What's The Worst BMW Model? Here's What Car Fans Said - Exclusive Survey

BMW is one of the most reputable car manufacturers, especially when it comes to performance — it's also known for its tradition of designing rear-wheel drive cars, though it introduced its first front-wheel drive model in 2014. Beyond that, most people associate the German automotive brand with luxury and wealth, and the average price paid for a brand new BMW as of June 2022 was above $66,000, according to Kelly Book Blue. But if you have more change to spare, the most expensive BMWs of all time will cost you well over $500,000.

In August 2022, we shared the results of a survey that found a substantial percentage of people think BMW makes some of the coolest luxury cars. Of course, that's just a matter of personal preference, and you will probably get a different answer if you ask which is the best BMW of all time. On the flip side, the same can be said if you're talking about which is the worst BMW model, so we conducted a survey to find out what people think. Here's what the car fans we surveyed had to say.

Many people think the Isetta is the worst BMW ever made

In a SlashGear survey of 590 people located in the U.S., 25.25% thought that the Isetta was the worst BMW model ever made. That's probably because it's a three-wheeled car that sort of looks like an egg — one popularly driven by the character Steve Urkel in the sitcom "Family Matters" – and it can only fit two people. In fact, the model was the most fuel-efficient BMW ever made with a 78 mpg rating, and at the time of its launch, Germans only needed a motorcycle license to operate it. The Isetta doesn't look anything like a BMW, and it was only made to save the company from bankruptcy.

At a close second, 21.53% of the respondents picked the BMW X5. It's not a surprise considering that the X5 is seemingly one of the most unreliable BMW models, especially those made from 2008 to 2013, according to Motor Biscuit. Moreover, 20.17% of the poll participants thought that BMW's first-ever production electric car, the i3, should go down in the history books as one of the worst BMW models ever made. The model was discontinued in the U.S market in July 2021 to pave way for the BMW iX and BMW i4. The BMW Series 5 was fourth in the poll with 17.12%, while the BMW Series 1 came in last with 15.93%.