BMW 118 2024 Review

Priced from $56,500 plus on-road costs, the 2025 BMW 118 compact hatchback is the cheapest – BMW prefers “most attainable” – new vehicle the German luxury maker offers in Australia.

For that money you get a restyled five-door body and five-seat interior sitting over evolved mechanicals, including a familiar triple-cylinder turbo-petrol engine and front-wheel drive as well as the platform upon which it all sits.

You also lose the ‘i’ off the end of the name. What used to denote petrol fuel injection is now exclusively reserved for battery electric vehicles.

The only other model in the fourth-generation line-up – at least so far – is the $82,500 (plus ORCs) M135 xDrive warmed-over hatch.

Pricing for the 118 is competitive with its two key rivals, the Audi A3 and the Mercedes-Benz A-Class.

BMW is touting a moderate $1700 price rise for the new 118 and that is indeed a good thing, especially considering there’s been a claimed $10,000 worth of gear added, which we’ll detail as we go along.

But since 2020 and the launch of the old 118i the price has gone up almost $14,000. That says something about the rapid escalation of luxury car prices in Australia this decade.

Of course, if that ask is a bit extreme there are plenty of decent small cars around from mainstream brands such as the Honda Civic, Mazda3 and Toyota Corolla.

Cosmetics and design features of the 2025 BMW 118 include a stretched grille that looks about as far from kidneys as you could get and 18-inch alloy wheels.

Inside the 118 comes trimmed in illuminated aluminium and Veganza upholstery that does a fair imitation of leather. Our test car was offered in a vibrant red and black – clearly for Essendon supporters (or the North Sydney Bears!).

Only the steering wheel rim is trimmed in real leather and clearly BMW had heaps of it in stock because it’s overly thick.

The 118 comes standard with an M Sport Package and cosmetically that adds high-gloss shadow lines externally and internally trim bits including some stitching on the dashboard. The alloy wheels and steering wheel also come from the M parts bin.

Comfort equipment includes dual-zone climate control, new-design powered front sports seats that also include heating and memory settings for the driver.

The boot is now accessed by a power tailgate, but no matter how hard you look in there you won’t find a spare tyre. Instead, you get a tyre repair kit and pressure monitoring.

No shock there are options for the 118, although they are simpler than BMW tradition. A $5000 enhancement package includes metallic paint, 19-inch alloy wheels, steering wheel heating, a panorama sunroof, active front seats with lumbar and massage functions, a Harman/Kardon sound system and an upgrade to the highest driver assist safety package (called Driving Assistant Professional in BMW speak).

M Sport Package Pro is a $2462 cosmetics pack.

Four metallic paint choices are offered at $1700 – white is the only standard colour – and three BMW Individual colours for $3500 or $5000.

M Sport 19-inch alloys are a $1000 option on their own.

The 118 comes protected by a five-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty and a needs-based servicing program (so there are no defined intervals). BMW offers a couple of service pricing tables, starting with basic cover for $2210 over five years and 80,000km.

As noted above, the 2025 BMW 118 comes standard with an uprated level of safety kit but, if you want the top level of driver assists systems, then you’ll have to pay extra.

Standard 118 gear includes front- and side-airbags for front seat passengers and curtain airbags that also cover row two. There’s no centre airbag to avoid front seat head knocks.

A comprehensive bevy of camera views with a recording function is a big upgrade. Front and rear parking sensors, parking assist and that BMW party trick, the reverse assistant, which allows you to backtrack 50 metres hands-free, is also part of the package.

New adaptive LED headlights, two Isofix and three child-seat top tethers are also included.

The standard drive-assist systems cover the modern essentials. The 118 has autonomous emergency braking with cyclists and pedestrian detection, lane departure warning with steering intervention, blind spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert, rear-impact warning and driver monitoring. Its adaptive cruise control system includes a stop and go function.

Upgrade to the top DAS system as part of the enhancement pack and the 118 will now – among other things – steer itself in the centre of the lane and warn about potential front cross-traffic collisions.

The new BMW 1 Series has not yet collected an ANCAP rating, although it’s worth noting each of its three preceding generations gained the maximum five stars.

The 2025 BMW 118 has two digital screens sitting on the dashboard behind a single curved piece of glass. A larger head-up display is projected onto the windscreen above the 10.25-inch instrument panel in front of the driver.

The 10.7-inch touchscreen is at the top of the centre stack in the middle of the dash.

The infotainment system is run by BMW’s latest operating system nine. It’s based on Google’s Android Open Source software, which is easier for BMW to develop than its old Linux-based system.

The traditional iDrive dial is no longer part of the deal with touch and voice control now the go. Navigation and map data is cloud-based. BMW says that helps it to stay up to date.

Standard features incudes wired/wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, AM/FM and digital radio bands. The standard audio system has six speakers

The 118 also now offers digital key access using a compatible smartphone.

Wireless smartphone charging and four USB-C points (two in each row) are also included and easily accessed.

The 118 also comes with BMW Connected Drive that gives access to the ‘My BMW’ smartphone app.

A 90-day free subscription is included to BMW Digital Premium which adds entertainment and connectivity features. Maybe it’s for people who don’t have a smartphone.

The BMW’s B38 triple-cylinder turbo-petrol engine was fitted to the old 118i and is also familiar from a variety of other models from BMW and its subsidiary Mini.

For this iteration the 12-valve engine gets a power boost from 103kW to 112kW and an uprating of peak torque from 220Nm to 230Nm.

It continues to drive the front wheels via a seven-speed dual clutch auto that includes a sport mode and manual shifting via new paddles on the steering wheel.

The powertrain also has eco, comfort (called personal) and sport modes that change the throttle and steering settings and reduce (or remove) the influence of stability control.

A little confusingly, they are presented in a sub-menu alongside modes that have no mechanical impact whatsoever, including one devoted to digital art.

BMW claims the 118 will accelerate from 0-100km/h in 8.5 seconds. That’s exactly the same as the old car. Top speed rises to 226km/h from 213km/h (yeah, I know – irrelevant!).

The 2025 BMW 118 is rated at an official combined consumption of 6.4L/100km, versus 5.9L/100km for the 118i it replaces.

BMW is putting this down to a change in testing process rather than any specific change related to the powertrain or new car.

The 118 can cop 91 RON fuel but prefers more expensive 95.

On test the 118 came out at a fuel consumption average of 7.1L/100km. Considering we gave the enjoyable little engine a fair old rev at times, that’s not too bad at all.

By front-wheel drive compact hatchback standards the 2025 BMW 118 is an impressively cohesive and enjoyable drive.

In that sense it’s a development of what’s come before. No surprise that, as the 118 shares its fundamental UKL2+ platform with several other small BMWs and Minis.

For this generation the body has been stiffened, the front suspension geometry modified and M adaptive (but not by the driver) dampers added to improve the dynamic package.

Hit the throttle hard and there’s proof of that work. There’s only a little steering wheel tug and suggestion of wheelspin. Pitch it into a corner and the front-end sticks much better than expected, rather than pushing outwards in an understeer slide.

It helps that the 118 test car was fitted with sporty optional Goodyear F1 19-inch tyres, but the basic character does seem good.

Its size helps with its nimble feel, as does its 1465kg claimed kerb weight (up from 1320kg claimed for the old car). Hey, it’s not got the sheer elan of the rear-wheel drive 2 series coupes, especially the pocket-rocket M2. But there’s no doubt it’s entertaining.

The engine does its part. It’s no rocket ship, but it is enthusiastic. And while it makes a typical triple ruffian-soundtrack (not unappealing) under acceleration, it feels smooth.

Its response is aided by the sports drive mode as well as the auto, which is fast enough left to its own devices but ramps the response speed up when shifting manually. But that’s an experience without much animation or mechanical connection.

Be decisive when selecting a gear via the stubby lever on the centre console. Occasionally you think you’ve selected drive when it’s still in reverse and vice-versa. Not handy!

The electric-assist steering is quite fast and accurate yet devoid of granular feel. And that rim really is silly-fat.

The flipside of the 118’s sharp handling and body control is a sharp ride. Rough Aussie roads are not its friend. There are too many obvious and annoying inputs. Our car made a good argument to stick with the standard 18s.

While this is all a bit of a mixed bag, one undoubted win is the sense the car is tuned cohesively. There’s no snatching at the wheel, no bing-bongs or lecturing. Anything intrusive like lane keeping can be quite easily switched off.

This is the difference between a real car company and one that just assembles random bits together like Lego and sends them off into the world.

The 2025 BMW 118 makes a strong first impression when you step inside and settle into the spacious and supportive driver’s seat.

It looks good, modern and high-tech. There’s a sense of sporty keen-ness about the shapes and flow that emulates the exterior theme.

However, have a closer look and there’s plenty of hard surfaces including the high traffic areas like the dashboard.

That speaks to the budgetary cross-road BMW is navigating here.

Clearly the cabin tech swallows a lot of the available funds. There’s configurability galore and plenty of apps to drill down into – I counted more than 40 on the touchscreen.

BMW tries to help sort things out with shortcuts and on-screen guidance, but it’s all a bit exhausting and annoying. There’s a constant nagging thought – ‘What am I missing here?’.

The hard button in the centre console for volume is appreciated and some basic air-con controls are permanently located in the bottom of the touchscreen. But you do have to drill in further to conduct more adjustments.

While the new 118 measures up 42mm longer at 4361mm and 25mm taller at 1459mm (1800mm width and 2670mm wheelbase are unchanged) and BMW is claiming more rear legroom, it still feels pretty tight in the second row.

Up-front the driver gets reach and rake adjustable steering, a sizable left footrest and plenty of adjustment for that excellent seat, including an extending base. But it only raises height at the rear so it kinda tilts forward as it rises.

Boot space is unchanged at 380 litres standard and 1200 litres with row two split-folded. While not class-leading, they’re okay numbers. A pass-through is a new feature.

The storage capacity of the 118’s cabin is adequate without being especially impressive and the long and partitioned – if slightly narrow – front and rear doorbins are a positive, as are the reasonably sized glovebox and centre-lidded bin.

Front cupholders and USB-Cs are out of harm’s way and easily accessible up near the head of the centre console.

Rear seat passengers now get adjustable air-con vents and a fold down armrest but miss out on map pockets.

The 2025 BMW 118 is an enjoyable and cohesive small car to drive and from that perspective better than the usual city hatchback experience.

But the price is a high hurdle for the car to clear, especially when the hard interior plastics are so obvious and there are still options on offer.

Yep, the equipment boost helps justify the price tag with the infotainment the biggest-ticket item. But you have to be into that sort of tech complexity to feel it adds significantly to that experience.

Look, if you must have a new BMW and have a limited budget then the 118 presents a reasonable argument. But if you’re just after a small car it’s hard to find a compelling reason to take this over quality Japanese offerings.

Or you could just keep saving for a real BMW.

2024 BMW 118 at a glance:
Price: $56,500 (plus on-road costs)
Available: Now
Engine: 1.5-litre triple-cylinder petrol
Output: 115kW/230Nm
Transmission: Seven-speed dual clutch automatic
Fuel: 6.4L/100km (ADR Combined)
CO2: 145g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety rating: Not tested

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