- BMW 1 Series exceeds 10,000 Australian deliveries
- 75 percent increase in 1 Series sales in 2008
- Coupé and Convertible dominate sports car segment
When the 1 Series first arrived in Australia, BMW dubbed it “The One For Drivers”.
It seems those drivers agree, with sales for the first month topping 700 units and, in the first year, more than 2000 1 Series cars found a home with Aussie buyers.
The sales figures continued to climb with the release of the Coupé and Convertible, and 2008 saw a total of 3124 units sold.
Now, in February 2009, BMW has delivered its 10,000th 1 Series in Australia.
The BMW 1 Series came to Australia in 2004 – the same year it landed in European showrooms – and the first model available was the 120i.
Producing 110kW (147hp) via its 2.0 litre four-cylinder VALVETRONIC engine, the 120i was soon followed by the 118i and 116i.
Drivers demanded more though, and in 2005 BMW gave them the 195kW (261hp) 130i with a 0-100km/h time of 6.1 seconds.
In May 2006, a 2.0 litre turbo-diesel was added to the lineup in the form of the 120d.
With changes across the 1 Series range in 2007, the 120d diesel was upgraded to an aluminium block, and power jumped to 125kW (167hp).
January 2008 saw the arrival of the BMW 1 Series Coupé, at the Brisbane Motor Show. The range-topper was the 135i Sport, offering a belting Twin Turbo 225kW (301hp) straight six – declared the 2007 International Engine of the Year.
The 135i was joined by the 160kW 125i in May, which TMR reviewed recently, along with the 1 Series Convertible, which stood out as the first premium compact drop-top from BMW in three decades.
Since hitting showrooms last year, the 1 Series coupé and Convertible have dominated the sub-$80k sports car segment, and have this year grabbed a 22 percent share of the segment.
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Proof that dollars don’t buy sense.
“One for the drivers” my arse. All bar the top-spec are slower than bureaucracy, and BMWs are boring to drive since they’re weighed down with all the fruit the BMW-buying wankers inevitably want.
If you want an actual driver’s car for under $100K, buy an Elise or an Elfin Type-5. If they’re too “harsh” for you, then you don’t really want a driver’s car.
A bit rough Charlie!
I agree in absolute terms; I’d love an Elise or Caterham. But I think that relative to its competitors like Golf or some of the Japanese offerings, the 1 Series would have better driving dynamics. It just sucks that in Oz we pay so much tax on them; buying one new (especially a low-spec one) is really hard to justify.
Dunno if you could say BMWs are boring to drive either; they are still at or near the pinnacle of their class (critical to compare with cars of their class - not superlight track cars). They *do* have a couple of niggles that interfere with the purity of the driving experience of late though, such as manual gearboxes that have a “clutch delay valve” that is meant to smooth out the flow of clutch fluid and thus provide a smoother gearshift but in fact just makes the clutch friction point harder to ‘feel’; and the lack of a limited slip diff even as an option, where BMW used to provide an LSD on non-M cars as an option in the 80s / early 90s. That was even before the red braces crowd truly made BMWs a marque for self-made wingnuts.
The basic product is still good.
Oh, Charlie, steady on. Yes, the 120i is slow but it’s a cracking car. Safe, reliable, handles beautifully and all that rubbish about it having inadequate rear seat room is just that - rubbish.
Under $100k there’s plenty of choice for a trackday car, but the vast majority of people who buy a 1 would never consider an Elise because they can’t - kids and stuff to cart about. Better the numpties in 120is than under-braked, poor-handling duds like Audi A3s.
Anyway, weighed down with what fruit? Have you ever bought a a Beemer?
I’m not hearing anything in those replies that is making me change my mind about the 1 Series not being a driver’s car. Almost all the positive points mentioned are irrelevant, or inimical, to a a car that is “for the drivers”.
Safe, reliable, removing the feel from the clutch, no LSD, the ability to carry kids, no power…..these are not qualities of a driver’s car.
As a passenger car it’s fine - overpriced for what it is, but handles better than other passenger cars, but as a *driver’s car* it is woeful.
That said, the 125i is the same price as a RX-8. The latter is just as gutless as the former but would be cheaper to repair and service, and the RX-8’s handling is amazing due to the engine’s size and location.
A 135i sits in the same price range as a 350Z. In a straight line the cars are close, but once again its the total cost of ownership that I’m wondering about.
My family has owned several low end BMWs and I’ve also done the BMW driver training, so I know how hard the service centre bites you in the arse when it comes to running costs.
I also know that their handling is reasonably good, but the feedback from the chassis is pretty average. Its safe, as people say, but not fun. That lack of fun factor is, once again, the polar opposite of what a “driver’s car” should be.
It’s not the worst in the world, but it definitely feels like there are layers between you and the ground and the car is set up to keep people who can’t drive from crashing than allowing people who can drive to exploit it.
That is my criticism. People buy in to the “sheer driving pleasure” bollocks, when the car is only a few degrees above ambient in hotness.