Squeaking sill.
Broke down and had to be flat towed to dealer due to wiring loom fault.
Had to 're-build' front suspension due to odd noises as (what dealer said) power steering hose making contact with suspension.
Heat shield fell off onto gear box causing rattles through gear lever below 2000rpm.
Flat run-flat which nearly cost $900 to replace by dealer.
Squeaking rear doors, body flex.
Cracking/snapping noise from under the dash.
Mysteriously cracked windscreen.
Steering wheel squeaks. - can't be fixed.
Clutch shudder, ongoing and infrequent since 5000kms.
I traded my 40 year old Volkswagen in on this new BMW because it was getting very tiresome and wearing down being used every day. When I test drove the 116i it was a revelation, compared to what I'd been used to.
1 1/2 years later I still cannot drive it properly, the accelerator feels like its modulated through a pillow and can't hold even revs. Some things you can never really get used to and that includes the ride, even with 16inch it’s still very harsh.
The car also has a tendency after cornering to lose power and doesn't come back until 5000rpm or a change of gear.
The car seems to be riddled with problems, a lot of which like the rattles and squeaks can't be fixed because they seem to disappear when I take it to the dealership!
In general the quality seems to be lacking and certainly not what I expected of a new BMW. In one of the few storage places, is a collection of broken parts from the seats. Despite my best efforts the interior seems to be deteriorating with surfaces that scratch and mark easily.
Sure it handles well, but there’s no power to exploit it and fuel economy suffers due to how hard you need to push it just to keep up with traffic.
The steering is quite heavy for low speed maneuverability and becomes tiresome combined with the transmission, after lots of city driving.
Whilst I don't hate the car, air conditioning and and a heater that doesn't gas you to death, wipers that work and safety features are all nice to have, it does cause me grief! I had less problems with my Karmann Ghia and makes me think I should has just suffered with that instead and at least looked good!
Welcome to 1 series ownership!
Lots of the issues you raised were also experienced with my car - see the review titled "Brilliant, But Not For Everyone".
I got so tired of the problems and indifferent dealer service that I just chopped and changed car at great financial loss.
The 1 series, based on my experience, has been a major disaster/mistake.
Well the last thing I want to do is spend more money on it. Amazingly the warranty runs out in June, after just 2 years!! To extend it is going to cost almost $1000... So maybe I'll be tempted to get the new and recently facelifted 3-door 'coupe' 1 series, or maybe water torture... I just don't know, I shouldn't spend so much time worrying about it, but it is actually driving me insane. No car should cause this, particularly a new BMW. Well at least I'm not alone with these woes, I thought it might be BMW trying to punish me for buying the base model... now I'm glad I didn't spend more!
The new face-lifted model sounds.. er well, interesting. With the manual model shutting off the engine when in neutral and standstill... judging by how long it takes my car to turn over this is bound to cause accidents/head aches. The interior looks better quality, especially the door trims, but I have my reservations about the exterior particularly the front end.
It will be interesting to see how they price the new 3-door, in theory you are getting an even less practical car than the already impractical 5-door, with the option of two rear seats over three! (?) It will be interesting to see how they market this, as a sporting 'coupe' no doubt. Why would choose this over a MINI is beyond me.. Its still a hatch. But I might still be seduced by the quirkiness (and badge) of it all. Shame on me.
See my reivew about 130. I had so much problem that I rather drive a Toyota. The worse car I ever had!
I had a BMW 1 series 1.6i sport which had run flat tyres and sports suspension. My wife developed a bad back and had problems getting into the car. Even though I put ordinary tyres on the front the ride was still extremely bad. The last straw was when I nudged a cone going into a car park and as a result an inner bolt in the rear nearside door was pushed outwards through the metal causing a nasty hole and a bad dent. The metal must be very thin. The plastic finish inside the car was not up to BMW standards. The best thing about the car was the engine. Pity the rest of the car was not up to this standard.
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