The BMW 3-series is the most sought after used car. There is no doubt that BMW have more street cred than most, but is this just fashion and image or are they any better than their competitors? Looking through older BMW brochures we can see that the 3-series was aimed at women and the 5-series at men, but the 3-series gained popularity as the sales reps car. Its competitors were Vauxalls, Fords and Rovers which were all terrible cars.

The BMW 3-series marked you out as a good rep and the image was born. Illusion and delusion have followed on and the delusion is that these reps cars have low mileage and last forever. Six out of ten BMWs that I check are clocked or have serious issues. The problem of clocked BMWs is that the engines need routine cam chain replacements which can cost €2,000 from a main dealer and about €1350 from your local mechanic.

The reality is BMWs are good cars, but will need serious money spent on them to maintain. Compare this to, say, a Mitsubishi with an eight year warranty which needs no extra money spent on it and you get your answer: illusion, delusion.