tires Electric Motors	82 city/73 hwy
		Scat Pack Performance 325 Tires Electric Motors	80 city/70 hwy
3 Series Sedan
			MPG
	RWD	2.0 turbo 4-cyl.	28 city/35 hwy
		3.0 turbo 6-cyl. Hybrid	27 city/33 hwy
	AWD	2.0 turbo 4-cyl.	26 city/34 hwy
		3.0 turbo 6-cyl. Hybrid	26 city/33 hwy

The Charger can travel with zero emissions for 223 to 267 miles (dependent on model). The 3 Series Sedan can’t move without running its internal combustion engine.

The Charger Six Pack has 1.9 gallons more fuel capacity than the 3 Series Sedan (17.5 vs. 15.6 gallons), for longer range between fill-ups.

The Charger has a standard cap-less fueling system. The fuel filler is automatically opened when the fuel nozzle is inserted and automatically closed when it’s removed. This eliminates the need to unscrew and replace the cap and it reduces fuel evaporation, which causes pollution. The 3 Series Sedan doesn’t offer a cap-less fueling system.

For better stopping power the Charger’s brake rotors are larger than those on the 3 Series Sedan:

	Charger R/T	Charger Super Bee	330i	M340i
Front Rotors	13.9 inches	16 inches	13 inches	13.7 inches
Rear Rotors	13.8 inches	16 inches	13 inches	13.6 inches

The Charger stops much shorter than the 3 Series Sedan:

	Charger	3 Series Sedan
100 to 0 MPH	297 feet	310 feet	Car and Driver
70 to 0 MPH	151 feet	165 feet	Car and Driver
60 to 0 MPH	104 feet	114 feet	Motor Trend

For better traction, the Charger has larger standard tires than the 3 Series Sedan (245/55R18 vs. 225/45R18). The Charger’s optional tires are larger than the largest tires available on the 3 Series Sedan (F:305/35R20 & R:325/35R20 vs. F:225/40R19 & R:255/35R19).

The Charger’s optional tires provide better handling because they have a lower 35 series profile (height to width ratio) that provides a stiffer sidewall than the 3 Series Sedan’s optional 40 series front tires.

For better ride, handling and brake cooling the Charger Scat Pack has standard 20-inch wheels. The 3 Series Sedan’s largest wheels are only 19-inches.

The Charger has a standard easy tire fill system. When inflating the tires, the vehicle’s integrated tire pressure sensors keep track of the pressure as the tires fill and tell the driver when the tires are inflated to the proper pressure. The 3 Series Sedan doesn’t offer vehicle monitored tire inflation.

For a smoother ride and more stable handling, the Charger’s wheelbase is 8.8 inches longer than on the 3 Series Sedan (121 inches vs. 112.2 inches).

For better handling and stability, the average track (width between the wheels) on the Charger is 5.9 inches wider in the front and 6.8 inches wider in the rear than the track on the 3 Series Sedan.

The Charger Daytona Scat Pack Four-Door handles at .97 G’s, while the 330i xDrive pulls only .91 G’s of cornering force in a Motor Trend skidpad test.

The Charger Daytona Scat Pack Four-Door executes Motor Trend’s “Figure Eight” maneuver 2 seconds quicker than the 330i xDrive (24.6 seconds @ .84 average G’s vs. 26.6 seconds @ .66 average G’s).

The Charger Six Pack offers available computer-generated active noise cancellation to help remove annoying noise and vibration from the passenger compartment, especially at low frequencies. The 3 Series Sedan doesn’t offer active noise cancellation.

The Charger Four-Door has .4 inches more front headroom, .6 inches more front legroom, 1.6 inches more front shoulder room, 2 inches more rear legroom, .5 inches more rear hip room and 4 inches more rear shoulder room than the 3 Series Sedan.

The Charger Four-Door has a much larger trunk with its rear seat up than the 3 Series Sedan (22.7 vs. 16.9 cubic feet).

The Charger’s optional easy entry system raises the steering wheel and glides the driver’s seat back when the door is unlocked or the ignition is switched off, making it easier for the driver to get in and out. The 3 Series Sedan doesn’t offer an easy entry system.

The Charger’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 3 Series Sedan does not have an oil pressure gauge.

Heated windshield washer nozzles are standard on the Charger to prevent washer fluid and nozzles from freezing and help continue to keep the windshield clear in sub-freezing temperatures. The 3 Series Sedan doesn’t offer heated windshield washer nozzles.

Optional air-conditioned seats in the Charger keep the driver and front passenger comfortable and take the sting out of hot seats in Summer. The 3 Series Sedan doesn’t offer air-conditioned seats.

The Dodge Charger comes in coupe and four door hatchback bodystyles; the BMW 3 Series isn’t available as a coupe.

A group of representative automotive journalists from North America selected the Charger as the 2026 North American Car of the Year. The 3 Series Sedan has never been chosen.