Acura vs. BMW Comparison

Acura vs. BMW Comparison PageTwo major contenders in the world of luxury vehicles are Acura and BMW. Both of these brands offer some truly impressive vehicles, which can make it difficult to narrow down your choices when shopping for a luxury vehicle. That’s why Motorcars Acura has put together this brand comparison – to help simplify your shopping experience.


Acura Integra Type S

Performance Car of The Year

The Integra has earned a lot of praise from the automotive press since the nameplate was revived for 2023, and with the introduction of the Integra Type S in 2024, that praise has only intensified. Car & Driver proclaimed4 it “might be perfect”, but it was Road & Track named it Performance Car of The Year1. And it’s not difficult to see why, the Type S comes with a turbocharged 2.0-liter engine that produces 320 horsepower and 310 lb-ft of torque. That engine is mated to a 6-speed manual transmission, which is not only a highly enjoyable feature to have in a performance car, but also incredibly rare these days.

IIHS Top Safety Pick+ 2024

Safety

The IIHS Top Safety Pick and Top Safety Pick+ awards are some of the highest honors that a vehicle can receive, thanks to incredibly strict criteria. Some manufacturers don’t win any of these awards, but more than half of the Acura lineup2 got awards for 2024. Compare that to BMW, where only 25% on the lineup won awards. Clearly, safety is a bigger concern for Acura than it is for BMW. The following Acura models won awards for 2024:

  • 2024-2025 Acura Integra
  • 2024-2025 Acura MDX
  • 2024-2025 Acura RDX

Car.com American Made Index

American Made

Buying American is a good way to support local American communities and jobs, and also usually means better availability and pricing for parts, thus keeping total cost of ownership down. Both Acura and BMW have assembly plants in the US, but that certainly doesn’t make them equal. The Cars.com American-Made Index3 factors in things like where the engine is assembled and what percentage of the parts used were also manufactured in the US. Honda/Acura is always one of the top companies for this, with Honda and Acura models making up 9 of the top 20 spots, including every Acura model except the ZDX, which is built in partnership with GM and assembled in different factories. Most BMW models didn’t make the list at all, with those that did amounting to just a handful of SUVs. They didn’t place very high on the list either, with the highest-placed BMW coming in at 88th place. The lowest-placed Acura, for comparison, was 18th.