51: BMW 4 Series – still one of the very best cars around to drive

The BMW 4 Series has been given an update this year, including some minor styling and cabin tweaks and retuned suspension. It remains one of the very best cars around to drive, and the two-door coupe with M-Sport bodykit is still appealingly muscular in its style, but there's no getting away from the fact that it's getting on a bit now.

The new Audi A5 really shows it up in the cabin, where the BMW’s plastics and fittings feel very old-hat compared to those of the Ingolstadt car. The default 2.0-litre diesel engine is also feeling its years a bit in this application, and doesn’t seem as refined as once it did (you’re probably better off at this point going for the petrol 420i).

Still, it sparkles on a twisting road, and the four-door Gran Coupe version is still hugely appealing, but like the 3 Series on which it’s based, the class is moving on now.

Best model: 420i Gran Coupe M-Sport