2020 BMW 1 Series
- Thread starter mustafur
- 39 comments
- 2,730 views
- 7,928
- Wreckage, Turn 1
- PrecisionXCIV
It looks okay, I suppose. I agree with @mustafur saying the 1 Series has never really been visually appealing, although the F20 LCI was a significant step in the right direction.
I do like how the M135i actually looks like a hot hatch now, there are some styling elements from the Focus ST in the rear.
I do like how the M135i actually looks like a hot hatch now, there are some styling elements from the Focus ST in the rear.
- 48,814
- Australia
I like everything after the front wheels. Looks cool from the back(It could do with a lil bit better interior). Just the front clip needs a redesign. From the pics anyway.
My neighbour had a black M135i. Sold it and bought a Megane Trophy+. He wanted a manual again, as they also bought a new Skoda Kodiaq.
My neighbour had a black M135i. Sold it and bought a Megane Trophy+. He wanted a manual again, as they also bought a new Skoda Kodiaq.
- 16,433
- United Kingdom
I'm looking forward to seeing something. I asked Dick Bennetts (WSR) about the possibility of them doing something, he said he'd spoken with Munich and it was okay in principle, but if you build the car you can't race it, and he's not interested in producing the car if the team can't race it. He said there'd been other interest though.
- 27,163
- United Kingdom
Gopping. And now zero USP compared to anything else in the class.
I disagree that previous 1-series didn't look good either. The second-gen perhaps not, though it's grown on me and I actually prefer pre-LCI, since the face is more distinctive and the rear vastly better than the generic-looking post-LCI model.
But the E87 I think has got better with age. The proportions are fantastic (something the new car has lost completely in its transition to FWD), the details are neat, and while the Bangle-era flame-surfacing stuff looked a bit much back in the day after decades of fairly restrained stuff from BMW, it now looks interesting without being OTT.
And perhaps even more a shame is that genuinely handsome coupe and convertible variants are unlikely to joint the hatch this time around. Not least because people don't really buy coupes these days, but partly because with rear-wheel drive proportions, they were perhaps the last opportunity to do such a thing well.
I disagree that previous 1-series didn't look good either. The second-gen perhaps not, though it's grown on me and I actually prefer pre-LCI, since the face is more distinctive and the rear vastly better than the generic-looking post-LCI model.
But the E87 I think has got better with age. The proportions are fantastic (something the new car has lost completely in its transition to FWD), the details are neat, and while the Bangle-era flame-surfacing stuff looked a bit much back in the day after decades of fairly restrained stuff from BMW, it now looks interesting without being OTT.
And perhaps even more a shame is that genuinely handsome coupe and convertible variants are unlikely to joint the hatch this time around. Not least because people don't really buy coupes these days, but partly because with rear-wheel drive proportions, they were perhaps the last opportunity to do such a thing well.
- 16,433
- United Kingdom
Well, handsome will remain to be seen, but the G42 2 series coupe is confirmed, though apparently no convertible this time around - perhaps to protect the Z4.
- 9,401
- Western Sydney
- mustafur
The E87 was good looking from the Side and from the back but the front marked it down a bit in my eyes, it's not exactly pleasing and hurts the flow of the rest of the car a bit, but it would be the best looking 1er yet.
- 10,944
- Canada
Its shape looks to that of that Ford Focus crossover thingy. But other that (and its face), I love the colour (the blue one to be specific).
- 8,196
- Drayton Bassett, North Warwickshire
- Duffers999
- Clark Duffy
Not to sound disrespectful towards them but this may as well be a Kia or a Hyundai. The loss of RWD and six cylinder means it loses both of it’s USPs and both thing that made it a BMW (for me). So why bother know when something like an i30n is probably just as good and will be a hell of a lot cheaper in every way.
As a former E87 owner I agree with @homeforsummer , the long front end combined with the rest of the proportions of both generations gave it a much better look and stands compared to all other hatches which seem to be bunched up towards the front too much.
And I did have the same thought as you @05XR8 about this being the car to get BMW back in the customer touring car market (where they’d rather be than a resource draining factory team like in the old WTCC)
As a former E87 owner I agree with @homeforsummer , the long front end combined with the rest of the proportions of both generations gave it a much better look and stands compared to all other hatches which seem to be bunched up towards the front too much.
And I did have the same thought as you @05XR8 about this being the car to get BMW back in the customer touring car market (where they’d rather be than a resource draining factory team like in the old WTCC)
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I have never liked the E87/81. The F20 is IMHO a good looking car, especially with the pre-facelift rear lights. This new 1-series could well be a beautiful car, with the right colour, trim, packages and wheels. I have no problem this new 1-series being FWD.
- 27,163
- United Kingdom
Posted this on Twitter but I remembered the other day that the E87 was previewed with a concept, the CS1. I'd forgotten how good it looked (and obviously, the production convertible was very similar indeed).
- 9,401
- Western Sydney
- mustafur
The front looks more Derpy the more you look at it, I thought with a move to FWD they would have more room to play with the look of the car but damn it's bad, wonder if the M135i costs more then a Clubman JCW because the Mini Looks significantly better and it's basically the same car with the same engine.
- 23,444
- It/It
- GTP_TheCracker
I've got to say, those early 1-series coupes and convertibles i thought were terribly proportioned. They always reminded me of these:
Is that the Pope's personal BMW?
- 23,444
- It/It
- GTP_TheCracker
Looks like a BMW to me; same with the 2-series, the only model BMW still builds that is even on my radar.
- 27,163
- United Kingdom
Yeah, I'm with @Wolfe on this. Even though it's relatively truncated and the body to glass ratio is obviously larger than on something like an E30, the 1-series in general but the coupe/convertible in particular got proportions spot-on for me. Short front overhang, longer rear overhang, and a good "prestige length" (the gap between the front wheel and front door - see how it's tiny on all those front-drivers in the image @Clark posted)
It's in so many of the details too. The new grille is the obvious problem with the latest car, but that front bumper's a mess too, the downward-sloping lights add aggression at the expense of solidity, the doorhandles perch awkwardly on the shoulder line rather than sitting neatly below it as they did on the E87, it's got that god-awful random bit of plastic behind the rear passenger windows (in contrast, look how the E87's Hoffmeister flows directly into the rear door line)...
The F20 wasn't perfect of course, but at least it and the 2-series had decent proportions still - and in retrospect the detailing now seems quite tame. It was never the worst-looking car in its class at least, whereas I'm really not so sure with the latest car. Off the top of my head, I can't think of one I dislike the look of more...
It's in so many of the details too. The new grille is the obvious problem with the latest car, but that front bumper's a mess too, the downward-sloping lights add aggression at the expense of solidity, the doorhandles perch awkwardly on the shoulder line rather than sitting neatly below it as they did on the E87, it's got that god-awful random bit of plastic behind the rear passenger windows (in contrast, look how the E87's Hoffmeister flows directly into the rear door line)...
The F20 wasn't perfect of course, but at least it and the 2-series had decent proportions still - and in retrospect the detailing now seems quite tame. It was never the worst-looking car in its class at least, whereas I'm really not so sure with the latest car. Off the top of my head, I can't think of one I dislike the look of more...
- 11,325
- Marin County
I always felt the E87 had a generally good shape, but the front end was too fussy and the car appeared too narrow looking. That said, it's miles better than this thing, which has no discernible BMW character other than the try-hard grill.
- 9,401
- Western Sydney
- mustafur
Car Wow tested the New M135i and compared it to the outgoing M140i and well it was rather embarrassing for the new car:
It doesn't sound too bad but that horrific grille is worse in video then in the pictures, BMW messed up big time on the front end of this car(which is a shame, the rear looks nice).
It doesn't sound too bad but that horrific grille is worse in video then in the pictures, BMW messed up big time on the front end of this car(which is a shame, the rear looks nice).
- 16,433
- United Kingdom
Being "the better car for most people most of the time" isn't that embarrassing. Given how much of a hissy-fit the BMW community is having over the switch to FWD I might have expected every reviewer to proclaim this as the worst car ever made - whereas most of the reviews are generally positive about the car.
- 27,163
- United Kingdom
Nobody really makes a bad car these days so it was unlikely to get poor reviews (even the Active Tourers got decent write-ups), and we already know BMW can make front-drivers handle because they've been doing it for nearly two decades with the Mini brand.
It's just a shame there's nothing really unique about it any more - it's basically Generic C-Segment Hatchback With BMW Badge. I'm sure it's marginally better on the bleeding edge of the limit than an A3 or A-class, but either subjectively or objectively there's not a huge lot it seems to do differently from those two.
And it still looks gash.
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