One thing we can say about BMW is that they stay true to their time-honored slogan of “sheer driving pleasure.”
What they do better than almost any other manufacturer is design a car around the driver, what this does is make the driver feel like they are very much an integral part of the machine. In short; their cars are fun and engaging to drive. This doesn’t mean they don’t make the odd bad car, or slow seller.
Some of their more recent design work has been, to say the least, polarizing, and some other cars that are a lot less reliable than they should be.
10 I3
At present, the i3 has served them rather well as an ongoing research and development project, but it is fair to say it is wearing pretty thin for them. Taking a hit on every car they make is eating into their profit margins, although this is understandable considering it is their first mass market EV.
With a high price and a below average range, it is getting pretty close to the end of its service life, and for most BMW execs this is good news as their new iX3 should be a big seller.
9 X6
When it came out, most called the luxury SUV (or sporty car on stilts) polarizing, now, a good few years after that first generation was introduced, we can all safely call it what it is; plain ugly.
Considering just how much it costs to put a new car into development, this rather strange niche car sticks out like a sore thumb in their model lineup. They saw a hole and filled it with something, without really caring much for what that something was.
8 M6
After many years on the sidelines the 6-Series made a rather muted return, it was not what anyone really asked for, or needed, and the M car was just an extension of an over extended model lineup.
That M car got the now infamous V10 from the even more infamous M5, which had a nasty habit of running through rod-bearings far too quickly for a modern vehicle.
7 2-Series Gran Tourer
Even though this is still on the market, nobody, including BMW, knows why. MPV sales have been in steady decline for over two decades, but for some reason they decided to make one just recently.
Not only that, but a premium priced luxury MPV. It beggars belief that they sell any at all, but they clearly are, seeing as though they seem hell-bent on promoting the thing.
6 M5 (E60)
This model M5 was initially touted as the best M car ever, some automotive journalists even went as far as to say this was the best BMW ever. In 2005, its supercar V10 engine was even named engine of the year.
That, with the benefit of hindsight, was rather premature. Although the super-sedan had supercar power, it also had supercar frailty. Rod-bearings were the biggest issue, giving way well before the warranty expired and cost the company dearly and cost enthusiasts even more if the car was out of warranty.
5 335i (E90)
If you thought BMW learned their lesson after getting burnt by the V10, then you will be shocked to find out that wasn’t even their most problematic engine.
The N54 engine was easily the worst and most troublesome the brand has ever conceived, and that is saying something. The 3-Series may have been the most affected by this, but it was by no means the only car that came with it.
4 740i (F01)
The N54 engine just had no place in their premium luxury sedan, but if you were unlucky enough to buy an entry level F01 7-Series, then that is exactly what you got.
These engines came with every infamous BMW fault under the sun, from defective vanos solenoids to high-pressure pump failures; it was an unmitigated disaster for the brand and gave them something of a PR nightmare with all the recalls these cars endured.
3 Z4 (G29)
To be fair, the Z4 is a very good sports car that is actually priced pretty reasonably. The problem was how they went about the development.
To save money they pooled their resources with Toyota in developing their new Supra. By all accounts this confused enthusiasts in both camps that don’t traditionally cross-shop. We can now say with some certainty that there is more BMW DNA in the car, but most buyers were already put off before it was launched.
2 BMW M Coupe
The “Boot Car” is arguably one of the most underrated sports cars of all time. The sad reality was that when it came out, people hated it. Thanks to its rather strange proportions, it flew under the radar for its entire production life.
Obviously, the Z3 more than made up for the lack of sales, but ultimately making these cars was not worth the effort from a pure business perspective.
1 Isetta
Most brands have a “right car for the time” car in their history and for BMW this was it. As a motorcycle manufacturer and a car manufacturer, you might think this was just some experiment for them, but they didn’t even really make the thing.
In truth, they were desperate to make any sales and things were not going well for them post-war. They actually sold these under license from the Italian carmaker ISO, something barely believable today, but back then it served its purpose to save the company. It also lives on as their strangest car, one they certainly regret making (or at least licensing).