"Elegant, sports-style lines” is how BMW would like us to view the 1-series coupé, but we’ll leave it to your aesthetic judgement to critique this unusual-looking car.
What we will say is that it has a knack of dividing opinion, with its collection of sweeping lines and juxtaposed shapes. In any case, as one tester commented, the word ‘coupé’ does seem a little fanciful with these proportions; ‘two-door sports saloon’ feels more apt.
Careful examination of the blueprint reveals why: it’s 133mm longer than a 1-series hatchback and a mite wider, and although it’s obviously both shorter and narrower than a 3-series coupé, it’s actually taller, contributing to the ‘turret’ look of the cockpit.
Although the 123d appears a small car when you stand alongside, it makes a rather bigger impression on the scales; at 1495kg, it’s no lightweight.
Perhaps more revealing still is the knowledge that a 135i weighs just 40kg less than a 335i coupé. Although this is disappointing, it shades coupé heavyweights such as the Nissan 350Z (or the 1800kg 407 coupé) by a respectable margin.
The underpinnings are shared with the hatchback – which means MacPherson strut suspension on the front axle and a five-link fully independent set-up at the rear.
You steer by an electrically assisted rack-and-pinion system on the two diesel models, with a more traditional hydraulic rack used on the 135i to improve feel and feedback.
As with all new BMWs, there’s a full suite of fuel-saving measures, such as auto stop-start, grouped under the ‘Efficient Dynamics’ banner.
It’s the engine that has us the most excited, however. When a small-capacity diesel can muster over 200bhp and break the 100bhp-per-litre mark, even the most ardent petrophile has to take notice.