Sunday Drive: BMW 118i

Sunday, 15 March 2020

**BMW 118i M SPORT

Base price:** $53,900

Powertrain and economy: 1.5-litre turbo-petrol three-cylinder, 103kW/220Nm, eight-speed automatic, FWD, combined economy 5.9 L/100km, CO2 136g/km (source: RightCar).

BMW has finally taken the leap and gone front-wheel drive with the new 1 Series.

Vital statistics: 4319mm long, 1434mm high, 1799mm wide, 2670mm wheelbase, luggage capacity 380 litres, 18-inch alloy wheels.

We like: Improved interior, strong safety spec, wireless CarPlay.

A properly premium interior is now standard in the 1 Series.

We don't like: Zippy but no sports racer, no paddle shifters.

So now they've finally gone and done it, can you feel the difference? Well, yes. Quite easily, in fact. It's really no challenge at all to determine the 1 Series has made the move to the front-drive camp.

BMW is all about the grilles these days, and the 118i is no exception.

Any brisk getaway is a clear giveaway and, when pushing on, there's a point where you can sense when the power feed is combating steering input. The torque effect is nothing major, but it's there.

So, heading from a rear-drive past to the front has consequences. Yet as much as this landmark move for the brand – in that it's the first mainstream BMW to switch – delivers big change, when the big sellers have long pulled instead of pushed, will buyers care?

The 118i shares its three-cylinder turbo engine with a number of Minis.

M Sport additions add a touch of aggression to the 118i.

* BMW reveals monster SUVs (and a mad Mini)

* High-riding SUV is now BMW's most hi-tech new model

* BMW 135i - Last of the rear-drive Ones?**

Put it this way: those few who became fans through celebrating the purity of the old car's dynamic feel might like to think about snapping up a good example and tucking it away for special Sunday drives.

The majority of buyers, who according to surveys either didn't care or didn't know which set of wheels were ever previously driven, can drive on quite happily into this new generation, I'd suggest. Because, aside from feeling a bit different on the road, it's otherwise very much as it has always been: a particularly polished small car with all the kit and kudos your premium spend can buy.

And boy, is it premium. Being the M Sport derivative gives the 118i a pricey start, but the test example ran deeper into bauble territory by having $7510 worth of options. I'd assume anyone who doesn't consider $61,490 expensive for a 1.5-litre car probably also feeds their cat caviar.

The extra spend delivered some big stuff - a panoramic sunroof, LED headlamps, electric seat adjustment and heating – but apparently even M-emblazoned seat belts and an M Sports steering are cost-extras for an M package. BMW also charges for sun protection glazing.

Visually, while the M Sport styling add-ons improve the aesthetics, the One continues to be a car that, while catching lots of attention, rarely snares outright adoration.

From the inside looking out, though, it is a better thing than before, for two reasons. First, the cabin is finally truly expensive-looking. Gone, at last, are plain plastics. Everything you look at and interact with is palpably excellent.

Also, it feels properly techy. The big iDrive 7.0 touchscreen is intuitive and swift in reactiveness. You'd have to think this isn't just BMW deciding to do better for the sake of it; Mercedes' very much laid down a strong challenge with its A-Class interior. Really this is BMW in catch-up mode. I still think Mercs' 'digital plank' MBUX layout is better overall, but would also agree the One is deserving of a 'much improved' accolade.

The top-end spend allows buy-in to a hefty swath of latest active and passive safety gear, including lane keeping and collision avoidance and warning systems, plus the ConnectedDrive setup that delivers a concierge service.

The long bonnet, lean body look reminds this car takes a range of engines, of which the 118i's presents the least packaging challenging, being the three-cylinder shared with Mini (Cooper hatch and Countryman), it's a tiny thing even for this car.

But big-hearted, right? Well, even though the power-to-weight isn't too bad, through much of the structure being made of aluMinium and high-strength steel, this is ultimately the version that impresses more sportily in look than ability. As much as it delivers decent mix of performance and fuel efficiency for daily toil, its' not the One to choose when desiring to pick a fight with a true hot hatches.

Still, the engine is an engaging little thing and, providing you're into working it hard – because even though its torque clocks in from an impressively low 1480rpm, there's not a lot of it – and primarily running in the Sport mode, it's got a likeable, sweet-revving vibe. Finding the right part of the rev range to get the best is the challenge.

Regardless, with this model the driving pleasure has always come down to how it attacks and steers through corners. Pitting new against old would probably enforce the previous car is no pushover; those rear-drive chassis responses and turn-in precision make it a sweet drive, still, I'd argue. At same token, realisation that, with the latest One, Munich has done more than simply bung a BMW body on top of a Mini chassis. Not at all.

Yes, there's occasionally still the slight nagging sensation that it would have been better still with drive to the rear wheels, but there's no turning back now and what you get is still something to celebrate. Occasional drive effect through the helm notwithstanding, it retains talkative steering. Also, the chassis is so beautifully weighted that the tight, twisty country roads on which the old car seemed so sweet are still worth tackling.

The M Sport spec's 10mm suspension drop, 18-inch alloys, uprated braking system and sharpened steering obviously lift its game, though perhaps they also impact – quite literally – on how it tackles rippled coarse chip: basically, noisily and, sometimes, a little busily.

Even so, there's enough going on here to impress that BMW still delivers a better driver's car at base level than the alternate prestige competition.