Typical BMW model cycles these days last seven years from European introduction to the end of production. However with the 1 Series coupe, things seem less clear.

The 1 Series five door hatch was first introduced in 2004 based on the E90 3 series platform. So if you follow the typical seven year timeframe that means the next 1 Series will debut in 2011. But if we dig a little deeper that number becomes a little less clear. For one E90 3 Series platform first saw the light of days as a sedan in 2005. Will this have some bearing on the 1 Series longevity?

Then there ‘s the fact that BMW will allow specific models of a platform to live on even after the new car as been introduced. The classic case of this is the M3 or the 3 Series convertible staying in production even after a newer generation has been released. We believe because of this, that the 1 Series Coupe and the Convertible will remain into production longer than 2011 (the seven year mark for the 1 Series 5 door hatch).

In fact just this past week we got some confirmation on that number. Automotive News Europe ran a story about the automotive parts supplier Karmann handling all convertible roof production for the 1 series convertible. But the key bit of information? BMW has told Karmann to expect production of the roof to run until 2013.

Based on this and a few other veiled sources, we expect the current 1 Series coupe and convertible to stay in production until 2013 with new version introduced for the 2014 model year.