BMW E30 3-Series Luxury Car

BMW E30 3-Series (1987-1991)

In 1987, BMW gently facelifted the E30 3-Series, replacing the chrome bumpers with full-length body-coloured plastic ones, while removing chrome detailing elsewhere, too. And so the yuppie mobile was born. Rarely has so minor a facelift proven so successful; the 3-Series now looked great, just at the right time, and BMW’s upward sales spiral commenced. The company has never looked back, and can thank this car. It can be brought for three-figure sums today, yet flawless mechanical integrity means they’re still decent drives, so long as you watch the back end in the wet...

BMW E36 3-Series Luxury Car

BMW E36 3-Series (1991-1998)

If the E30 were responsible for BMW’s success, its E36 successor cemented it. Compared to what went before, this was revolutionary, with perfectly proportioned styling that even today still looks fantastic. It used to be the low-slung coupe that looked best, but the chunky four-door saloon is starting to win more fans as the years pass. It was groundbreaking beneath too, debuting BMW’s famous Z-axle rear suspension that cured all the waywardness without diluting the fun. Smaller engines are underpowered but still sweet; buy a £3k straight-six 325i for budget entertainment you never thought possible.

BMW 528i Luxury Car

BMW 528i (1997-2003)

The best car in the real world? It was when it was launched back in 1997, and for keener drivers, it probably remains so, almost a decade on. Not only was it devoid of flaws, it did nearly everything so incredibly well, particularly for the driver. The handling was pin-sharp, steering beautifully weighted and the six-cylinder engine a purring peach that also returned good economy figures. That you can buy it for £3,000 is nothing short of incredible. Spend £4k and you’ve a car for life that we reckon outpoints the latest one for driver satisfaction.

BMW 7-Series Luxury Car

BMW 7-series (1995-2002)

Bond, driving a 7-Series, just didn’t look right. But YOU in a 7-Series, from just £2,500? (Yes, really – £2,500, for a 10-year-old one). Now that’s much more like it. You can indulge in 007-levels of goodies too, as all are stocked just as you’d expect a luxury car of the 1990s to be. Various engines, but such is the top-line 750i’s thirst, it often sells for the same as most-popular 728i straight-sixes. We’d be torn between them, but would probably go for the smaller-engine’d car as it’s more nimble and fun to drive. A scruffy old Scenic or some of these – which would the family prefer?