STILL THE ONE?(some text hidden)

By Jonathan Crouch

Ten Second Review word count: 48

BMW has evolved its F40 1 Series small hatch into this fourth generation F70-series model. Changes include smarter looks, a redesigned interior and upgraded media connectivity. Plus, the company reckons, it's still the most rewarding steer in the premium compact hatch sector. Big claims for an important car.

Background word count: 168

With cars, generations come and go - and some of them aren't really generations at all. Take the model we look at here, an F70-era design which BMW refers to as the 'fourth generation 1 Series'. Actually, it's merely a heavy facelift of the MK3 design that arrived in 2019, an F40 contender significant because it switched the range into line with its two most immediate rivals in the segment for compact premium-badged hatches - Audi's A3 Sportback and the Mercedes A-Class. The current versions of both of those cars have been very lightly updated in recent times; BMW hopes this more far-reaching package of changes will make the 1 Series stand out. There's smarter looks, big cabin updates and a considerable slimming down of a model range that can only now be had in petrol-powered automatic form, with a choice of just three engines. The result is the simplest 1 Series line-up we've had since this car first arrived back in 2004. Let's take a closer look.

Driving Experience word count: 353

Back in 2019, this 1 Series switched to front-wheel drive, but did so in a very BMW kind of way. Well it only comes in one front-driven guise now - in the form of the base 120 model. This uses a 1.5-litre mild hybrid three cylinder petrol engine developing 170hp and 280Nm of torque and can only be had with 7-speed Steptronic dual clutch auto transmission. It's an eager enough little unit, dispatching 62mph in 7.8s en route to 140mph. The alternative 123 xDrive derivative offers 4WD and uses a four cylinder unit featuring 48V mild hybrid technology resulting in a system output of 218hp, meaning 62mph from rest in 6.3s. There's now no diesel option in the range. With this improved 1 Series, BMW says increased body structure agility, optimised kinematics, highly preloaded anti roll bar mounts and new shock absorber technology have improved drivability. And the caster of the front wheels has been increased by 20%, ensuring particularly stable directional stability and optimised steering feedback. Overall though, don't expect the drive experience to be much different, with its grippy confident sense of purpose that rivals can't quite match and precise, accurate steering. That's helped by an engineering balance that gets within a fraction of achieving perfect 50:50 front-to-rear weight distribution. The ultimate 1 Series remains the top M135 xDrive hot hatch flagship model. As with the previous generation M135i xDrive, this top variant has all-wheel drive, but now offers fractionally less power than its predecessor, though the 300hp output isn't much different, so the 4.9s 0-62mph sprint time is only a tenth slower than the old model. Top speed remains electronically limited to 155mph. The car has a more focused character than it had before, courtesy of quite a few subtle engineering tweaks. At the front, the subframe features an extra couple of bracing bars for extra steering accuracy and the electrically assisted rack features a quick ratio of 14:1 (the standard 120 model is set at 15:1). Finally, the brake master cylinder is bigger than that of a more ordinary 1 Series for better response and more consistent pedal pressure.