For many people in the executive car market, the badge to go for is BMW the blue and white roundel which represents a propellor spinning against clouds and sky - and, also shows the colours of the

Bavarian flag.

BMW was created in 1916 by a merger of two existing companies. Its early

products were aeroplane and motor-cycle engines, and it drifted into car production 12 years later when it bought the German licensee for the Austin Seven. Once properly established as a manufacturer in its own right, it produced some top-ranked models like the 328, perhaps the classic late-thirties sports car.

BMW's success in this country owes something to brilliant long-term promotional and marketing work. If a company makes potential customers actively desire its cars, the sales battle is halfway won. But they have to look right, they have to be well engineered, and there must be no problems about finish or equipment levels. The 5, 7 and 8-series models have no difficulty in satisfying these extra conditions.

The Munich styling studio has an unerring eye for how saloons, estates and coupes should present themselves, and almost every BMW in these model ranges

displays a well-proportioned ''family'' front end.

For several years BMW took the position that diesel engines did not match its UK-market image, but those days have gone.

In the 5-series, some beautifully built petrol engines up to 4.4 litres in capacity are supplemented by a fine 2.5-litre turbo diesel. The 5-series Touring is an impressive ''lifestyle'' estate with an ingenious and practical pull-out load floor.

BMW produces its own high ultra high performance cars in the form of the 321bhp M3 Evolution coupe and convertible, available with the world's first road-car option of a sequential gearbox.

But it also has an arrangement with Alpina, effectively a small-scale manufacturer in its own right, for limited production runs of substantially modified but still road-legal models. Only about 500 Alpinas are built each year, thoroughly re-engineered. Right-hand drive versions include the 3.2-litre B3 and the V8-engined B10, both based on a BMW 3-series original.

A little older as a basic design, the 7-series is a larger saloon, quite understated in appearance, well equipped and finished, and marketed in a six-version range culminating in a splendid 5.4-litre long wheelbase type.

Effortless long-distance motoring is the 7-series strong point.

Alpina steps in at this point too, because the top model it produces is the 5.7-litre B12, a 387bhp 7-series based saloon.

BMW also offers a sports pack with Alpina modifications for the regular

7-series, and there is a new

communications pack as well.

BMW does have several open two-seaters in its range, including the retro-styled Z3 and the much more muscular M Roadster.

They attracted a lot of attention when introduced to the market, but there is another high performance car occupying a less flamboyant section of the Munich company's catalogue.

The 840 Ci, powered by the 4.4-litre engine, may have been overtaken for

public attention by other coupes launched more recently by rival manufacturers, but it is a very impressive car both at a standstill and on the move.

Quietly updated, it has no freakish styling details to draw attention to itself, and is a GT car in the best possible taste.

But BMW has been showing a Z07 design study, in both coupe and convertible forms, which is an idea of how the 507 sports car of the fifties might have evolved had that model range continued.

In both styles, the Z07 is among the most utterly gorgeous concept cars of the decade.