As we know, the prices are the best, if you buy in bulk. That applies to car horsepowers as well, especially in USA.

Let’s settle this and find out how much more costs BMW-s in Europe, their origin. Taken the BMW 3-series saloon, below is a calculation of the cost of 1 horsepower. Cost per horsepower is a suitable metric, because US and EU models have different engines.

With ca 40K USD you can buy 40% more horsepowers in US than in Gemany

In Germany, 325i (218 hp) costs about the same as 335i (300 hp) in USA.

RegionModelHPUSD Price (MSRP), excl. VATCost of 1 horsepower in USD
USA335i30040 600135
USA335i xDrive30042 600142
USA328i23033 150144
USA328i xDrive23035 150153
Germany335i30648 328158
USA335d26543 950166
Germany335i xDrive30651 277168
Germany330i27245 662168
Germany330i xDrive27248 611179
Germany335d28651 731181
Germany325i21840 840187
Germany330d24546 739191
Germany325i Xdrive21843 790201
Germany330d xDrive24549 689203
Germany325d20442 032206
Germany32017035 055206
Germany320d18438 685210
Germany320d xDrive18441 634226
Germany318i14332 559228
Germany320d Efficient Dynamics16338 685237
Germany318d14335 565249
Germany316d11533 466291

Notes:

  • Prices are from BMW US and German official websites, taken on 5th of April 2010
  • German prices were converted to USD with the exchange rate of 1 EUR = 1,35 USD (effective on April 5th, 2010).
  • US prices are MSRP, German prices are list prices without VAT