A few days ago, BMW partially revealed the all-new BMW 1 Series in a string of Instagram stories, where the camo wrap of the car was strategically peeled-off in certain places to tease the car’s design. Now, the German car manufacturer has completely revealed the all-new BMW 1 Series.
There have been a number of design changes including a new headlight arrangement, a sharp silhouette and a pronounced ‘shark nose’. At the front, the BMW kidney grilles are larger and, for the first time in this model range, they merge in the middle.
Step inside the car, and you feel a breeze of space and fresh styling. The front-wheel-drive architecture with transverse engines and a lower centre tunnel offers the occupants more space than in the predecessor, especially at the rear. Access is easier and there is an extra 33 millimetres of knee-room available. Luggage compartment capacity rises by 20 litres to 380 litres (1,200 litres with the rear seat bench folded down). An electrically operated tailgate is now optionally available for the BMW 1 Series for the first time.
Inside the cockpit you’ll find an instrument console right in front of the driver along with the touch operated central Control Display. The controls for the heating, air conditioning and new hexagonal air vents are grouped together in the centre console below the 10.25 inch Control Display screen.
Apart from these the all-new BMW 1-series will sport an optional panoramic roof for the very first time. And in this list of firsts, it’s not all. The BMW 1 Series is now offered with the option of the BMW Head-Up Display and Park Distance Control (PDC), which uses sensors at both the front and rear to provide visual and acoustic signals to prevent collisions with obstacles located to the side or rear of the vehicle.
Under the bonnet of the new BMW 1-series, the car will be offered with a 140hp, 1.5-litre, three-cylinder petrol engine in the 118i variant for European markets. The diesel line-up includes the 116d, 118d and the all-wheel-drive 120d xDrive, with the diesel engines producing between 115 PS and 190 PS. The 1-series comes with an option of 6-speed manual or 7-speed automatic transmission unit for the base variants. An 8-speed auto is offered as standard on the 120d. The top of the line M135i variant gets a 306hp, 2.0-litre four-cylinder, twin-turbo petrol unit with an 8-speed automatic gearbox and BMW’s xDrive all-wheel-drive system. The M135i can do the 0-100 km/h sprint in 4.8 seconds and has a limited top speed of 250 km/h.
There has been no official announcement about the launch of the all-new 1-Series in India yet.
In the past, BMW used to offer the 1-series in India, but the German car manufacturer decided to pull the plug off this model.
Story: Koustubh Mukherjee
