Ranked #13 car in the UK · Saloon · 10,015 units sold last year
BMW 3 Series
The benchmark compact executive saloon. G20 (2019+) drives sweetly and feels tech-rich. 320d remains the long-distance king; 330e plug-in hybrid is the company-car favourite.
Pick your version
Estimates are tuned to the version you choose.
Fuel
Petrol · 1998cc
Power
184 ps
Drivetrain
RWD
Quoted MPG
44 mpg
Base trim, mainstream petrol — a sensible used buy.
Tell us about the one you're looking at
Tidy and well looked-after for its age — the typical car.
Remembered as you browse other cars.
Optional — fills in the exact year and ULEZ status for your specific car. The registration isn’t stored.
Estimated market value
£18,350
Range £16,300 – £20,400
medium confidence
The depreciation curve
How a 2023-registration BMW 3 Series loses value over time.
What it costs to own
Based on the 2023 car with 33,000 miles you entered above — worth about £18,350 today — here is the cost of owning it for the next 3 years, at roughly 11,000 miles a year.
3-year total
£19,096
Per year
£6,365
Per mile
£0.58
Best age to buy — around 2 years
A 2-year-old example loses roughly £6,550 a year — under half the £14,450 a one-year-old sheds. The steepest drop is behind it.
Assumes roughly £1.45/L fuel (£0.28/kWh for EVs), typical-driver insurance and manufacturer service intervals. A guide for comparison — your own costs will vary.
How it compares
Where this car ranks against the 330 vehicles in our index — higher is better.
Percentile rank across our full index. A measure is shown only where the data spreads meaningfully across the index.
Estimated insurance
Group 30 · Comprehensive · 3 years NCB
Indicative annual comprehensive premiums for this car, by driver age band and risk profile. Pick the combination closest to your circumstances.
Estimated annual premium · typical, age 33-39
£1,360/ year
Roughly £113 per month
Typical
Average UK driver — 3 years NCB, average postcode, no recent claims.| Age band | Lower risk | Typical | Higher risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| Age 17-25 | £3,101 | £3,876 | £5,039 |
| Age 26-32 | £1,618 | £1,904 | £2,323 |
| Age 33-39Selected | £1,197 | £1,360 | £1,605 |
| Age 40-49 | £1,016 | £1,129 | £1,309 |
| Age 50+ | £906 | £1,006 | £1,188 |
How we estimate this
Indicative annual comprehensive premium estimates. The 'Typical' figure represents an average UK driver in each age band; Lower and Higher risk show the realistic spread driven by factors UK insurers legitimately price on (postcode, occupation, claims history, NCB, voluntary excess, modifications). Based on 10,000 miles/yr, £250 voluntary excess, and the no-claims bonus selected above. Always get individual quotes before buying.
Expected annual costs
Adjust the annual mileage to match how you'll actually use the car. Insurance is what you selected above (age 33-39, typical risk, 3 yrs NCB).
Routine service
£380
Annual main-dealer service
Major service
£340
Every 2 years, annualised
Road tax
£620
Standard rate, post year-one
Electricity
£1,024
2.9 mi/kWh, 27p blended
Insurance
£1,360
Age 33-39, group 30
Excludes depreciation and unscheduled repairs (see next section).
Unexpected costs
What out-of-warranty repairs typically run, by mileage band. Your selected mileage is highlighted.
0-30k miles
£100
per year · low risk
30-60k miles
£320
per year · low risk
60-100k miles
£720
per year · medium risk
100k+ miles
£1,300
per year · high risk
Parts most likely to fail
Drawn from owner reports and warranty data. Filtered for relevance to 33,000 miles.
Watch now
Failure typically happens around your current mileage.
Upcoming
A known weak point — but you haven't reached its usual mileage yet.
Already due
Past its usual failure mileage. Either already fixed, or about to.
Timing chain (N47 diesel, pre-2014)Upcoming
Almost exclusively older F30 — rare on G20 B47 unit.
EGR cooler / inlet manifold (B47 diesel)Upcoming
Carbon build-up. Walnut-blast service often resolves.
iDrive screen / head unit
Flickering common on early G20 8.0 systems.
Rear differential bushingsUpcoming
Clunk under acceleration.
Electric water pumpUpcoming
Original failure point on B48/B58.
Charging cable / wallbox (330e)
Granny cable failure is the typical warranty claim.
"Parts low/medium/high" indicates how easy the replacement part is to source — discontinued or specialist parts mean longer workshop time and bigger bills.
Tyres
225/50 R17 · 225/45 R18 · 255/35 R19 (rear) · run-flat
What a full set of four will cost you (including fit and balance), and which brand each tier of buyer should pick. A typical set lasts about 19,000 miles.
Budget
£455
set of 4, fitted · £95 per tyre
Mid-range
£655
set of 4, fitted · £145 per tyre
Premium
£935
set of 4, fitted · £215 per tyre
What to fit
Michelin Pilot Sport 5
The pick for 330i / M340i drivers. Excellent dry grip and steering feel.
Pirelli P Zero PZ4
OE choice on many 3 Series. Marked with BMW * symbol — matters for RFTs.
Michelin CrossClimate 2
Available in run-flat. The right answer if you keep stock wheels year-round.
BMW spec run-flats from new — switching to conventional tyres requires a tyre repair kit and saves about £50/tyre. Many owners do.
Safety rating
Euro NCAP's independent crash-test rating for the BMW 3 Series, from its 2019 assessment.
The passenger compartment of the 3-series remained stable in the frontal offset test.
Independent crash-test data from Euro NCAP. Star ratings reflect the test protocol of the year shown — newer protocols are stricter, so a 5-star from 2024 represents a higher bar than a 5-star from 2014.
MOT outlook
How this model fares at its MOT as it ages — from 15,005,708 real DVSA test records.
MOT pass rate by age
A 3-year-old 3 Series passes its MOT 85.7% of the time; by 25 years that has slipped to 71.4%. The y-axis is zoomed to this model’s range so the trend is readable.
Longevity
From 176 vehicles registered in 1972.
Common MOT failures by mileage
The defect categories this 3 Series fails on most often, and how the failure rate climbs as the miles add up — from the same DVSA test records.
| Category | 0-30k | 30-60k | 60-100k | 100k+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tyres & wheels | 5% | 6% | 7% | 8% |
| Suspension | 2% | 3% | 7% | 12% |
| Brakes | 1% | 3% | 7% | 12% |
| Lighting & signalling | 1% | 2% | 4% | 8% |
| Driver's view | 1% | 2% | 3% | 4% |
| Emissions | 1% | 1% | 2% | 4% |
Share of MOT tests in each mileage band with at least one defect in that category. The peak band for each is highlighted.
Theft risk
A general indicator from UK 2025 theft data and this car’s characteristics — not a prediction for any one vehicle.
Whole-car theft
Higher
The BMW 3 Series is frequently targeted by thieves (UK 2025 data). Keyless entry on later cars makes relay theft the usual method.
Parts theft
Higher
Hybrid versions are a catalytic-converter target — a hybrid cat is rich in precious metals and can be cut out in about a minute.
Worth doing
- Keep keys in a Faraday pouch and away from the front door to block relay attacks.
- A catalytic-converter guard or forensic marking makes a hybrid far less appealing to cut.
- A visible steering lock is a cheap, strong deterrent on a frequently-targeted car.
Clean-air zones
Whether driving a BMW 3 Series into a UK clean-air zone will cost you anything. Rules use the same Euro standard across most zones — petrol from 2006 and diesel from 2015 onwards are exempt; pure electric is always exempt.
Charging zones for cars
| City | Area | Daily charge | Likely outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| London | All of Greater London (within the M25) | £12.50 | Likely exempt Diesel from September 2015 meets Euro 6. |
| Birmingham | Inside the A4540 Middleway | £8.00 | Likely exempt Diesel from September 2015 meets Euro 6. |
| Bristol | City centre and part of the Portway | £9.00 | Likely exempt Diesel from September 2015 meets Euro 6. |
| Glasgow | City centre | — | Likely exempt Diesel from September 2015 meets Euro 6. |
| Edinburgh | City centre | — | Likely exempt Diesel from September 2015 meets Euro 6. |
| Aberdeen | City centre | — | Likely exempt Diesel from September 2015 meets Euro 6. |
| Dundee | City centre | — | Likely exempt Diesel from September 2015 meets Euro 6. |
Zones that don't charge private cars
- Bath — City centre (Private cars and motorbikes are not charged).
- Bradford — Outer ring road and the Aire Valley (Private cars are not charged).
- Sheffield — Inside the A61 inner ring road (Private cars are not charged).
- Newcastle & Gateshead — City centres and the Tyne, Swing, High Level and Redheugh bridges (Private cars are not charged).
- Portsmouth — Part of the city centre (Applies to taxis, PHVs, buses, coaches and HGVs only).
Model-level guidance only. To check a specific registration, use the official gov.uk clean-air zone checker. Zone charges and boundaries are set by local councils and change over time.
Company car tax
What HMRC's Benefit-in-Kind charge looks like if you ran this BMW 3 Series as a company car, by tax year and income-tax band. Calculated from a CO₂ of 164 g/km and a WLTP electric range of 60 miles, using £45,100 as the P11D value.
| Tax year | BIK % | Tax @ 20% | Tax @ 40% | Monthly @ 20% | Monthly @ 40% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-26 | 37% | £3,337 | £6,675 | £278 | £556 |
| 2026-27 | 37% | £3,337 | £6,675 | £278 | £556 |
| 2027-28 | 38% | £3,428 | £6,855 | £286 | £571 |
| 2028-29 | 39% | £3,518 | £7,036 | £293 | £586 |
| 2029-30 | 39% | £3,518 | £7,036 | £293 | £586 |
P11D value is approximated from the latest new price; the exact figure on your tax code will depend on options fitted. The 4% diesel surcharge applies only to non-RDE2 (pre-2021) diesels — we assume RDE2 compliance for current models. Bands and rates from HMRC's Autumn Budget 2024 confirmation through 2029/30.
Reliability
Average
Things owners say
- 01330e PHEV gets lower BIK but real-world EV range is ~25 miles.
- 02F30 (pre-2019) is cheap to buy but pricier to fix; G20 has more electronics but better build.
- 03Watch for curbed alloys on M Sport — replacement is £450+ each.
Servicing & the dealer network
How well-supported BMW is across the UK — a practical read on how easy servicing, parts and warranty work will be to find.
Franchised UK dealers
~145
Large network
Premium mainstream
Network size relative to the UK's largest (BMW is 3.2% of all franchised outlets)
Servicing, parts and warranty work are easy to find UK-wide, and most independent garages know the brand well — which keeps maintenance competitive.
For context, the UK has roughly 4,500 franchised car-dealer outlets in total, plus about 15,500 independent garages.
Approximate figures, curated from public UK industry sources (NFDA, Car Dealer Magazine). Franchised networks shrink year on year — these indicate network size, not an exact count.
How many are still out there
Of every BMW 3 Series ever registered in the UK, this is what's actively on the road, parked off the road on a SORN, or gone for good.
Total ever registered
703,460
Currently taxed & on road
472,423
67% of all registered
SORN (off road)
120,642
17% of all registered
Scrapped or exported
110,395
Source: DfT VEH0124 vehicle licensing statistics (year-end 2025) · Updated 20 May 2026
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