What are the best BMWs on sale?

Open gallery Close News 1 min read 6 May 2024 Follow @jonny_bryce_ It’s no easy task to break down the best BMWs currently on sale. The company has been designing and building cars for nearly 100 years, so it’s unsurprising that it is capable of creating compelling machines that deserve four or more Autocar stars. That’s the case for the vast majority of its models. But it’s natural for the odd chink to appear in a firm’s armour, with some models delivering in some areas yet not others, and some not delivering at all. However, the models here, in Autocar’s view, are BMW’s most compelling cars.  Related articles Whether it's a 2.7-tonne electric luxury car, a two-door sports car or a front-wheel-drive hatchback that handles more like a Bimmer than it ought to, each of these models has been tailored to the expectations of their respective markets. To make it easier to quantify, we’ve ranked each of the models by a star rating, with the highest-rated coming first and the lowest last. The best BMWs on sale 1. BMW 3 Series10Pros Genuinely exceptional combination of performance, refinement and economyLooks clean and smart regardless of trim Cons Choppy ride on poor road surfacesA large car on the road It’s been called the car that has an answer to every question. A machine so desirable and renowned in the industry that it could be the Porsche 911 of executive saloons. That’s reflected in its sales – it accounts for a substantial 14% of BMW's sales – and our own assessment of it. In our book, the 3 Series is the best BMW you can buy.The range of cars and specifications available are fantastic in and of themselves. You can have the fuel-sipping but still gutsy 320d, the even more gutsy but still fuel-sipping 330e plug-in hybrid, or the M3, which is the most effective ‘all-weather supercar’ you could hope to find. Larger, wider and taller than the car it replaced, the current G20-generation 3 Series is just 66mm shorter than the E39-gen (1995-2004) 5 Series. This pays dividends when it comes to rear passenger space and a general lack of claustrophobia up front – something that hampered previous iterations.Of course, in such a crowded market Mercedes and Audi both offer rivals that are just as generally competent, but no other compact executive car manages to meld desirability, ease of use, handsome looks, practicality and a genuinely good drive quite like the 3 Series does.Read our BMW 3 Series review Latest Reviews Bentley Bentayga Extended Wheelbase View all car reviews Back to top 2. BMW i79Pros Even more luxurious and refined than you would expectElectric powertrain is potent, slick and quiet Cons Real-world range is quite far from what is claimedAn expensive car, no matter which one you go for The i7 has all the fundamentals of a traditional luxury limousine. It has leather like a gang of bikers and inch-thick carpets, it’s quieter than reading and it measures nearly 5.5m long. BMW's most luxurious and expensive electric model to date, the i7 is Munich's answer to the Mercedes EQS and Porsche Taycan. The range kicks off with the £101,765 eDrive50, which uses a 105kWh battery for 325 miles of range. A motor on the rear axle produces 455bhp and pushes the 2715kg barge to 62mph in 5.5sec. The top-rung xDrive60, meanwhile, sends 526bhp to all four wheels and dispatches 62mph in 4.7sec. Range is officially put at 385 miles, but when we tested it, it failed to achieve that, stopping short of 300 miles.But because BMW knew this car would become a core part of its model range – the crowning glory – it was vital it delivered incredibly refined performance, the excellent drivability expected of any BMW, and serene cruising manners.And it does. Our road test verdict said: "The BMW i7 demands consideration by anyone who wants a luxury saloon in the traditional mould. It’s richer, more inviting, more technology-packed and more spacious than any 7 Series before it, and it earns its stripes on handling, too.”On a B-road it feels firmer and more reactive to the road surface beneath it than many of its rivals, and is more like a typical BMW the faster you go – a real achievement for something of this size and heft.Read our BMW i7 review3. BMW iX9Pros Great stamina when it comes to rolling accelerationRolling refinement to rival a Rolls-Royce Cons Fussy looksManual regeneration control could be improved for increased drivability This is one of the very best electric SUVs the market has to offer. Its fitness for purpose is so compelling that it makes the £70,985 asking price seem very good value compared with its competitors.Take its performance. Being an EV, it rolls away smoothly and picks up instantaneously. But unlike every other electric car out there, the iX's motors have a really potent roll-on pedal response and greater stamina of outright acceleration, s