Find The Right Trim For You

If you’re in the market for a new or pre-owned vehicle, finding the right trim level and understanding trim level designations can take a bit of practice. This guide breaks it down to the basics to help you choose the right trim level for you.

A General Guide to Trim Levels

If you’re shopping with us for a pre-owned vehicle that isn’t a  BMW model, the trim levels will be very different than how BMW trim levels are structured. In non-BMW models, base trims will have the least amount of features and therefore cost the least. While this is great for tight budgets or brand-new drivers, most shoppers will want a few extra amenities in their pre-owned vehicle and should look at higher trim levels. Mid-range trims will likely be suitable for most buyers, though pre-owned prices may mean that you can afford to buy the highest trim designation for the model you’re interested in. Vehicles from 2016 and newer will likely include most of the features you’re looking for in the mid and top-tier trim levels, older models will likely be limited in how modern their technology offerings are.

BMW Trims and Packages

If you’re shopping for a new or pre-owned BMW model, you’ll quickly see that the automaker structures its trim levels much differently than mainstream vehicles. With BMW, there are not traditional trim levels, rather the vehicles are categorized by their powertrain options, usually the engine size or horsepower and the drivetrain.

In most pre-owned models, in BMW’s alphanumeric car naming convention, the first number indicates the series to which the car belongs, the second numbers indicate the engine output, and the final letter indicates what type of engine the car has. Next, there are the drivetrain indicators – xDrive or sDrive – xDrive is used on four-wheel-drive models while sDrive is used for two-wheel-drive models though is sometimes left off the final name. Putting this all together, you can gather that a 228i is a BMW 2 Series Sedan with a 2.8-liter gas injection engine and two-wheel drive. In newer BMW cars, the second numbers now refer generally to the horsepower rather than the engine size. There are exceptions to this naming convention to indicate luxury packages and electric/hybrid vehicles, but this will give you a good foundation when you shop.

The naming convention is alphanumeric for SUVs and crossovers, but slightly different. Each of these models begins with an X and the series number (e.g. X1) and has drivetrain and package indicators from there such as the X2xDrive28i which is the BMW X2 SUV with all-wheel drive and 228 horsepower and a gasoline injection engine.

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Shop with Us at BMW of Owings Mills

We invite you to explore our lineup of pre-owned and new BMW models at BMW of Owings Mills today and contact us with any questions you may have.