BMW M135i xDrive (F40)

At £99 per bhp, the BMW M135i xDrive (F40) asks a question that its catalogue position helps answer. Its used price of £30,000 places it at 525 of 600 cars in the Dream Car Garage catalogue, meaning only 75 cars are more expensive here. That is a difficult place to occupy unless the numbers behind the price create a clear case. In this BMW’s case, they do: it delivers a balance of specification and capability that makes the cost understandable.

The M135i xDrive sits in a part of the catalogue where outright figures tell only part of the story. Its 302 bhp ranks 502 of 600, putting it within the top 84% for power, while its 0 to 100 km/h time of 4.8 seconds is faster than 158 cars in the collection. The 250 km/h top speed ranks 414 of 600. These are not numbers that place it near the top of every category, but they describe a car with enough pace to justify a serious place in a varied collection.

The detail that separates this BMW is the combination of its engine layout and drivetrain. Only 15 of the 600 cars pair an inline-4 with AWD, and the M135i xDrive is part of the 58 turbocharged inline-4 cars in the catalogue. Its 2.0 litre turbocharged inline-4 produces 450 Nm of torque, giving the car a character built around a strong pairing of forced induction and all-wheel drive. For a four or five seater hatchback, that combination creates a distinct position among the cars available to choose from.

The answer to the price question is yes, the M135i xDrive is worth its place at £30,000 when the aim is to build a garage with breadth rather than simply chase the highest figures. It brings together BMW’s German origin, a 2019 to 2024 model span, and a specification that occupies a narrow part of the catalogue. The opening tension changes once the full picture is clear: this is not a car that wins through being the most powerful or the fastest, but through how much ability is concentrated into a single, usable format. In a collection of 600 cars, that distinction is exactly what makes it worth considering.