I previously owned the first generation 1-series (E87) and this is a vast improvement in every detail.

I purchased this car under some duress after a dreadful 22 month experience with my dream car, a Porsche Boxster (don’t believe the hype about engineering quality, but that’s for another review perhaps….)

It is my 6th BMW (including a MINI) in 22 years and very reluctantly bought after some serious complaints and haggling with the dealership Group Manager (Dick Lovett Swindon) who are also BMW/MINI (and Ferrari/Maserati) as well as Porsche.

Now after 27 months and 28,000 miles I must admit the car has grown on me. I appreciate the looks are not to everyones taste but walking up to the car I can see what the designers were trying to achieve and there are some interesting shadows and curves, depending on the colour and light, of course. I live in Swindon so we have quite a number on the roads, probably due to the MINI body factory here.

The only bit that does’t work for me is head on - the nose is incredibly bland, almost as if they ran out of time to finish it (to be corrected with a 2-series style front in the future perhaps?).

The interior works well - plain and simple in the best BMW tradition. I initially didn’t like the fixed media screen and thought a pop-up Audi type would be better, but as one has to use either screen to operate the in-car systems it might as well be fixed in position all the time (less to go wrong?) Top surface plastics are nice but lower down they are hard, and a bit of a retrograde step from earlier BMW’s I have owned.

I have the basic satellite navigation which works well and has never let me down, even in fairly remote areas that I occasionally have to travel to for work, and the BMW speaker upgrade which is very good. Overall the i-drive system is excellent - simple to use and logical, athough it took me a while to work out how to turn the screen off at night as I found it a distraction.

Other reviews have remarked that the driving position is offset - I don’t notice this but occasionally on long journeys I develop pins-and-needles in my right arm, but that could be an ageing me of course, although it is not anything I have had before and do not find when using hire cars.

There is only my wife and I so occasional rear seat use is not a problem although the rear seat backrests are a more upright than other cars tried and not overly comfortable on a long journey, I am told. Boot space is adequate for us, with seats down for holiday luggage as expected and desired from a hatchback. The glove box is very small but door bins are good. I’ve never seen the need or obsession for or with cup holders, but there are 2 if you must have a drink to hand immediately fwhen stop to drink it. Otherwise they are handy for the “key” and any other detritus.

Ride is fine on 17inch wheels with run flats, even better with winter tyres fitted (as is rough road surface noise reduction).

Performance is entirely adequate for today’s roads and the fuel consumption has always been around 40mpg, mostly doing a daily 24 mile round trip commute to work. I have seen 50mpg on a 100 mile motorway trip not exceeding 70mph using the speed limiter (rather good especially for speed camera infested contraflows). These mpg figures are from the on board computer so I do not know how accurate they are and I am not that fussed if they are a few percentage out either way, as I can tell from my pocket if it’s using a lot of fuel. (interestingly I did try Shell higher grade fuel for a few months on HJ’s recommendation and the recorded mpg went down to about 37mpg. Just my luck?)

I have the 8-speed automatic gearbox which is sublime - imperceptible gear changes and creamy, which encourages me to drive very smoothly in order to make the most of it. I leave it in comfort setting - eco pro feels like driving through melting tar and sport just seems to make the engine feel frenetic for no perceptible reward, so for me the effort (and expense) that went into this technology is wasted. I have had autos for several years as my wife prefers them - this is by far the best I have experienced - the PDK in the Porsche was quite clunky in my view, but I accept that was a different beast (when it went) and expected to do different tasks (which it didn’t always want to do)

Reliability has been good with one problem of repeated coolant loss; this took 3 trips over 6 months to the dealer before final diagnose and fix; they tell me it was a problem that when finally traced and repaired arose on a number of similar cars. As the engine was a new design I accept this is a development hazard and assume it will not occur on newer vehicles.

I have always found Dick Lovett BMW to be very good, polite and efficient and my wife can also go there without feeling patronised, as it should be. To me this is an important factor in car ownership.

I have driven an A3 which did not impress me dynamically, like the look of the Golf but have not driven one, but have found that as a tactile driving experience and ownership proposition BMW’s just suit me (well us actually, I’ve just been told to type…….) which is why we have returned to them over the last 22 years following the occasional and ultimately disappointing stray. Would I buy another? Possibly but I do like the look of the 2 series so may take an interest when my car is 5 years old.