Looking around the BMW 1 Series
Pendragon Vehicle Management (PVM) recently had the pleasure of hosting BMW UK and Lodestar at our Derby based head office. Back on the 9th October, they organised a brilliant 'Ride and Drive' event for all of our team members to experience the all new BMW 1 Series.
The day included a short sit-down session going through the new vehicle with Ian Munro (Key Account Manager Leasing BMW). Ian introduced us to some of the key changes that we would see for this new model, some standard features and a few of the additional cost options.
Following this short session, the team were then led outside for the 'Ride and Drive' portion of the day.
BMW UK brought over eight vehicles for our team members to take a look at and experience driving. The vehicles were mainly made up of the BMW 1 Series M Sport, and they even included one of the previous generation, so our team could get a good feel for the changes in this new version.
With the help of a professional driving team, our team members then had the chance to drive the vehicles, test out the tech and swap driver halfway round the route. The one exception being the few team members who got a little lost along the route. Despite that little hiccup, everyone had a brilliant time.
We have put together a few highlights for this model, an outline of the key changes and a review from one of our team members.
BMW 1 Series 118i M Sport highlights
- CO2 of 121 g/km
- BIK at 28 percent
- 0 to 62mph in 8.5 seconds
Key vehicle changes for 2019
- A switch to front-wheel drive
- Updated colour pallet
- 3-door option no longer available
- New grille and larger bonnet due to new engine position
- Greater space in the back and increased boot capacity
- BMW personal assistant as standard
- New top of the range model, the M135i
Equipment includes:
- 18-inch M alloy wheels
- M Aerodynamic body and interior styling
- M sport suspension
- BMW personal assistant
- Sports seats in Dakota leather
- Heated seats
- Extended lighting
- Folding mirrors
- Front and rear parking sensors
- Bluetooth with audio streaming
- BMW emergency Call/Online
- Extended storage
- 8.8-inch touchscreen
- DAB radio, MP3 player and RDS
- Cruise control with brake function
BMW 1 Series Review
During the Ride and Drive, one of our Customer Relationship Executives, Andy, had a few words to say about this new incarnation of the BMW 1 Series:
“Having handed back the keys to my two-year-old BMW 118i M Sport a fortnight ago, today’s BMW 1 Series roadshow event gave me the ideal opportunity to test the new '2020' model year version and compare the old and new. The model I took out was the automatic 118d M Sport.
At first glance, the new car looks significantly more aggressive with a noticeably larger grille and new 18-inch alloy wheels, which look stunning. One of the previous minor bug bears with the old version was that the bonnet length felt too long, which made pulling out of some junctions difficult. With the new model the engine is now transversely mounted which allows for a shorter bonnet, which also an effect on the new front-wheel drive design configuration.
Moving inside the car, noticeable improvements include:
- Much larger navigation screen (also allowing for touch screen usage)
- Addition of a rear parking camera
- Electric parking brake
- Redesigned centre console with the temperature controls being a lot easier to operate
- Phone holder in the lower console (no more balancing phone in the cupholder)
