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BMW’s most popular model range has been awarded the ‘Best Compact Executive’ car title by What Car? magazine for the fourth year in a row. And in a first for the judges from the UK’s self-styled new car buyers’ bible, the BMW 3 Series only had itself to compete against to scoop top honours.

Variants of the BMW 3 Series won each of What Car?’s respective sub categories meaning the short list of three cars were all the same make and model. The BMW 320d ES was the actual model that came out on top.

The BMW 3 Series was voted overall Car of Year in 2006 by What Car? This latest honour is in addition to a string of awards for the 3 Series in 2008 that includes ‘Best Large Family Vehicle’ from the Environmental Transport Association, ‘Best Compact Executive’ at Auto Express’s Used Car Honours and ‘Best Small Premium Car’ from Business Car.

Klaus Kibsgaard, managing director of BMW UK, said: “It’s always a pleasure to be recognised for your endeavours. The BMW 3 Series is the lifeblood of our model portfolio and this prestigious award adds further weight to its class-leading position in the eyes of buyers.”

The What Car? honour follows the announcement that BMW won the ‘Engine Development Team of the Year’ at the Automotive Testing Technology International Awards 2008.

The awards were established in 2006 to acknowledge the efforts made by companies and engineers to improve reliability, quality and usability in vehicles, and ensure that outstanding achievements were recognised by the whole of the automotive development community.

The work carried out on the EfficientDynamics programme was a key factor in the decision process for this accolade.

View the latest 2013 BMW 3 SERIES Deals