First look at the new BMW 1 Series

The leaked images of the all-new 2012 1 Series - before its official unveiling at the Frankfurt motor show - must really have bothered BMW. But, it’s delighted us because well, we got to see it early of course. The previous model wasn’t blessed with the best of looks, you either liked it or you didn’t. It seems to be a similar case with the new version, which has grown in stature and is now longer by 85mm and 30mm longer in wheelbase. BMW says the five-door compact, rear-wheel drive 1 Series looks sportier, but we’ll need to see it in the flesh before we can judge. It features a brand new and more luxurious interior with 21mm more rear legroom. It boasts more boot space too – 360-litres of it, which can be increased to 1,200-litres when you drop the rear seats. There’s loads of technology including Auto Start-Stop and a new ECO PRO mode which helps to maximise efficiency. Under the bonnet, you get a choice of three diesel and two petrol engines which all feature the TwinPower Turbo technology. The quickest is the 120d with 184bhp and 380Nm of torque. It’ll hit 0-100kph in 7.2 seconds and has a top speed of 228kph. Keeping you stable during those speeds is a double-joint cross-strut front axle and a five-link rear axle. It all sounds impressive, but we’ll reserve judgement until we have driven it.