BMW 1 Series Hatchback (2024 - ) review

In this age of electrification it’s perhaps surprising BMW currently offers only the mildest form of hybridisation with the new 1 Series, and even then only on the entry-level 120 petrol. It’s a neat system using an electric motor to fill in the gaps of the petrol engine’s power delivery, improve the effectiveness of the start-stop system and help the overall efficiency. But it’s not enough to power the car on battery power alone, or score the company car friendly CO2 figures of a full plug-in system like those offered in many rivals. Out in the real world where plugging in may still not be convenient or even possible for a lot of drivers it’s actually a pragmatic solution, and previous experience of BMWs with this system suggests you’ll get decent mileage. And there are, of course, options elsewhere in the range if you need more electrification.

BMW’s rankings on reliability surveys haven’t been great for a while, but in fairness all premium brands tend to suffer here given their cars are more complex and expensive to fix when they do go wrong. On that basis we’d be tempted to take up the offer of BMW’s fixed-price service package, which you can bundle into the cost of the car and means one less thing to worry about.

In the BMW style there are various tiers for the assistance systems building from the standard Driving Assistant package to the cost option Driving Assistance Pro. The latter basically expands the scope of the existing systems, to the level the car will steer, maintain speed and even stop and then pull away in traffic on its own if you choose. You still need a hand on the wheel and your full attention, so this is not autonomous driving as we might think of it. But as close as you’ll get at the current time. Even if you don’t tick this box you still get some of the best assistance systems out there, BMW’s driver-focused mindset meaning these operate tactfully in the background rather irritate through constant bonging or unexpected interventions to steering or brakes. For that we are truly thankful, ditto the shortcut for turning off the speed limit warnings – just hold ‘Set’ on the cruise control buttons and enjoy the fact silence can in fact be golden.

We’ve got so used to tall-riding SUVs and crossovers it feels a shock to slide into a low-slung and sporty driving position in what feels a relatively ground-hugging hatchback. It won’t be for everyone but we really enjoyed it, the seating position great for keen drivers who don’t like the top-heaviness of many modern cars. We also liked the figure-hugging sports seats in the M135, these underlining this top model’s sporting cred. All this has implications for practicality, and while driver and front seat passenger are well catered for those in the back will find things a little dark and cramped. But if you want more a more family friendly small BMW there’s always the X1 instead. On the road the 120 gets a softer suspension set-up as standard, though the ones we drove had the optional M Sport configuration standard on the M135. It can feel a little brittle at lower speeds and around town but comes into its own on faster, sweeping roads where the 1 Series delivers a genuinely sporty feel. In due course an even more focused M Dynamic pack will be available for the M135, with the same suspension settings but extra body stiffening and other modifications for an even sharper drive. This was fitted to the test cars we tried and felt great, but is probably wasted on all but the real driving purists.

There are two trim levels for the regular 120, the M135 being a standalone M Performance model with specific wheels and additional branded styling features inside and out. At first glance the base Sport trim looks decent, but a quick play on the configurator reveals any colour other than the base black or white is a cost option and if you want the best of the impressive gizmos you’ll be forking out for the Technology or Technology Plus packages. Suffice to say, things can escalate quite quickly in cost terms. Fundamentally, though, the 1 Series offsets boring exterior looks with an impressively stylish interior, cool metal trim looking good against the recycled polyester mesh covering the dash while a simplified version of the illuminated ‘Interaction Bar’ from posher BMWs sits between the screen and neatly integrated vents. We really like BMW’s tech interface as well, this latest iteration building on the previous one’s combination of bold, sharp graphics and logical menus built around swipeable tiles and, as you delve deeper, phone-style widgets. Phone integration is similarly slick, and seamless in swapping between CarPlay or Android Auto and the car’s built-in systems. While screen based there are still enough physical switches for the basics to keep Luddites like us happy.

For now the 1 Series will be available as the 1.5-litre 120 petrol with front-wheel drive or the 2.0-litre M135 with BMW’s xDrive branded all-wheel drive system. Both come with an automatic gearbox as standard, the ‘i’ that used to feature in the model names now dropped and reserved solely for electric models. We drove both, and if not blazingly fast the 120 has enough to be going on with and compares favourably against VW group rivals like the Golf, Audi A3 or Cupra Leon with the equivalent 1.5 TSI petrol engine used across them all. The responsive steering and excellent body control may have you craving a bit more, though, and it can get a bit noisy if you work it hard. Enter the M135, its 300 horsepower putting it on a level with the Golf R, Audi S3 and Mercedes A35 AMG while making sense of the sportier looks with the gloss black trim and quad exhaust pipes. These sound better with the additional fake noise turned off and in the sportiest of its driving modes the M135 is a properly satisfying steer, and way more fun to drive than the boring looks might otherwise have suggested.