The BMW 1 Series kicks off at around forty grand but if you want to spend eighty, no problem. The Audi A3 actually a bigger seller. And the Golf R? It offers blistering performance at a much lower price point. It's like going to to buy a TV, there's too much choice. And here's someone who spent almost a month in a whole bunch of different 1-Series.
CarAdvice road tester Alborz Fallah. Sum up the 1 Series for me in a nutshell. Look, it's the entry BMW. It kind of came out people who wanted to get into a BMW, but probably couldn't afford a 3 Series. It costs around 40 as you said, goes all the way up to around 90 if you really want to get the convertibles with the options.
good car I really do like the 1Series. There is a great deal of choice in this whole prestige compact segment isn't there? How do you measure all that up and how do you decide? Well if I was going to go for entry model luxury car, I would be looking at the 1Series. There wouldn't be much choice in that.
BMW seems to be pretty good at two things, don't they? They seem to be pretty good at straight sixes, and they seem to be pretty good at rear-wheel drive.
That's it. That's what they specialize at. Every one of their cars is rear-wheel drive. They won't ever go back on that. They've said that before. They'd rather create a whole new brand and make a front wheel drive BMW. So, I think the 1Series as opposed to most of its opposition is driven through the rear wheels, and as a result of that it's got such good driving dynamics and it goes around corners really nice.
It may not be powerful but because of their structure and their chassis, they're always good to drive.
So, they're precise. If I spent $40 on a BMW, I'd get the Bavarian money wise the badge. But I could also spend 40 grand and buy some other pretty special cars.
Yeah, you can. I mean, you can obviously buy a top of the range Japanese car for about the same price as a entry model BMW, but you are getting a BMW. So there is some...you're paying a bit for the badge as well. But you're also paying for the idea of being in a car that is actually well put together.
Got the latest technology in it. So what about elsewhere in the range, right up the pointy end of the range. Is that almost M division power at a normal BMW price? Absolutely. I mean you are getting a car in the mid to high 70s that is only about half a second or a little more slower than an M3 which is nearly double its price.
So, you're getting really good value for money in the 135i. But if you get into a base, base model one, you've got cloth trim and not much else really there. You don't have an i-drive system, to start off with. So if we just talk about i-drive for a minute. I drive is the interface with the car so that the driver can control all of those secondary systems riders [?] say everything from the radio to the navigation.
to the Echo in some cases. You can even do that with some of them. And you can have shortcuts. One button I want to go home on the navigation or a second button, I want this track on this CD player, this CD. It's great, it's very intuitive.
If you're in a medium spec One Series or even the 135i what won't you like?
You might not like the interior as much as you thought you would. Especially if you haven't ticked the i-drive system or half the luxury items. It's gonna look relatively plain. And I think the rear seats don't have much room.
Does the convertible really impinge on your luggage space?
It does, but I mean if you're buying a One Series convertible, you're kind of aware that you're not going to be moving furniture with it. Actually, I really like the 1-Series convertible, I think the soft top is done quite well, in that regard.
Is it still nice and rigid and a dynamically precise thing or does it loose something?
It looses a little bit but it is still quite stiff and it is especially when you got to the higher specs. convertibles. It's still quite a decent car. I have to say the 1 series is quite strange for me because the 118-D and the 123-D would be my picks. And then I sort of forget everything in the middle, and I would get the 135i.
I would just go for the diesel, or I would go for the 135. There's nothing else in there for me. Thanks [xx] well, it's the diesel or the high performance one series or nothing else. You can read the full review, download the specifications, add your comments, and even get a quote from a BMW BMW dealer.
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