Five things you should know about the new BMW 1 Series

The third-generation BMW 1 Series is the first front-wheel drive BMW hatchback and, depending on your viewpoint, that’s either common-sense or complete and utter sacrilege.

The 2019 BMW 1 Series will go on sale in Australia in October.

What’s certain, however, is the five-year development program for the latest iteration of BMW’s smallest model has paid big dividends for the customer. It’s a far more modern premium compact car with important packaging and technology advances that are critical for any volume-selling model.

It would barely rate a mention if the BMW 1 Series hadn’t always been the only rear-wheel drive model in the luxury small-car segment; but, yes, the all-new hatch is the first mainstream front-wheel drive model from BMW (excluding the 2 Series Active Tourer people-mover and a 1 Series sedan sold in China).

While the next-generation 2 Series two-doors (including the new BMW M2 Coupe) are expected to remain rear-drive, the latest BMW 1 Series takes MINI’s front/all-wheel drive UKL platform and places it under a ‘real’ BMW for the first time.

Engines and transmissions are shared with the MINI range, too, which means we may see a plug-in hybrid variant soon, but BMW says none of this stops the new 1 Series from remaining a true ‘driver’s car’.

“To those who are unsure about the move to front and all-wheel drive, the first thing I would say is ‘try it out’,” says BMW 1 Series Powertrain Project Manager, Christian Bock.

“It’s sporty, it’s edgy – I mean, you can drift it, if you like. It’s joyful to drive. I think it’s better than the previous car.

“I think if you’re still sticking to rear-wheel drive in this segment then you are taking yourself too seriously,” said Bock.

Another one of the outgoing BMW 1 Series’ unique selling points was its availability of six-cylinder power. Sadly, the change to front-wheel drive means the new model will be offered only with turbocharged three- and four-cylinder petrol and diesel engines, including the range-topping 225kW/450Nm M135i xDrive variant.

Like the 250kW/500Nm M140i it replaces, the latter is an ‘M Performance’ model rather than a full-blown M model, but BMW’s M boss has ruled out a high-performance version of the new five-door hatch, kyboshing the return of the 1 Series M Coupe.

Rotating the 1 Series engine across the front axle has pulled 5mm from the car’s overall length (now 4319mm) and the wheelbase is also 20mm shorter at 2670mm, yet there’s a bigger back seat and a bigger boot (up 20 litres to 380).

For buyers of compact prestige hatchbacks, especially those trading up from an old 1 Series, those numbers and the lack of a rear transmission tunnel make the new model more practical.

From its launch in Europe, the new BMW 1 Series will be available in four distinct model grades (Advantage, Sport Line, Luxury Line and M Sport) and with at least four engines: two diesels and two petrol models.

Australian specifications remain TBC, but when it arrives here in October just two petrol models could be offered -- the all-wheel drive M135i xDrive, fitted with the most powerful four-cylinder engine BMW has yet produced and the front-drive 118i (103kW/220Nm).

BMW says we should expect a price range slightly higher than that of the current F20-series BMW 1 Series, which retails between $38,990 and $62,990.

When the new BMW 3 Series launched in Australia early this year, it introduced a range of new driver assistance and infotainment technologies that really moved the model forward.

Now, the majority of those technologies will be available in the cheaper 1 Series, including a digitised instrument panel, head-up display and an infotainment array you can access via a console-mounted iDrive controller or by touch, voice, gesture control or even smartphone app.

Read the new 2019 BMW 1 Series review