Section: E81/82/E87 1 Series
Aug 17th, 2010
As you likely noticed, things were a little slow at BimmerFile last week. That’s because we were traveling with the MotoringFile crew working the MTTS epic road-trip extravaganza. We drove from Chicago to Indianapolis, picking up two legs from Boston and Atlanta, finally joining the west-coast contingent for a couple days festivities in Denver. MINI provided us the opportunity to drive several models during the trip, reviews to be found over at MotoringFile, but one bares a quick mention here. For three days we cruised through the heart of America in a 2010 MINI JCW Convertible; essentially stock with only cosmetic options. With the LCI MINI’s soon to debut there’s no sense in speaking to the chassis and interior appointments, well covered and redundant ground at this point.
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Jul 14th, 2010
BNW of North America is subtly updating the 1 Series for 2011. For starters the HiFi Sound System (option 676) that was previously standard prior to September 2009 production will again be standard for all 1 and 3 Series models produced as of September 2010. A quick refresher. The HiFi Sound System adds the 180 watt multi channel amplifier with equalizing, along with an additional 2 tweeters in the front doors. With the addition of the tweeters the total speaker count is now 8, including the 2 midrange speakers in the front doors, 2 central bass speakers under the front seats, and the two midrange speakers in the rear. The optional Harmon Kardon Surround Sound system (688) remains available for $875.
Elsewhere on the options list Comfort Access (322) functionality has been extended to include handle-area lighting. There is no change to the option price.
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Jun 21st, 2010
So what does BMW have to offer the driver who’s interest lies not in outright pace, road-holding, or the satisfaction of a perfectly executed heel-toe downshift, but one who requires simply a well balanced car to handle the daily grind. This is a different flavor than what we typically get excited about at BimmerFile, we make no secret our preference for the sporting inclined offerings from BMW. However, I’ve recently spent the past week getting to know the slower side of BMW, a more relaxed proposition in what is likely the most common 1-series, the automatic equipped 128i.
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Jun 15th, 2010
Our friends over at The Diesel Driver venture to BMW Plant Leipzig in a five-door hatch. What the 120d offers up is 177hp from the spark-less engine which is ample for Autobahn style cruising and achieved 52 mpg. Here is a small bit of their experience driving one of BMWs most popular offerings in Germany, be sure to read the entire story here.
“The drive from Munich to Leipzig is ca. 425 km and the route takes us on the Autobahn A9 for all but 20 km of the route. Our 120d came in an elegant space grey metallic with business navigation and multiple BMW EfficientDynamics fuel-saving options including regenerative braking and auto start-stop. Regenerative braking recovers energy that would normally be wasted as heat through the brakes and the start-stop technology turns the engine off to avoid unnecessary idling when stopped.
The 120d’s engine puts out 177 hp (130 kW) with a combined fuel economy rating of 4.7 l / 100 km (~ 42 mpg in the EU test cycle. The EU test cycle has three components: city or urban driving (the first 800 seconds of the test), highway or extra urban driving (the next 400 seconds), and combined (the complete cycle).
On a 300-km stretch with an average cruising speed of 120 km/h (75 mph), the 120d only used 4.5 l / 100 km or 52 mpg.”
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Jun 12th, 2010
According to Consumer Reports and Cars.com BMW is recalling every 1 Series ever sold in the US due to a seat belt pretensioner that could ignite. Apparently the NHTSA has deemed that the pretensioner is too close to the sound insulation materials in the B-pillar and thus could lead to fire.
Because BMW doesn’t have a fix yet for this issue they have halted sales of the 1 Series in the US market. The fix should be coming very soon and rest assured engineers are working on it as we speak.
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May 22nd, 2010
Another huge BMW Podcast for us. We recap Michael’s experience at last week’s BMW NA press event where he had to drive pretty much every car BMW imports to the US on the track. It also gives us our best debate yet on whether or not the 335is is truly an M3 killer. But what about the 135i with the new N55 engine? We had guessed it may be down on (actual) power as compared to the N54. Conclusions? You’ll have to listen!
We then move on to talk about the new Competition Package M3, 5 Series diesels (we drop some hints as to the engine we’ll likely see in the US) and of course the car we can’t get enough of, the Alpina B7.
Finally we touch on the incredible showing at the 24 Hours of the Nürburgring with BMW winning the race outright.
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May 16th, 2010
Ever since the US was blessed with the “Year One of the One” 1 Series Coupe back in 2008 we have been huge fans of it, or at least the step BMW took to make a smaller nimbler car. Sure the 1er is not perfect — the back seat is cramped and the materials are on the cheaper end of the spectrum for a premium coupe, but it’s a hoot to drive on the back roads or the track.
For 2011 BMW opted to change out the twin-turbo N54 inline six for the more technically advanced N55 dual scroll offering, they messed with what seemed to be a near perfect recipe and what made us love the 135, tons of power in a smaller package. When the motor swap was officially announced back in February we had feared the worst; BMW detuned our baby. We all knew that some N54 motors came off the line as ‘ringers with an excess of 325hp as many a dyno test had proven since its launch back in ‘07. We had thought this new motor was not going to be near the award winning twin turbo six or even worse- it was going to be less of a beast. Fear not, things have not gotten worse and in some ways they have gotten a bit better.
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