Comments: 1-15, 16-22
Lots of rattles, which is surprising! Doors flexed over bumps, steering wheel creaks on low speed car park type turns, door trim gives off low amplitude noises from time to time.
Paintwork defects on delivery - rear bumper dimpled, dirt in clear coat.
Paint defects in use - one of the front fog light cut outs has flaking paint and the hatch is streaked after washer fluid ran down it from use several times.
Driver's dash vent came adrift at one corner.
This is my first diesel car ever and I am impressed with the way it drives. Excellent low and mid range torque makes it smooth and relaxed in city driving, while out on the highway, instant poke is available without hesitation.
You have to rev a similarly sized petrol engine hard to give the same type of performance, but this diesel just seems to push the car effortlessly along.
Diesel clatter is evident on start up and while pottering around town or on full bore acceleration, but it's never too obtrusive. On a cruise, it's very quiet, apart from the free rattles BMW installed as standard.
Shame then that BMW saw fit to commit the cardinal sin of cutting corners in the build quality if mine is anything to go by, while several aspects disappoint, namely:
A) Ride is overly firm with the run flat tyres.
B) The tool kit is a laugh - only a double headed screwdriver and a spanner with two diameter heads are provided. And they are wrapped in a cheesy PVC bag. BMW tool kits used to be something to marvel at. Not any more!
C) You cannot check the brake fluid or windscreen washer levels visually as BMW chose to hide both these reservoirs. Why?
D) The temperature gauge has been deleted from the instrument panel. Again, why?
E) The option folding rear armrest is a disaster, being held to the backrest by a flap of upholstery with no retaining screws/hinges, so it just plops down and is not located firmly in place. CHEAP! CHEAP! CHEAP! And nasty, too!
More importantly to families, don't buy this car if rear seat space is of paramount importance. Knee and leg room are tight, thanks to the rear-drive layout. The payoff is in the handling, which is easily the best this class has to offer.
Also, the car can end up pretty expensive if you tick off too many of the options boxes.
As for the controversial styling - you have to be your own judge of that, but I must say that I hated it when I first saw it and now, it has grown on me.
Excellent review, thanks for posting. As a long-time BMW fan, I'm thinking of putting my cash into a 1-series in the near future. I can live with the odd bit of slightly cheapo cabin trim, but I certainly won't tolerate squeaks & rattles, or the kind of cost-cutting you describe. The test drive needs to be lengthy and thorough by the sound of it!
I recently test drove a 120d Sport here in the UK and my overall conclusion was of a car representing the most blatant example of charging for a badge that I have ever driven.
Although it handles very well, and the diesel engine gives astonishing performance, the ride is appalling, the road and engine noise are intrusive, the interior is cheap looking, the equipment minimal, and the build quality is no better than a car of half the price. Oh, and yes, the demonstrator had a creak from somewhere in the rear seat area despite having a measly 300 miles (480 k's) on the clock!
In short, it felt like a UKP 15,000 motor car masquerading as a UKP 21,000 one (or 23,000 with the demonstrator's options). I guess they are expecting people to pay for the badge, although judging by the sales figures, it's not really working.
The spec really is appalling for the price. Even on the range topping model you have to pay UKP 440 extra for metallic paint, UKP 1,000 extra for leather trim, and the one that had me trying not to laugh when the salesman mentioned it, an extra UKP 195 for the privilege of proper lumbar support on the front seats!! Come on, that's been standard on most superminis for the past 10 years!! 30 quid for a cup holder (no I'm not making that up!) also strikes me as extracting the urine somewhat.
So, in other words you get the poor spec to price ratio you get with all BMW's, but without the build quality that normally compensates for it. All for the price of a very nice, low mileage used 3-series, a car which is superior in every respect. As for residual values, look how cheap the 3 series Compacts are available nowadays. The 1 series is surely going to go the same way.
The 1 series is an absolute bargain. If you're a BMW shareholder. Anyone who spends their own cash on this car must, in my opinion, be very desperate for a new car with a BMW badge.
Drive the car, the badge certainly belongs there. However, as with what everyone's said, the interior's CHEAP. The leather upholstered one looks like it was taken from an elephant's behind. The doors don't thunk bank-vault solid like in the E36 cars (as if it were filled with concrete and glass welded to the doors). The base 116i's cloth upholstery and interior looked more expensive. The Golf is certainly classier, the Astra looks better too. Actually every single competitor has a more substantial feeling interior. Notice there isn't a temperature gauge? Perhaps they have too much faith in their warranty period. Wait until the car's 8 years old and everyone can afford it, and something goes wrong.
I did drive the car (120d Sport). Had it out from the local BMW dealer for an hour last weekend. Like I said, if they were selling it at fifteen grand it would be about right, seventeen would be acceptable, but it's never worth 20k+. A badge is worth nothing to me it's what the car does, and this is a small, cheap hatchback selling at junior exec prices. It also has that dodgy image that all entry level BMW's have had in that it suggests you're only in it because you absolutely have to drive a BMW but can't afford to choose a better one.
The car is a rip off, and I won't be buying one. I have just picked up (from the same BMW dealer) an immaculate 22,000 mile 2004 330d Sport manual with full leather, and Sat Nav for £1,500 less than I was quoted for a leather and metallic equipped 120d Sport. The used 3 still has just under 2 years manufacturers warranty left on it, and is totally unmarked.
I stand by my remark - you need to really want a new BMW to buy a 1 when you can get a year old 3 which wipes the floor with it in all respects (but particularly quality) end up with a much better car, and save enough for a fortnight in the sun with spending money.
1 series - Looks great outside, but apart from that you will find...
- Arrogant dealers who don't want to offer test drives, don't talk price and think people will just buy the thing
- Poor rear space - more in a Mini
- Firm ride thanks to run flat tyres
- Fiddly indicator switches
- Don't buy non-leather upholstery in sport model - you will feel sick with the upholstery
- No temperature gauge.
This is not a real BMW and money can be spent more wisely elsewhere. Sorry!
Get over it that there's no water gauge..
People who buy the car tend to be people who do not look at things like that and oil.
They only want it to pop up on the screen when there is a problem.
Secondly there is less legroom cause of the rwd layout.
Well people like me will sacrifice a bit of legroom for the rwd layout. (but me and my family don't have a problem with the legroom.)
Congratulations BMW for being one of the first to bring rwd back into a hatch.
I own a 1 & I'm very impressed with this car the detail they have done like lights under the door handles & an alarm if the front passengers don't put on there seat belts,& a mesh curtain when carrying loads,& ipod connection.
Hi, all, and thanks for posting comments to my original review.
I have now spent 5 months with my 120d and clocked up less than 5,000 km on it, thanks to the car having a recurrent steering column chaffing/creaking noise that seems uncureable by the local dealer after seven cracks at it!
On the first three visits, they even had the gall to tell me that they could hear nothing and asked me to collect the car at the end of the day. When driving off their lot, the noise was readily apparent - and has been so till now.
Apart from this gremlin, I've also had to have the A/C compressor replaced, as well as the idler pulley for the drive belt to stop the car sounding like an ice grinder.
Add to this the numerous paint defects and spotting door waistline mouldings and I regret trading my E46 318i Valvetronic Auto for this heap of junk!
I am now requesting the dealer to buy back the car at full purchase price and looking round for a used E46.
Unfortunately, the new 3 leaves me cold in terms of styling, both outside and in. Whatever happened to BMW's once clear driver-focus? The dash is so slab-sided and where the heck is the temperature gauge? BMW sees it fit to give a relatively useless vacuum gauge, but not the more important temperature gauge. Why?
Also, like the petrol versions of the 1, there is no longer a dipstick on the engine as well. Again, why?
Another flaw underbonnet is the inability to do a visual check on the brake and washer fluid levels as the reservoirs for both are either under solid covers or hidden away. Come on, BMW, this is a safety-related issue!
Coming back to the 1, if my experience is atypical, one should be cautious if traditional BMW quality levels are desired.
Having owned a Golf GT TDI for a short period I can assure you that this is a much much better car. Golf was noisy unrefined with a vibrating dashboard and there wasn't even 1000 mls on the clock. I think some of the BMW 1 comments here smack of "I don't like this car and I wish I had bought something else"
Lots of my colleagues own the 1 series particularly the 120d SE and are over the moon with it.
Drove the Audi A4 for example and in comparison it has no feedback in the steering what so ever. It had a notchy gearchange between 2nd and 3rd and felt like a tarted up Golf.
What a great little car..
I always get a smile when I drive it..
Handles so much better then any fwd rival..
I love the design.
There is a slight rattle sometimes coming from from the parcel tray, but every hatch that I have driven always has some sort of noise.. I guess it's a hatch thing.
Hi.
I wrote the original review and in my case it's love the car, hate the quality.
It could be that I got a one-off bad example, but the indifferent dealer service just added to the misery.
I am now looking towards swapping the car for a used E46 3 series.
I drove the new 3 series (2006 on) and I must say that the E46 (previous model) is probably the epitome of the BMW 3 series. The new car felt very very heavy, like my 2000 5 series, and not nimble like 3 series should be. That just ruined it for me. I buy BMWs for handling, not for their limousine feel.
Plus, the E46's have pretty good reliability according to Consumer Reports here in America.
So I think your best bet is to get the last great BMW and hold onto it forever. A 325i, manual with sunroof and sport suspension, should just about do it!
If BMW was smart they would bring the 1-series and make a whole lot of money from the car.
P.S. I would buy a 1 series if it made it to the U.S.
I agree. New 3 series to too fat and has horrible ergonomics. Although I haven't driven a 1 series it sounds like what BMWs used to be like.
Only trouble is, the latest rumour is that they are only going to bring over a coupe which is going to be tiny in interior room. We need something like the current hatchback, but with a trunk (hatchbacks don't sell well in the US for some bizarre reason).
Hi again.
As the originator of this review, I agree with the comments made about the current E90 3 series - it feels "fat" when compared to the E46 3 series.
It is quiet and refined on the open road and handles sharply, but go into a car park and the car lacks the nimble manoeuvrability of its predecessor.
The dashboard is also pretty unremarkable and either bland or even plain ugly, depending on your school of thought. Regardless of this, almost everyone I have spoken to has commented that it is lacking the driver-focused clarity of the previous 3.
So, no thanks to your latest ideas on the 3, BMW. The E46 rules!