Cars on UK roads
How many BMW Z3 cars are on UK roads?
8,069 BMW Z3 cars were licensed in Great Britain at the end of June 2026, with another 7,178 declared off the road (SORN), according to DfT and DVLA licensing statistics. That is down 7.1% on a year earlier and 0.4% of all licensed BMW cars, making it number 23 of the 26 BMW models listed here and number 355 of 408 models nationally.
Data to 2026-06-30 · Page updated 2026-09-28 · Publisher: 73 Auto
- Licensed in GB
- 8,069
- end of June 2026, DfT VEH0120
- Change in a year
- −7.1%
- all cars: +1.5%
- Typical year of first use
- 1999
- median, UK, 31 Dec 2025 (all cars: 2016)
What the numbers say about the BMW Z3
The number of BMW Z3s on the road is down 7.1% on a year earlier, behind the +1.5% for all cars and behind BMW as a whole (+1.2%). It peaked at 15,868 at the end of June 2016 and has fallen 49.1% since.
Only 8 were first registered in the UK from July 2025 to June 2026, so the BMW Z3 is effectively no longer sold new here: the number on the road can only shrink as cars are scrapped, exported or taken off the road.
100% of licensed BMW Z3s are petrol, against 54% of all cars. There are almost no electric or plug-in versions on the road.
100% of those licensed at the end of 2025 were first used in 2015 or earlier (all cars: 44%), and 47.1% of registered BMW Z3s are SORN against 9.9% of all cars, a sign of cars kept off the road as projects, second cars or awaiting repair.
BMW Z3s licensed, year by year
Official data: cars licensed (taxed, or exempt and on the road) in Great Britain at the end of each June. The peak in this series was 15,868 at the end of June 2016.
| Quarter end | Licensed | Change on a year earlier |
|---|---|---|
| June 2026 | 8,069 | −7.1% |
| June 2025 | 8,689 | −4.9% |
| June 2024 | 9,132 | −10.2% |
| June 2023 | 10,166 | −4.8% |
| June 2022 | 10,679 | −6.2% |
| June 2021 | 11,383 | +0.7% |
| June 2020 | 11,299 | −13.9% |
| June 2019 | 13,129 | −6.8% |
| June 2018 | 14,084 | −6.8% |
| June 2017 | 15,105 | −4.8% |
| June 2016 | 15,868 | — |
BMW Z3s by fuel type
| Fuel (DfT category) | Licensed | Share | All cars |
|---|---|---|---|
| Petrol | 8,065 | 100.0% | 54.3% |
How old BMW Z3s on the road are
Official data from DfT table VEH0124: cars licensed and SORN at 31 December 2025 in the whole UK, by the year the car was first used (for a car imported used, that is its first use abroad). This table is annual and UK-wide, so its total (6,700 licensed) differs from the quarterly Great Britain figure.
| First used | Licensed | Share of licensed | SORN |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 1 | 0.0% | 0 |
| 2008 | 1 | 0.0% | 0 |
| 2007 | 0 | 0.0% | 1 |
| 2005 and earlier | 6,698 | 100.0% | 9,199 |
Other BMW models on UK roads
| Model | Licensed | Share of BMW | Change in a year |
|---|---|---|---|
| BMW 3 Series | 457,570 | 22.1% | −4.8% |
| BMW 1 Series | 427,661 | 20.7% | +0.1% |
| BMW 5 Series | 186,593 | 9.0% | −4.5% |
| BMW 2 Series | 161,473 | 7.8% | +5.1% |
| BMW X1 | 152,498 | 7.4% | +11.1% |
| BMW X3 | 141,867 | 6.9% | +3.8% |
| BMW 4 Series | 114,099 | 5.5% | +0.1% |
| BMW X5 | 100,938 | 4.9% | +0.7% |
| BMW i4 | 42,507 | 2.1% | +26.2% |
| BMW Z4 | 33,510 | 1.6% | −2.3% |
| BMW X2 | 27,330 | 1.3% | +15.7% |
| BMW i3 | 24,982 | 1.2% | no change |
Limitations
Licensed means taxed or tax-exempt and allowed on the road at the quarter end; SORN cars are registered but declared off the road. DfT groups cars by its own “generic model” (BMW Z3), which 73 Auto maps to the BMW Z3; body styles and derivatives sold under that name are included. The Great Britain quarterly figures and the UK annual age table are separate official tables, so their totals differ slightly.
Check a specific BMW Z3 before you buy
Enter the registration to see that BMW Z3's own MOT history, tax status and what it will cost to run. Your first check is free and shows the vehicle summary and its headline ownership cost. The category-by-category breakdown is part of a paid check.
UK number plate or 17-character VIN
Where these figures come from
- Vehicle licensing statistics data files: VEH0120 (GB), VEH0124 and VEH0160 (UK) — Department for Transport and DVLA. Open Government Licence v3.0.
- Shares, changes, rankings and the still-licensed indication (73 Auto analysis of the DfT files) — 73 Auto. Derived figures.
Figures labelled as 73 Auto estimates are our own analysis of these sources, set out in the methodology and data sources. To report a factual error, see corrections.