What's all this about?
The BMW 1 Series is undergoing its midlife primping session.
And what is BMW doing to it?
Well, the interior has been subtly jazzed up and has extra equipment (such as automatic air conditioning, rain-sensing wipers, BMW Radio Professional and the iDrive operating system with a high resolution 6.5-inch built-in monitor), but the bigger deal here is the body. The front features new headlamp clusters with LED daytime running lights, while the kidney grilles and air intakes have been enlarged. But the back is even more striking, as two-piece, L-shaped light units give the new look 1 Series some real definition.
Has BMW fiddled with the drivetrains?
Yes and we now have a three-cylinder engine for the 1 Series. The 116d uses the same modular unit as seen in the 2 Series Active Tourer and the MINI (i.e., roughly 500cc per cylinder), and there's an EfficientDynamics Edition of it too, which returns up to 83.1mpg and 89g/km CO2. At the other end of the scale, the M135i gets an extra 6hp, which means it can do 0-62mph in as little as 4.9 seconds, ranking it among the very hottest of hot hatches. The rest of the range is made up of four-cylinder petrol and diesel models, which can be fitted with either six-speed manual (standard) or eight-speed Steptronic automatic gearboxes and xDrive.
xDrive? Can you have all-wheel drive 1 Series models now?
You can, although here in the UK it is offered on just one model, the 120d. Pity, because other markets can have an all-wheel drive version of the M135i, capable of 0-62mph in 4.7 seconds and an obvious rival to the Mercedes-Benz A 45 AMG and the forthcoming Audi RS 3. However, the 120d xDrive is an interesting derivative from BMW and it should find plenty of keen buyers who don't want to be stranded when it snows on those very few occasions in the UK.
How much does a 1 Series cost me?
The range starts with the 118i SE three-door from £20,775, with the M135i topping things off at an eminently reasonable £31,725. Trim lines are SE, Sport and M Sport, with the first offering remote central locking, keyless go, electric windows and mirrors, plus the Driving Experience Control switch. Also thrown in are automatic air conditioning, a multifunction leather steering wheel, rain and light sensors, DAB and Bluetooth (part of the BMW Radio Professional package), 16-inch alloys and iDrive.
For another £1,000, Sport increases wheel size to 17 inches, the interior trim is black high gloss, there are Sport exterior styling cues and a Sport steering wheel and seats inside. If you can find another £1,700 on top of that, M Sport takes the wheels up to 18s and throws a load of even jazzier M Sport addenda at the 1 Series, both inside and out, as well as adding M Sport suspension.
What else can you tell me about it?
The Eco Pro mode in the drive selection setup is now model-specific, including a coasting function in conjunction with the Steptronic and Proactive Driving Assistance (PDA) if you specify satellite navigation. PDA can tell the driver when to lift off the throttle ahead of corners, turn-offs, roundabouts and when entering speed limits, which is either nice or annoyingly showy, depending on your point of view.
Matt Robinson - 15 Jan 2015
