1 series - Bread van / shoe with wheels ?????

[dank]

A friend is in the process of buying a 1 series in met silver, he hasn't test drove one yet but has his heart set on the thing.

What are peoples opinions of this car.

Please be brutally honest :)

[Raify]

I'm growing to like the looks, from the back at least.
It's still far, far too expensive. for £20k you can buy some much more interesting BMW's
It looks weak in Met silver, black is best.
It screams "I'm desperate to own a BMW at all costs!" reminds me of this sniffpetrol poster:

[dank]

please be more brutally honest

[Podie]

dank said:

What are peoples opinions of this car.

Buy a Focus, and keep the change.

[dank]

He's now toying with the idea of an Audi A3 2.0 FSI sport instead....!

[agent006]

dank said:

He's now toying with the idea of an Audi A3 2.0 FSI sport instead....!

No point buying an audi unless it's 4wd.

[dank]

well bizzarely he already has an audi, in silver, 2 years old i think, he just wants a new car....!

[Raify]

There's a lot more choice than just Audi / BMW for circa £20k new.

[AC79xxx]

Raify said:

There's a lot more choice than just Audi / BMW for circa £20k new.

Mkv Golf gti or Civic Type R

[outnumbered]

I had a 120i Sport Auto as a courtesy car a few weeks ago. It drove OK - bit slow though. Felt well screwed together compared to my E36...

Still looks horrific though, imho. And the car I had listed at something like 23K with the options !!!

[maserati3200gt]

one of the worst looking cars available on the current market today.
every time I see the model I cant help but wonder what made the person choose that vehicle when there are so many other better looking cars to drive.

P.S The SniffPetrol ad says it all !

Awful looking car.

[griff2be]

Whilst I agree that the 1 series is not the prettiest car BMW make, and it does seem expensive, it is a very, very good handling car.

The forthcoming 130i will be an absolutely cracking drive.

[Raify]

I might be interested if they gave one to Motorsport to play with!

[Broccers]

The 116i I was lent a while ago was actually a very good car ... well with a decent engine up front it would be. Handled very well.

[Raify]

Broccers said:

The 116i I was lent a while ago was actually a very good car ... well with a decent engine up front it would be. Handled very well.

Imagine if they could fit the 3.2 lump from your car in there!

[dcb]

dank said:

A friend is in the process of buying a 1 series in met silver, he hasn't test drove one yet but has his heart set on the thing. What are peoples opinions of this car. Please be brutally honest

I thought that with the 316 and the 318, that BMW had gone way too far down market.

With the 1 series, they have gone mainstream. Heaven help them against the might of Ford, GM, Toyota, VW and the rest.

Nice medium sized middle class Bavarian company takes on the world's finest - it will all end in tears.

Having said that, the 3 series is the best car in it's class, and BMW sell five to ten times more of them than any of their other cars, so the cash motivation for the 1 series is clear.

Also, I wouldn't touch a 1 series until they have been on sale for at least three years, to allow time for the bugs to be ironed out.

[shadowninja]

Tortoise on wheels?

[m12_nathan]

I have a 120i sport manual as a loaner and it was great, if a little slow compared with the CSL, there is rumoured to be an M car coming out, named M2 so as not to tread on the toes of the M1 supercar name.

I liked the iDrive in it, it was well built, quick enough, not faggot wheel drive, comfortable and fun.

I liked it, if he is happy to pay that money for it then fair play to him.

[shadowninja]

m12_nathan said:

I have a 120i sport manual as a loaner and it was great, if a little slow compared with the CSL, there is rumoured to be an M car coming out, named M2 so as not to tread on the toes of the M1 supercar name. I liked the iDrive in it, it was well built, quick enough, not faggot wheel drive, comfortable and fun. I liked it, if he is happy to pay that money for it then fair play to him.

hehe I did wonder what would happen to the M1 name.

faggot wheel drive? would be a bit squishy and meaty, i guess

[zax]

I've driven both 118 petrol and 120 diesel models. I quite liked them, especially the diesel. Handled nicely. Even the looks grew on me (in black anyway), at least it doesn't look like everything else.

3 problems - power, size (excellent fit in the front for me at 2 metres tall but forget the back seats), and price. The cost of a well specced 120d makes even the current Mercedes range seem realistically priced