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BMW 1-Series - arnold2
www.channel4.com/4car/gallery/B/bmw/1-series/1-ser...l
has a nice gallery of shots;

Roadtest on:
www.channel4.com/4car/news/news-story.jsp?news_id=...7

and
www.fleetnewsnet.co.uk/newshome/home_fullarticle/?...1

reminds me of Alfa's, for some reason .... but rather Ugly exterior - 'challenging' !

.... still, interior looks nice- nicer than the Golf V, and with the nicer 2.0tdi engines Golf's being so silly expensive (£18K-what planet are VW on?!), I think it will do rather well .....
BMW 1-Series - daveyjp
Rear end reminds me of a Yaris!
BMW 1-Series - BazzaBear {P}
I'm sorry, but when looking at the 1 series, the word 'saggy' just floats into my head.
BMW 1-Series - Dude - {P}
IMHO - another Bangle disaster which deserves to fail in the sales charts, - there is no way I will be buying one.!!!
BMW 1-Series - Altea Ego
Think I need to see one in the flesh before I pass judgement, lets just say the camera is not kind to it.
BMW 1-Series - 3500S
Simply hideous, looks like a melted welly. RWD, short wheelbase and a tallish car is going to be a problem to handle without some whizzbang electronics.

Bearing in mind BMW's are sold on image, this is one ugly duck. Possibly a lame one.
BMW 1-Series - arnold2
Thought the 1 Series was based on some of the work done on the mid-sized Rover ? Where'd it all go, then !
BMW 1-Series - bradgate
Agreed, RF.

I am prepared to give it the benefit of the doubt until I see one in the metal. I thought the 5 looked awful in photos, but in reality - stunning.
BMW 1-Series - Oz
>>I am prepared to give it the benefit of the doubt until I see
one in the metal. I thought the 5 looked awful in photos, but
in reality - stunning.


Same applies to the 6-Series. BMW should sack their photographer.
Oz (as was)
BMW 1-Series - patently
BMW should sack their photographer.



I'll happily take the job if they do!
BMW 1-Series - oldgit
Was holding back in placing an order for a new 1.6FSI VW Golf MkV because of the new BMW series 1, but having seen the photos and expected prices and that awful I-drive I don't think I'll hesitate any longer. BMW design IMHO is slowly going pear-shaped, I'm afraid.
BMW 1-Series - Motorwayman
Rear end reminds me of a Yaris!


I never liked the rear end of the current 3 series.

This one which I saw a picture of last week on an American site reminds me of many ugly rear ends.

M
BMW 1-Series - PR {P}
Looks like a samll delivery van with windows
BMW 1-Series - Graham
If Darwin was right then this should be the last model born with indicators. They will have been bred out due to lack of use by the next model.
BMW 1-Series - No Do$h
Eeeek! Put it back in the oven, it's only half baked!

Recipe for 1 series:

Take a pinch of Megane (upper rear glasswork), stir in styling cues from X5 (rear lights), A large portion of Alfa 147 (Oooh, pretty much everything between the A and C pillar) and then decorate with the 3 series (but not before you drop it and kick it across the kitchen floor).

Still, urban mums in their thousands will be forming queues to put Hubby's deposit down on one. Expect to see one impaled on the front of an X5 on a school run near you soon.
BMW 1-Series - NowWheels
Take a VW Golf IV, and ask a kid from the Max power generation to morph it into a Mazda3 as he imagines Chris Bangle might have done it. (Oh, and give the youngster a few stimulating recreational pharmaceuticals to help)

Result: BMW 1-series, a premium car which will attract premium depreciation cos it'll go out of fashion so quickly

The folks at Audi should have wide smirks on their faces!
BMW 1-Series - 3500S
BMW did take the R30 concept with them as well as MINI. However, in keeping with their attitude of the times (bearing in mind, Moulton, Cooper and Daniels were all in the employ of Rover). They haven't kept the FWD ability, nor smaller engine tech and neither the design.

So the 1-series was born.

I doubt there is very little R30 in the 1-series as was originally planned. One things they didn't take with them was small car expertise and it shows.

And I was thinking the 7 was ugly, this is the unloved b'tard offspring.

My money is on Hams Hall being closed in three years which is reliable on 1-series production. This car will not sell.
BMW 1-Series - keo-the-dog
i like it which is strange as i dont normally like bmw cars except the older round headlihgt models circa mid 80s
BMW 1-Series - king arthur
It looks like something Korean. Maybe it'll look better in the flesh? Couldn't look worse, could it?
BMW 1-Series - NowWheels
It looks like something Korean. Maybe it'll look better in
the flesh? Couldn't look worse, could it?


Oh, I dunno. Stick a boy-racer fin on the back, a few go-faster stripes on the side, and you might (just) make it look even more daft.

I still hope that whoever put those weird, unnatural creases on the side was doing drugs at the time. The thought of that output from someone without hallucinogens is scary.

Actually, there's a thought. Has somebody been putting something in the watersupply at BeemerStadt? I presume that the design was signed off by the board
BMW 1-Series - googolplex
Take a VW Golf IV, and ask a kid from the
Max power generation to morph it into a Mazda3 as he
imagines Chris Bangle might have done it. (Oh, and give
the youngster a few stimulating recreational pharmaceuticals to help)
Result: BMW 1-series, a premium car which will attract premium depreciation
cos it'll go out of fashion so quickly
The folks at Audi should have wide smirks on their faces!


Even simpler recipe. Take a 3 series and chop the boot off. Result a "compact" or now a 1 series.

I've always thought all of these types (A3 included) as looking a bit odd. Never got used to the looks.
Splodgeface
BMW 1-Series - Dude - {P}

Autocar have road tested this ugly duckling and it seems it goes much better than it looks.!!
Quote " The 1 Series drives like a real BMW.... immediately achieving its aim of being the best-handling car in the class"

www.autocarmag.com/news_article.asp?na_id=207418

BMW 1-Series - Motorwayman
BMW made a good job of the 5 series - agree with the person that said that it did not look good in the pics but good in the flesh.

BMW 6 series Coupe - That looks stunning.

However, you cannot expect a company to come up with the goods all the time - on this sad occasion (BMW 1) they have dramatically failed to produce a car worthy to be called a BMW.

M
BMW 1-Series - tunacat
Won't sell?

I'm not so sure.

It has that B M W badge on it, and as we all know (3 series/Mondeo), choice of car nowadays is VERY heavily determined by status anxiety, not whether 'A' is as good or better, more space-efficient, better value, more reliable, etc, than 'B'.

This will give the non-4x4-driving late-20s single blonde / schoolmum another choice over the default silver Golf, and a chance to get a one-up on their peers who've just recently taken delivery of their Golf mkV... ..."Drat! If only we'd waited a few months!"
Don't think I'm being sexist here - I work next door to a private junior school and I see this for myself every day.

This whole circle's raison-d'etre revolves around the emperor's-new-clothes syndrome, be it cars, shoes, holiday-destinations, over-hob extractor cowlings...

Looks don't matter so much - the whole fashion industry exists because every season someone goes in the previous-experiments cupboard marked "you must be kidding", pulls something out, stitches their label on it in a prominent position and declares that this is now the must-have item.

BMW 1-Series - BazzaBear {P}
I agree, I think our roads will be swarming with them before too long, regardless of whether they turn out to be good cars or not.
BMW 1-Series - NowWheels
I agree, I think our roads will be swarming with them
before too long, regardless of whether they turn out to be
good cars or not.


Unfortunately, you're probably right ... but those contrived looks are going to date very quickly, which won't help secondhand values.

Cheap-but-very-yesterday BMW in 2008, anyone?
BMW 1-Series - Guru-Meditation
The front three quarter view looks ok, the interior looks quite plush but the rear end does look a bit funny.
BMW 1-Series - andymc {P}
Have had a better look at it in What Car? today, and have to say I like its looks more than those of the 3 Series or Compact. I didn\'t really care too much one way or the other how the banglerised cars looked & was surprised by the amount of reaction at the time. But I think the 1 Series is more interesting than the new Golf and A3 (both are rather bland to my eyes) and it seems surprisingly competitive on price. If I was in the market for any of the three, this would beat the Golf hands down - on looks! - and probably pip the Audi, especially if I was able to import one for a decent price or get 5 years of servicing for a small upfront fee. And I\'m no badge snob - I drive a Seat.

Having said all that, I\'ve just looked in the back of my What Car?, and guess what - the price of a 138 bhp Honda Accord 2.2 CDTi Sport at £18713 is only £100 more than the 136 bhp BMW 1-Series 2.0 TD at £18613. The Honda is as quick to 60 (in fact it\'s marginally quicker), will have more room inside, does more mpg and is likely to be more refined and a lot more reliable. I know which one of that particular pair I\'d rather have, and it ain\'t the BMW.

andymc
BMW 1-Series - Dalglish
I didn\'t really care
too much one way or the other how the banglerised cars
looked & was surprised by the amount of reaction at the
time.



very true.

people who buy bmw or porsche seem to buy despite or maybe because of the ugly looks.

just check out the sales success of the cayenne and the e60.
BMW 1-Series - Arty
Why are the German makes trying to go down market for??

Guess their logic is to have younger ppl experiencing a cheaper model then moving up, however this just cheapens the whole brand.

The BMW 3 series is annoying enough now and this is going to get worse. Every wannabe-wannabe will now have access.

I'm buying a Lexus!!
BMW 1-Series - Steve S
"I'm buying a Lexus!!"

Despite what Alan Partridge did for it?

The only true test of the 1 series style would be to issue it under another badge - to a large extent it doesn't matter what BMWs look like as long as they have the badge.
BMW 1-Series - machika
One thing I have always wondered it, if BMWs are so desirable, why can't other manufacturers replicate their formula, or at least get near it? It is not as though they are new kids on the block, they have been a success for many years now. One would think the competition would have grasped the reason for their success by now and try do the same thing.
New BMW 1 Series - gosh ! - Anglesey Ian
Details of the new 1 series have been put about in the motoring
press: Auto Express (this week) and also on the cover of What Car (which I haven't bought yet) to name but two.

Subjective I know, but aesthetically I think it is superb, prestigious, distinctive and oozing quality with an (eventual) range of planned engine and body styles to suit a substantial cross section of buyers. I think that this will appeal to the typical Golf person and will create a challenge to VW to maintain its market share.

What does anyone else think ?

AI

Ignorance is not knowing but 'not wanting to know'
New BMW 1 Series - gosh ! - Dalglish
Details of the new 1 series have been put about in
the motoring

>>

Ignorance is not knowing there is already a current thread on this ;o)


{Which I have moved it to. DD}

New BMW 1 Series - gosh ! - Anglesey Ian
oops