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Ever since BMW announced it would be bringing its 1 Series over to the U.S. in coupe form, there's been a massive amount of interest in the BMW that's shorter and not much wider than any 3 Series prior to the E30 of the late 80s and early 90s.
CLICK TO VIEW GALLERYOh it's smaller, all right, but is it really that much smaller and lighter than a 3 Series? And does its price make sense for what you get compared to a 3 Series? With final pricing and specs hitting BMW's revamped consumer site recently, we decided to take a closer look.
The 1 Series has a four inch shorter wheelbase, is 9.4 inches shorter, 1.4 inches narrower, but interestingly, 1.3 inches taller than the current 3 Series. All that accounts to roughly 10 cubic inches less of car, but amounts to only small weight reduction -- the 128 is just 99 pounds lighter than the 328 coupe, with the 135 some 198 pounds lighter than the 335 coupe when comparing manual transmission models.
CLICK TO VIEW GALLERYThe question then is, are the 128 and 135 worth the money when an equivalent 3 Series is just a few trips less to Starbucks per week away? Or would it make more sense to pick up an E46 M3 on the used market? To find out, we turned to BMW's handy (albeit cumbersome) car configurator that now allows you to build your own 1 Series at BMWusa.com.
Base prices, including $775 destination fee, are as follows: the 128 starts at $29,375, the 135 at $35,675. Step up to the 3 Series and the 328 coupe starts at $36,075 with the 335 coupe at $41,575. Metallic paint costs $475, and wood trim runs another $500 on a 128. Leather by itself is a $1,450 option on all four. Then there's the package and equipment list - $3,000+ premium packages, $2,100 navigation system, and $1,275 for an automatic-equipped model, to name a few.
CLICK TO VIEW GALLERYEliminated right off the bat is the 328. It's just a hair more expensive than the 135 with about the same amount of standard features, but it's lacking the extra power of the twin-turbo engine. The 335 has the same power, but it comes with the steepest price, and a loaded-up model tops out at $56,270 -- essentially 5 Series money. The 128 is the cheapest, but also the slowest, and lacks a few features standard on the 135 such as the sport suspension and xenon headlights. Add those options to the 128 list and the price gap closes by $2,000.
Our take? A sparsely-optioned 135 would be the best choice for the enthusiast and your best bang for the buck. Our only addition to the option list would be the $1,000 sport pack -- mainly for the sport seats. Skip the navigation (and its pesky iDrive), the power seats, leather and other frills, and you're looking at $37,150, which is about what you'd expect to pay for a previous-generation M3 in good condition with low miles. You could go that route, of course, but then you wouldn't get the twin-turbo. If only the 1 Series were lighter, then it would truly be the spiritual successor to the E30 and the 2002tii to which it has been connected to in the BMW lineage.
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