BMW 3 Series: how many are still registered?
593,008still registered
BMW 3 Series cars still registered with DVLA (licensed or SORN), across 884 recorded variants.
Most recorded on UK roads at once: 688,757 (2014 Q2) - 86.0% of that peak survives.
Disappearing at about 2.2% a year (the 2020–2025 trend). If that rate continued: around 530,582 in 2030.
112,668 of the survivors (18.9%) are declared off-road (SORN) rather than taxed.
86.0% survives 2014 Q2 peak: 688,757
One car drawn per 1,000 on the road - there are too many left to draw one each. Pick variants on the left to colour them in.
Derivatives
DVLA also registers other body types under the BMW 3 Series nameplate. Each is counted on its own page, so every figure on this one is cars only.
By year
All 593,008 surviving BMW 3 Series cars, by the year each was built - not how many were on the road at the time. Across every year, 328,636 of these cars have gone since 2014, leaving 52.9% of the 2014 figure. That is the earliest real count of the same cars: DVLA publishes no production figures, so nothing here is a count of how many were built.
Cars joining a UK register each year, and how many of that year's arrivals are still registered now (the darker part of each bar). For an import this is the year it arrived, not the year it was built.
On the road over time
Total BMW 3 Series cars registered (licensed or SORN) at the end of each year.
Engine size and fuel
What is on the road now: the surviving BMW 3 Series cars split by engine capacity and by fuel, as recorded 2025. Engine sizes are DVLA's own bands and cover only the cars it holds a capacity for.
Engine size
Fuel
By generation
Approximate generation windows - the changeover year counts toward the newer car.
| Generation | Still registered |
|---|---|
| E21 (1975–1982) | 817 |
| E30 (1983–1990) | 11,796 |
| E36 (1991–1997) | 19,717 |
| E46 (1998–2004) | 78,594 |
| E90 (2005–2011) | 157,706 |
| F30 (2012–2018) | 217,887 |
| G20 (2019–2026) | 106,351 |
Own or buying a BMW 3 Series? Get its free DVLA tax and MOT history - and the paid report's own rarity figures for the exact variant - in seconds.
Check a reg freeSource: DVLA vehicle licensing statistics (DfT). Counts as of 2025, licensed and SORN vehicles both included. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Survivor counts are national registration figures, not a guarantee any particular car exists or is roadworthy - check a specific reg free.