The One and Only 1
They say good things come in small packages and the BMW 1 Series Coupé released in Macau last month certainly proves it.
Look at the sorts of BMW’s driving around Macau these days and the word ‘compact’ doesn’t quickly spring to mind. If the next Bimmer that passes you by is not a top of the range 7 Series, then it’s at least likely to be an X5 or perhaps a 335i.
But with the launch of the new BMW 1 Series coupé in Macau late last month, don’t be surprised if you see the iconic kidney grills racing past you ahead of a much smaller form.
While it might be targeting a different segment of the market, the 1 Series stays very true to the fundamentals of what has made BMW so popular, featuring a luxurious interior finish, sporty looks, superb handling and some serious power.
There are two engine options for the 2008 1 Series coupé, a 3.0 litre, 230 hp straight 6 for the 128i, as found in the larger 328i and 528i, and the award winning N54 twin-turbocharged version for the 135i. These engines are straight out of the 3 Series, and were the overall winners of the 2007 International Engine of the Year awards. And given the smaller dimensions of the 1 Series, the improved power-to-weight ratio makes this a serious performance machine.
It’s been said so many times that its getting a bit cliché, but the truth is that this car really is in a class of its own. While there are a few other twin-turbo engines to be found in compact cars, nothing quite compares to the total package of the 1 Series coupé.
For starters, the 306 hp of the flagship 135i delivers a massive 300 pound-feet of torque from as low as 1300 rpm all the way through to 5000 rpm. This means tremendous off the line power, tons of torque around corners, and endless thrust up the highway.
BMW claims that the 1 Series will do 0-100km/h in around 5.3 seconds.
For Macau drivers the twin turbo will come coupled to a 6 speed STEPTRONIC automatic transmission, with gearshift paddles mounted on a nice thick sports leather steering wheel.
Unlike many other cars in the compact sports category, the 1 Series coupé features a front mounted engine – rear wheel drive configuration, allowing BMW to maintain its tradition of aiming for near-perfect 50:50 weight distribution, and thus delivering top class driving dynamics.
BMW’s Dynamic Stability Control (DSC) also assists with road handling by monitoring the behaviour of the chassis and wheels, and detecting traction loss and over or understeer. While including DSC as standard on the 1 Series for obvious safety reasons, the engineers didn’t forget that this is essentially a sports car and thus added a high-threshold setting to ensure
that you can push hard on the accelerator and generate massive force before the system kicks in, so you can still have a lot of fun.
The 135i also introduces some new DSC functions not seen before in other series. Brake Drying works by gently applying the brake pads to the discs in wet conditions to clear any build up of water and keep both the pads and discs dry and ready – a handy feature for Macau in the wet summer months.
Most people buy a small car because of the clear fuel saving advantages, so you might be thinking ‘what’s the point?’ if you load it up with a gutsy 6 cylinder. This is a typical downside for many powerful sports coupés, but thanks to BMW’s EfficientDynamics, the 1 Series actually fares surprisingly well.
The core thinking behind EfficientDynamics was to address the ‘power vs. fuel consumption’ dilemma and a range of innovative intelligent features such as Auto Start Stop, Brake Energy Regeneration and High Precision Fuel Injection, enables the 1 Series to achieve this without any loss to performance.
Combined urban/highway fuel consumption is 9.6 L/100km which may not be superb when compared to other small cars, but remember this is a twin turbo 300hp engine we’re talking about!
Alright, so we know it performs like a BMW, and there’s no doubting that it has the sporty design and looks of its bigger cousins, especially with the M Sports aerodynamics package and 18 inch wheels, but does the smaller version still have that refined BMW attention to detail on the inside?
You won’t need to be seated in the Boston leather sports seats for long to figure out the answer to that question. With a leather sports steering wheel, electronically adjustable seats, premium quality trim, and 6-CD stacker in the boot, you could almost think you were in a 3 Series but for the slightly tighter fit in the rear. There is even the option of iDrive control for a range of functions, which comes with the optional navigation system.
So despite its entry-level positioning, there is little doubt that the new 1 Series coupé is a true BMW on all counts. And the fact that there is very little else to directly compare it to, makes it stand out even more.
Even if there are some comparable coupés out there, the 1 still stacks up impressively well. The prestigious German car magazine, auto, motor und sport, even road tested the 135i head to head with the Porsche Cayman S and announced it the ultimate winner, taking into account performance, handling, safety and space.
And if you like the coupé, then you’re going to love the soft-top convertible version, which has also been released. It’s not here in Macau yet but if anyone wants to order one, the rest of us will be happy to admire it at the lights!
Smaller sized, powerful sports cars are not exactly new to BMW, even if what we see around town these days are mostly the super-sized versions.
The new 1 Series coupé is actually a bit of a throwback to one of the most famous BMW’s ever, the 2002. While earlier versions of the shorter wheel-base, 2 door coupé had been around since the mid-1960’s, the 1973 2002 was the company’s first ever turbocharged production car and cemented BMW’s reputation for sporty, compact sedans.
The high performance version featured a 2.0 litre 130 horsepower engine capable of a top speed of 185 km/h. It remained in production until 1975, making way for the first generation 3 Series.
