BMW 118d Sport Line 2012 Review

Price guide (recommended price before statutory & delivery charges): $43,500 ($58,165 as tested)
Options fitted to test car (not included in above price): Sport Line package (leather sports steering wheel, sports seats, star-spoke alloy wheels, upgrades to interior & exterior trim detail) $1600; 17-inch light alloy wheel upgrade $1460; Steptronic auto transmission $2695; Servotronic power steering $450; Electric glass sunroof $2245; Metallic paint $1310; High-gloss shadow-line $385; Sat-nav Professional $2695; Internet connectivity $155; Bluetooth/USB audio inputs with voice control $500; 40:20:40 through-loading rear seat $385; Ambient lighting $475; Anthracite roof-lining $310
Crash rating: Five-star (ANCAP)
Fuel: Diesel
Claimed fuel economy (L/100km): 4.5
CO2 emissions (g/km): 119
Also consider: Audi A3 TDI (from $40,500); Lexus CT200h (from $39,990); Volkswagen Golf GTD (from $39,290)

If you were holding off buying a 1 Series hatch in the hope that the second generation might be a little prettier than the first, the news is bad. On every other front, it’s great. If they haven’t touched it with the beauty wand, they have ramped up the leadership margin on what was already a class act.

Like the other premium Germans, BMW gets more price competitive with every new release. Sitting at the price sensitive end of the marque’s lineup, the 1 Series junior hatch is no exception. This second generation, released late 2011, allows consumers to buy some blue and white propeller cachet for well under $40K ($36,900 plus ORCs, for the base petrol 116i). If that’s still costly for a small hatch, rest assured you still get a fair amount of small hatch from a Ford Focus.

Meaning? A mix of technical sophistication, build quality, road competence and decent equipment. Base model standard kit now includes keyless entry and start, 16-inch alloy wheels, iDrive multifunction controller with a centre-mounted 6.5-inch colour display and a six-speaker audio system with USB and auxiliary input ports, Bluetooth telephony and audio streaming.

They’ve redressed some obvious equipment injustices, most notably the absence of cruise control on the standard kit list – all 1s now get cruise with braking function to maintain the set speed down hills.

Up-spec models like the 118d add dual-zone climate control, an electrochromatic rear-view mirror, rear parking beepers, sensor-driven headlights and wipers, foglamps and 17-inch alloys.

Then, of course, there’s the suite of EfficientDynamics gear standard across the Munich lineup – idle stop-start, regenerative braking, on-demand ancillaries and a nice relationship with the road through BMW’s benchmark electric power steering at one end and the compact sector’s only rear diff at the other.

There’s also a can’t-lose choice of transmissions. The standard six-speed manual remains in place, but the old six-speed StepTronic auto has been upgraded to eight speeds. The only octobox in its sector, it’s a very reasonable $2695 – and it comes with paddles standard.

The 2.0-litre diesel-engined 118d sits at the top of the three-layer lineup, starting at $43,500. There is, of course, an options list to push the price way up. Our test car, at around $58K, was a very luxurious example of the breed. But most of the really useful gear is there to begin with.

Although power stays at 105kW, it’s quicker than the outgoing model. Put that down to a modest rise in torque, from 300 to 320Nm through the same band. It’s comparatively narrow – 1750 to 2500rpm – making clear the oiler’s light-foot priorities. The 0-100km/h sprint time has dropped to 8.9 seconds (down from 9.5). While it remains the slowest of the 1 Series hatches, it’s no slouch in that midrange area oilers so favour.

And anyway, in a car giving precedence to fuel economy over performance, 4.5L/100km combined is what really counts. More impressively, our city-only week in the 118d returned consistent mid-5s with virtually no conscious effort, against an official urban figure of 5.5L/100km.

The new interior is a marked improvement on its predecessor. I for one will not miss that annoying little central strip readout for the audio system. The colour screen in its place much more befits premium product such as this.

Now a decade old, the once troubled iDrive now presents friendly, easy-to-learn access to a multitude of audio, communication, computing and vehicle-settings functions (and navigation, when it’s there). The great thing about systems like this – for both consumer and car maker – is their consistency from one model to the next. Learn iDrive in a 1 and you’ve pretty much learnt it in any BMW.

The Sport Line option pack in our car includes a sports seat upgrade in front. They’re as good as seats come in this class. Adjustable through a wide ambit on every plane, they offer plenty of lateral and thigh support. A tilt- and reach-adjustable steering wheel makes it easy for pretty much anyone to get comfy in the cockpit.

Past that, a fair proportion of the upgrade is given to trim enhancements, adding to the appeal with gloss black and chrome details. Most importantly, the company has added a bit of rear-seat leg room. It’s still no Statesman, but it’s edging towards tolerable for adults on journeys of more than five minutes. Headroom is sufficient for six-footers, and visibility is good all round.

The 1’s once-paltry storage offering is much improved, with decent door pockets and centre bin and a deepish glove box to swallow those everyday bits and pieces that just seem to accumulate in cars. The 360-litre boot is good for a vehicle of this type, too. The elasticised net to secure bags of shopping and the like is a neat touch.

The standard 60:40 split-fold rear seat expands the space incrementally up to 1200 litres. The 40:20:40 load-through option on our car offers a little more versatility, at least for those rare moments when you’re carrying four people and… a plank.

On the road, the 118d has that nuggetty feel at the wheel common to smaller BMWs, even with the optional Servotronic steering on our test car. Skewed towards low-speed lightness and parking maneuverability over performance, the $485 option works well for the purpose at low speed. On the open road, it rolls back the assistance sufficiently not to impose gross compromise on the brand’s much vaunted sheer driving pleasure.

The new auto’s two extra cogs broaden the total spread of ratios while narrowing the gaps between them. It presents a new benchmark for small cars, silky smooth and hard to wrong-foot. If it’s not DCT-quick, it’s snappy enough for the oiler’s purposes and works effectively to keep the revs in or near its sweet spot. We found the drivetrain well capable of hauling four adults up the steep hills around Sydney’s Coogee beach unfazed.

The suspension works well in its bid to balance out ride suppleness with cornering and braking ability. Even now BMW has softened things up a bit downstairs, the 1 remains the most composed of the non-hot hatches around corners. It can get a bit skittish when you hit a bump mid-corner, but you have to be working it pretty hard to even stir the stability control. The chassis certainly exceeds the requirements of anyone who buys the diesel. (If you enjoy pushing a car around and have the wherewithal to tick the option box, the $5345 M Pack is money well spent for the adaptive suspension.)

Even with Munich’s stock run-flat tyres, the 1 is better insulated against wind and road noise than most vehicles of its size. Coarse road surfaces are audible but not annoying. Ditto the engine, which becomes noticeable when it’s pushed past its 2500rpm comfort zone limits.

The 118d is, in short, a delight on the road, even in this iteration, which is oriented about as far away from performance as any BMW. Most importantly here, it fulfills its economy charter with aplomb. It’s also among the cleanest cars on the road, emitting just 119g/km CO2.

The first generation 118d was a joy with a few flaws. The second generation redresses equipment injustices like the absence of cruise control from the standard kit list. With the addition of the eight-speed auto option, iDrive and the centre screen, they’ve boosted the value formula and made what’s maybe the most complete compact hatch you can buy even more complete.

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