BMW 1 Series
 (3.5/5)
expert rating
 (4.1/5)
owner rating
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BMW 1 Series F20 (2013-Present) Owner Review

Share your experiences with the BMW 1 Series - Write an owner review

Do you own the BMW 1 Series? As the owner, you have literally sat in the driver's seat and discovered the ups and downs as you go about your everyday life.

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4 Owner Reviews
Date Reviewed
30 May 2023
Performance
Ride & Handling
Comfort
Safety
Space
Value
Vijay
116i (2014)
Bought used, Owned for 2 Years
Fuel Economy: 10.0 km/litre (10.0 L/100 km), RON95, Mileage: 1,500 km/month
    - Super fun to drive
    - Feels a lot faster than expected
    - Feels like a BMW
    - You feel safe in this car
    - Good fuel economy
    - interior has aged, needed to get aftermarket parts to make the interior lively again.
To Improve
They did a whole lot better in the facelift
Yes, I would recommend this car
Date Reviewed
15 December 2015
Performance
Ride & Handling
Comfort
Safety
Space
Value
Mohamad Benyameen
116i (2014)
Bought new, Owned for 1 Year
Fuel Economy: 17.5 km/litre (5.7 L/100 km), RON95, Mileage: 750 km/month
    -The car is really good fun to drive! You can really feel all the 136bhp coming out of the engine! It's also a really relaxing cruiser! Putting it into sport mode is really an amazing experience. People say that the design is referred to an 'ugly duckling'. But, I think it's not. The BMW 1 Series F20 has it's own unique design than other BMW on sale. The iDrive system is just amazing. It's so straight forward than other complicated systems in the market. And it is the only car in this class to have rear-wheel drive. The driving experience is exemplary! the steering wheel is sharp, not much body roll and it's reasonably quite so you can have a decent conversation. And the 8 speed ZF automatic transmission is the best automatic gearbox I've ever driver. The BMW 1 Series is also very easy to manoeuvre. That makes parking easy as pie! The way the welcome light comes on at night is just beautiful.. And really, it's truly an amazing car to have as an everyday car or even a fun weekend car!
    Nothing i this world is perfect... The BMW 1 Series F20 lacks behind practically. The boot is just a tiny 360 litres and it's one of the smallest in its class. The Volkswagen Golf has bigger room inside. The other problem I have is that it doesn't come leather upholstery as standard. Even the Volvo V40 has leather seats as standard. And it has no powered seats! I was expecting a car at this price would have electric seats as standard. There is also no rear air-cons vents and it has manual air-cond! I was not expecting this from a BMW...
To Improve
For the amount of money, try and fix leather, auto air-cond and rear air-cons as standard.
Yes, I would recommend this car
Date Reviewed
22 February 2015
Performance
Ride & Handling
Comfort
Safety
Space
Value
sudonano
118i Sport (2014)
Bought new, Owned for 2 Years
Fuel Economy: 11.0 km/litre (9.1 L/100 km), RON95, Mileage: 1,000 km/month
    Engine and transmission on this BMW 1 series is absolutely fantastic. For a 4 cylinder 1.6l engine it is punchy yet has no turbo lag at all. I initially was not having much expectations for the 1.6 in this, cause it shares some roots with the Mini Countryman's 1.6 turbo engine, which in turn is not the best engine ever (lots of turbo lag).

    However from the time I first drove it, I was amazed by how linear it feels. And because it's a BMW turbo engine, just like a good design turbo engine, the torque is there from the start all the way till the top of the redline. The gearbox too is an absolutely well sorted unit, in fact, it is so smart and chooses the right gears always just like a DSG. Yet, unlike the DSG in a Golf, it doesn't have any unrefined judder that dual clutch automatics tend to have, which is good since this is a normal automatic. What surprised me is how well it performs both on the highway to overtake and in the city, so you never find it underpowered at all.

    Again, being the only rear wheel driven hatchback in the market, it drives really well. It feels well controlled and quite comfy too, despite not being too floaty. This was one thing I found better than the MINI Countryman which feels too uncomfortable, and the V40 from Volvo feeling a bit soft. But again that depends on the driver.

    For what it is, it is surprisingly economical, both on the highway and in the city. But then again, pretty much every car coming out with the propeller badge is very economical.

    And of course, one can't discount the price. For less than 200000, you can get a really well sorted BMW. This isn't a low fat version, but actually a pretty good deal. Provided you can live with the cons though...
    Limited rear space is something you have to get used to. While improved over the last 1 series, the RWD layout causes it to have a large transmission tunnel in the rear, thus meaning it is not comfy at the back as per the VW Golf or the Volvo V40. It's not bad, but certainly only 2 can sit at the back. For a small family however with kids, its actually still alright.

    The boot is a bit on the smaller side, again compared to the VW Golf and Volvo V40. Again, for the same reason.

    No leather is a bit of an oversight at this price point, considering the Volvo has it. The Urban line gets a combination cloth-leather upholstery, but for a BMW I'd have expected leather, even it it was just the standard Dakota leather. One of the issues with the cloth is the colour is quite easily stained, so you must be extra careful when you get your tapau-ed curry noodles in the car.

    The lack of an electric parking brake means no auto hold feature in this unlike on the 5 series. While the 3 series also doesn't have this, and purists don't like it (no handbrake turns lol), I'd love the auto hold feature, especially after having it in the Golf. It makes it so much easier in traffic, especially considering if you lift your foot off the brake a bit the auto start stop disables itself, hence wasting more fuel.

    I was disappointed that there isn't a set of shift paddles in this 118i, considering how lesser cars now have it as standard. It would not have hurt for BMW to throw them in at least on the 118i too, especially on the Sport line.

    Malaysian colour options are rather meh. There is a really awesome Valencia Orange with an Oyster leather interior that I have seen abroad, while we do get OK colours like the red, and turquoise, I'd have preferred more daring options, after all this car is being targeted at young professionals.

    Another small issue has to be the smallish LCD display in the instrument cluster. It would be nice if there was an option to upgrade it to the extended LCD display instead like on the higher models, so you get the LCD EfficientDynamic meter and more stuff can be displayed clearly.

    Looks are subjective, personally after seeing the facelift, which looks better in front, the current 1 series looks better on the rear. The front on the current one reminds me so much of Angry Birds - what were they thinking!

    Finally, M Sport ins only on the 125i, which is a shame, considering the 1 series looks better in M Sport. The closest you can get is the Sport line in the 118, which is OK but still, I would not mind an option for an M Sport 118i.


    Despite the cons, I still like it a lot, just on how well it drives.
To Improve
Add in leather as standard on the 118i. You are BMW, you guys should not be doing cloth!

Give us more colour options and probably the M Sport option. Also it would be nice to see navigation on the 118i too.

And of course, boost the warranty. 2 years is not enough considering VW and Volvo offer 5 years of warranty, which is more reassuring especially for first time buyers.
Yes, I would recommend this car
Date Reviewed
22 May 2014
Performance
Ride & Handling
Comfort
Safety
Space
Value
Yong
118i Sport (2014)
Bought new, Owned for 1 Year
Fuel Economy: 12.0 km/litre (8.3 L/100 km), RON95, Mileage: 2,000 km/month
    - Feels solid like the usual German built cars.
    - Good balance of comfort and sports ride quality. You can feel the undulations of the roads informing you of what you've gone over and still maintaining that comfortable feel.
    - Dynamic handling of a typical BMW (only hatchback with RWD). Feels very much at home on B roads.
    - Noticeable blow off valve sound upon releasing the pedal when revs between 6000-8000rpms (A like, to me)
    - Responsive gearbox that shifts seamlessly.
    - Squeaking noise coming from rubber sills of front doors, caused by friction between felt strip and door panel when closed. (Remedied with UHMW tapes)
    - Rear middle seat legroom compromised by transmission tunnel. (Ok sacrifice)
    - Slight wind noise during highway speeds
    - No paddle shifters. (only reserved for higher end 125i)
To Improve
- Front end design of the car could be better, although if fitted with the M sports bodykit improves its looks.

Yes, I would recommend this car

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