We can bemoan the fact that the BMW 1 Series has swapped six cylinders for four and rear-wheel drive for (mostly) front, but it's not all bad. Eighteen months ago work started on the 128ti.
When it arrives in November with an asking price of around £32,000, this will be BMW’s first proper hot hatch in the traditional front-driven mould, and is simultaneously an odd and exciting prospect. It feels much like Porsche building an M3-rival, or Alpine trying its hand at a Volkswagen Up GTI: new ground is most definitely being trodden and an attempt to muscle into an established clique of cars very obviously being made. Yet despite the various unknowns, you’d still expect the result to be good.
The 128ti is also a reminder that things move quickly in this industry. Even five years ago it’s unlikely the hot-hatch front-runners – currently Volkswagen, Ford and Honda – thought they might potentially have a Munich-flavoured problem on their hands so soon.
Of course, this car does not represent entirely new ground for BMW. Plenty of the engineers who have worked on hot Minis over the years have been involved. And many of those cars have been very good indeed, despite the intense disappointment of the latest Mini JCW GP. Meanwhile the name revives for only the third time the ‘Turismo Internazionale’ moniker first seen on the 1963 1800 TI.
The name underlines one fact BMW is very keen to put across, which is that this new 261bhp hot hatch is less about point-to-point pace and much more about the driving experience – or 'easy manipulation of the physics’, in the poetry of German engineers. As such there are plenty of detail changes to be found on the 128ti, even if hardware is mostly recognisable from the range-topping M135i.
The 1998cc turbocharged petrol engine is shared, only with the wick turned down from 306bhp. And as with the M135i, the only available transmission is an eight-speed automatic. BMW’s defense for not offering a manual on this self-proclaimed driver-focused model is two-fold.
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Bad rivals
I came to read an article about about a BMW and I get "noises off to the left" about ford, honda and renault rivals which are fine don't get me wrong I've had cars from 2 of those brands myself. The people at BMW know a hell of a lot more about running a viable business than I do but this is reality of todays motoring.
I too have fond memories of
I too have fond memories of the old 2002ti that my uncle had when I was a nipper, and this looks to be a rightful heir.
BUT that face!! Simply hideous, although I suppose black paint and a blacked out grille might just do the trick?
One issue not mentioned is
One issue not mentioned is that the interior compared to the Civic and especially the Focus is miles better quality and design and the tech is the best of anyone. That's what you spend most of your time looking at.
I think it will be a great alternative to the S3 and Golf GTI.
Bimfan wrote:
The 1 series is better built than the A3 and the Golf too. The latest A3 has gone backwards somewhat in interior quality. At least that's what most of the reviews I've read say.
What the 1 series interior doesn't quite match is the superfical flashiness of the A class, but again, it's easily more solid and better put together than the A Class as well.
I can well believe that the
I can well believe that the BMW's cabin is much easier to live with than the Mercedes. I do not trust Mercedes quality these days - I thought they had learned their lesson from the disastrous lapse in quality in the late 1990s / early 2000s, but the company seems too focused on surface bling rather than deep seated engineering these days. A number of reviews of the A class mention creaking or rattIy trim. I wonder if the new CEO will address this.