BMW 1 Series
SECOND REPORT Our man thinks beauty is in the eye of the beholder
DO you like the way the new BMW 1 Series looks? It’s a question I’ve been asking a lot of people recently, because the car’s styling, especially the grille, seems to divide opinion almost as much as Marmite.
I actually think it’s a pretty smart-looking car. Maybe it’s not quite as attractive as a Mercedes A-Class, but I can’t think of many other premium hatchbacks that I’d rather look at on a daily basis. I always admire it sitting on my driveway when I leave the house.
It definitely seems to work better in M Sport trim, with the flared wheelarches, extra vents, sporty exhaust and boot spoiler all adding to its visual appeal. This model simply has a more imposing look than the cars lower down the range, and I can fully understand why the majority of people are happy to pay the almost £3,000 extra that M Sport costs over the base-spec SE.
The 19-inch two-colour double-spoke alloys (£595) also suit the car’s personality and look particularly good combined with the blue brake calipers that come as part of the M Sport Sport Plus package (£1,800).
My wife is another fan of the way the 1 Series looks. She thinks the car’s design
is modern and she likes the fact it’s much easier to distinguish from other BMWs in the range, whereas its predecessor looked far more generic.
But not everybody shares our views. Content editor Jake Weaver was a harsh critic from the moment the 1 Series was released and his opinion hasn’t changed. His biggest gripe is the “comically oversized kidney grille”, but Jake also thinks the shoulder line makes the 1 Series’ side profile look very tall and almost MPV-ish.
Our sister magazine evo’s car-design buff Jordan Katsianis is even less complimentary, and in fact I’m not sure his thoughts on the hatchback’s looks are suitable for print.
I’ll admit, some of the more recent BMW designs have left me wondering what they were thinking at times, with the grille seemingly getting bigger with each new release. First it was the iNEXT concept, and then the 4 Series concept took things further. Even recent production cars have followed the same suit, with the facelifted 7 Series sporting a particularly large grille.
But while I fully agree with Jake that the grille on the latest 1 Series is not
exactly small, I don’t think it really is out of proportion with the rest of the car.
If the model’s looks are up for debate, the same can’t be said about how it performs from behind the wheel: it’s simply fantastic to drive. The more time I’ve spent in the driver’s seat, the more I have loved being there. The car is well balanced, with almost no body roll when turning into corners. As soon as you reach a country lane, it’s hard not to find yourself starting to have some fun.
The only minor issue is with those larger alloy wheels, which do compromise the ride slightly. It’s not going to cause you any back problems, but those after a more comfy ride might be better suited to more modest alloys.
I also find the driving position almost perfect. It means you sit quite low, with the cabin wrapping around you and the chunky steering wheel just above your knees.
With so much optional kit on our 1 Series, I have found it quite hard to make use of all the extra features. I love the heated seats and heated steering wheel in these cold winter months, and both seem to reach a nice temperature pretty quickly. They certainly warm up much faster than I have experienced in many other cars.
I found the BMW ’s infotainment system confusing at first, with so many menus to navigate through; for instance, it took me a while to find out how to synchronise the climate control. The more time I spend with it, though, the easier it’s becoming – and the set-up looks very modern.
“This model simply has a more imposing look than the cars lower down the range”