Next generation BMW 1-Series officially revealed!

Big news! The next generation BMW 1-Series is finally revealed after a recent leak of official photos a few days ago! Shocked by these official photos? Well, me too at first but after a dealing with these photos on my website for a while, it had eventually grown on me. Give it some time and believe me that this controversial design will eventually look striking and even attractive to you.

I say that maybe because the current model is so ugly, but still this design is a huge improvement over the current car. The new 1-Series is clearly designed to be more sporty too as it is the only car in it’s class to feature rear-wheel-drive or RWD in short (Audi’s A3 and Mercedes-Benz’s B-Class are both FWD).

All car enthusiast knows that RWD are used in more performance-oriented cars as they allow the rear wheels to provide the power, and the front to steer the car. FWD cars require the front wheels to do both the power supply and the steering which will affect handling and weight distribution. Then you may wonder why not all cars use RWD? Well thats because RWD requires more mechanics and extra weight to have the power to be supplied to the rear of the car. The transmission used to do so will also takes up more space in the car reducing interior space. Therefore, FWD are used by majority mainstream cars and RWD only if necessary.

Hope you learnt something just now. Now back to the new 1-Series. I may had just said that RWD reduces interior space but don’t fret. This new 1-Series had grown much bigger. This 1-Series is 85 mm longer, 72 mm wider at the rear, and 51 mm at the front. The result? 21mm more legroom for the rear passenger and 30 liters more boot space at 360 liters.

Designed by BMW’s Chief designer Adrian van Hooydonk, the new 1-Series features striking lines around the sides and the bonnet. There is also huge headlights with integrated white signature “angel eyes” around the lights instead of old yellow rings of the current car. The kidney grilles are also larger this time and the rear lights just reminds me of the Polo’s.

While you allow the design to grow on you, I shall explain about the engine range offered at launch. Petrol engine will include the 116i and the 118i. Diesels include the 116d, 118d, and the 120d. I will explain each engine thoroughly right after this.

BMW 116i: 1,598 cc, 136 hp, 0 – 100 km/h (62mph) in 8.5 seconds, and a top speed of 210 km/h (130mph).

BMW 118i: 1,598 cc, 170 hp, 0 – 100 km/h (62mph) in 7.4 seconds, and a top speed of 225 km/h (140mph).

BMW 116d: 1,955 cc, 116 hp, 0 – 100 km/h (62mph) in 10.3 seconds, and a top speed of 200 km/h (124mph).

BMW 118d: 1,955 cc, 143 hp, 0 – 100 km/h (62mph) in 8.9 seconds, and a top speed of  212 km/h (132mph).

BMW 120d: 1,955 cc, 184 hp, 0 – 100 km/h (62mph) in 7.2 seconds, and a top speed of 228 km/h (142mph).

So the most powerful engine for the moment is the 120d with close to 200hp. More powerful engine will come soon but we now have only these to choose from. All engine models will come with BMW’s EfficientDynamics as standard which include brake regeneration as well as a stop/start system to reduce Co2 emissions.

Buy any of these model and you will get to choose between two trim lines. Urban and Sport. The blue car is in Urban spec which features silver kidney grilles, silver front and rear bumper trims, as well as white side mirrors. The Interior will also have part grey fabric and part white leather.

Sport spec, which is the red car will be more expensive than the Urban spec car. Choosing Sport gives you gloss black kidney grilles, gloss black front and rear bumper trim, dark grey side mirrors as well as a more sporty-looking rims. The interior will get full leather in black color and contrasting red stitching. The dash will also have aluminium trims with red contrast, red back-lit dials, and even red stripes on your car keys!

Sport trim still not sporty enough for you? BMW will also offer an M design package with more aggressive bumpers and overall trims. The black car you see here is in M Design package. Don’t expect the M package to give you any performance upgrade, that would take a while to be offered by BMW.

In the future, this new 1-Series will also be sold in a sportier 3-door form, coupe, as well as a cabriolet (convertible). Prices will start from £19,375 for the base 116i to £23,480 for the 120d. Hope the design had grown on you by now as a huge gallery awaits you below. A short video is also available below showing two brothers driving the Urban and Sport spec 1-Series.