What's all this about?

BMW is giving the second-generation 1 Series its second facelift.

Hold on, what? There were far too many ones and twos in that.

Sorry. The current 1 Series has been with us since 2011, during which time it has sold a million units worldwide. It was heavily facelifted in a 'Life Cycle Impulse' (LCI, as BMW calls it) in 2015, when the light clusters at the back got much wider, but as an all-new third-gen 1 Series won't be with us until 2018, BMW clearly felt it could just spruce the existing car up one more time.

OK, so what have we got?

Outside, choose from two fresh colours called Sunset Orange and Seaside Blue, and five new designs of alloy wheel in 17- and 18-inch specifications. Then there are the Shadow models, which aren't named after the scary Gladiator from the eponymous TV show (1992-2000... classic!), but are instead so named because they feature black detailing for their kidney grilles, exhaust pipe finishers, mirror caps, inserts in the now-LED headlights and darkened rear lamp clusters. Choose from M Sport Shadow Edition and M140i Shadow Edition.

Is that all they get? Some black trinkets?

No, the Shadows (please don't mention Hank Marvin... or Babylon 5, for that matter) have their kit levels boosted over and above the specifications of the cars upon which they are based. So, the M Sport Shadow Edition (+£1,900 over a regular M Sport) not only gets the funky black detailing but also the M Sport brakes, sun protection glass, a Harman Kardon loudspeaker system, Park Distance Control rear, cruise control and extended lighting, plus Jet Black or bi-colour 18-inch alloys. The M140i Shadow Edition (+£1,335 over an M140i) doesn't add quite as much as some of this stuff is already fitted, but you will get the parking sensors, cruise control, speakers and sun protection glass. The two colours offered for its 18-inch M light alloy wheels are Orbit Grey or Jet Black.

Back to the wider 1 Series range - what's changed inside?

This is where the bigger alterations come into effect, such as the new touchscreen iDrive 8.8-inch display - with three configurable tiles for the home display, a feature seen on the 7 Series... then the 5 Series... then the 4 Series... and... well, you get the picture - a new leather upholstery finish, a black-panel instrument cluster, redesigned air vents, chrome highlights for the window switches, special stitching on the console surfaces for higher-spec models and some upgrades for the ConnectedDrive online services.

Are the drivetrains changed?

Nope, the same array of three-, four- and six-cylinder turbocharged petrol and diesel engines are offered, from the 109hp 116i right up to the superb M140i with 340hp. Most are rear-wheel drive, although xDrive traction is offered on 120d models.

When will these revised Ones go on sale?

Three- and five-door models hit our roads from July 2017.

Matt Robinson - 11 May 2017