On a day like today, hell freezes over, because I'm next to a front-wheel drive BMW 1-series.
Ads like these immediately shoot into my mind, because it seems they've come back to haunt BMW.
BMW always used to say that rear-wheel drive made the 1-series special. So it's rather remarkable that the new 1-series has front-wheel drive.
And it's not the first BMW with front-wheel drive. We already have the 2-series Active Tourer and the X1 and X2 as well.
However, the 2-series Active Tourer and X2 weren't around back in the day, so it's not that bad that they started with front-wheel drive.
The 1-series however, was available with rear-wheel drive in the past. And that era has now gone.
Anyway, the design and spaciousness of the car has already been showed by my colleague Marco, so you should watch that video.
In this first impression, I'm going to focus on the drive. And I kick things off with cheating, because this particular M135i has xDrive.
So we start things with four-wheel drive to get used to the idea of power coming from the front.
However, it's a system which sends all of the power to the front wheels. Only if it'ss necessary, it'll send 50 percent to the back.
So the base isn't rear-wheel drive anymore in this M135i.
Everyone wants to know how a front-wheel drive, or in this case four-wheel drive, BMW drives. xDrive is standard on the M135i.
It's biased to the front wheels, so the 300 horsepower will be sent to the front.
If it starts to go wrong, it'll send power to the back as well, so you'll always have traction. Similar to the Golf R and the Audi S3.
A big difference with the previous M140i xDrive which had the power mostly coming from the back.
That could send some of its power to the front, which made it possible to drift around. Especially if it was slippery.
That's not possible anymore. Or you really have to force it. But that just feels different than in its predecessor.
So what should I tell you? Well, the drive is the most important. There's a BMW-feeling in it, in the steering as well.
It's not incredibly communicative, but that's more often the case in BMW's. It's more that you're dancing around with the car.
It's not as big a change as in the 2-series Active Tourer, but you do miss the dancing aspect from the previous M140i. The straight-six is gone,
the rear-wheel drive is gone, so you're actually playing on the level of the S3, Mercedes A35 AMG, and Golf R.
Those kinds of vibes am I getting. A lot of traction, a lot of speed. Cars like the Golf R do tend to play around a little with the rear,
and this BMW does as well. It's still offering driving pleasure, but it just lacks that x-factor which its predecessor did have.
It's become a different type of car. The question is if that's a bad thing. I think it's going to a very accessible daily driver.
And that's what the 1-series-customer wants. Only four percent of the buyers actually bought the M135 and M140 back in the day.
Most of the people bought 118d's. So for the 1-series, there's probably one purist as a minority.
Even so, BMW has really tried to make it sporty. The M-chassis is a centimetre lower than standard, there's an LSD between the front wheels,
which sends most of the power to the outer wheel. The ESP makes sure the car moves to the inside of the corner.
So that the inner wheel brakes first, similar to the Audi RS3. All of which to make it dynamic. On a similar track, BMW says it's quicker...
than the outgoing M140i. And that says something. The tweaks to the chassis have made a lot of impact.
They're very proud of the traction control as well. That's mostly for the 'real' front-wheel drive 1-series'.
Especially when it's wet. The engine management knows how much torque every wheel has to get at a certain speed,
and it now notices earlier when there's an anomaly compared with the turning of the wheels.
That means it reacts even sooner to cut down on power. Ferrari and such do that as well, you barely notice that it intervenes.
The 1-series is supposed to do that very well too. I didn't need it with this xDrive in this hot weather, so we'll find out when we test the regular version.
Then, the drivetrain. It's a 2.0-litre turbo producing 306 horsepower. That's a lot of power coming from a 2.0-litre.
BMW is pretty proud of that. They did need to work the cooling systems, because the turbo pressure will heat up the engine very much.
Now there's extra oil coolants and even an additional radiator, for a four-cylinder engine.
That also means the car is incredibly quick. It only takes 4,8 seconds to get from 0-100 km/h because of the 8-speed automatic gearbox.
The smaller engines, the 1.5-litre 3-cylinders, will be connected to the 7-speed double clutch automatic gearbox, which we already now from the Mini.
They share the drivetrain after all. Eventually, you can get a manual gearbox as well. So you can choose three different gearboxes.
The engine has enough punch. It's quick and powerful enough, but the throttle response could be better. It's a big turbo for this...
amount of power, and you'll notice that it isn't too sharp. Also, in higher revs it's a little flat. You won't be rewarded for...
getting there. The punch is found in the mid range when you're short shifting. You do notice the engine has less personality than the 6-cylinder...
in its predecessor, despite the power. Also, in this segment there are other four-pots which have more personality.
Take the Golf R or Audi S3 for example. They have a nice growl to them. This is just a tad flatter.
If you look at the rest of the car, the interior has made a huge step compared to its predecessor. The seating position is fantastic.
It looks good, and even though I don't like the digitalized dials that BMW now uses, the ergonomics are really good.
The iDrive works very well, no matter if you use the touchscreen or the central controller. Or even talk with the car through Hey, BMW.
They've even developed it even further. You can give it different names, from your pets to your wife or even Jarvis.
It will react to that. BMW has really tried to integrate the CityLife-connectivity, so that you can connect it to your own home.
And they're pioneering. It already felt that way when they introduced iDrive, but it's skyrocketing now. It gives you a very hightech feeling...
As Marco already showed you, space in the back has been increased and the boot has become bigger, all for improving the usability.
It's a short first impression. We'll find out how it holds up to its direct rivals when it's on Dutch roads slightly longer.
So, concluding. It's very fast and you're able to have fun with it. Losing the X-factor isn't as disaster. Only 4 percent bought the M140i.
However, if we look at the 2-series. More than tens of percents chose for the M240i. So it will be a very different car.
It won't be based on this car, it will remain a rear-wheel drive car. Probably on a shortened 3-series chassis.
That means the M240i will have a 6-cylinder, so the purists can find their hail.
We don't know the prices yet, because it takes a little longer because of the emission prices. We expect those in september.