Given the BMW 3 series starts at $32,500 this vehicle will likely start at around $25,000 to give it adequate price range for options. Should be interesting to see how a BMW in the Honda Accord price world will do, or how those economy cars will fair against a German vehicle in their range.

Please bring it to the US.

130i w/ M-sport pkg would be the schizzle

I really like it. I would hope that the 3 door crosses the atlantic because I would seriously consider it.

This would cost as much as a 350z. Might not be as powerful, but I’d take the BMW anyday.

IS IT RWD?? That would be sweet

BMW: Please read this.

BRING IT HERE!

Not everyone in the states wants to drive a GM piece-of-crap and, believe it or not, some people actually appreciate well-designed quality vehicles. I dare say, some even like to drive!

Jeremy Clarkson had a comment about the 1 series. BMW can put a badge on poo and it will still sell. A rear wheel drive compact hatchback is a bad idea to begin with. Put the ugly styling on top of that. And it’s not nearly as practical as a Golf but hey, it has the badge.

Buying this instead of a 350z?? I hope you guys are kidding or I’ll lose all hope for the U.S. car market. I had test driven a 120d and a 130i and yes the performance was nice but come on have you seen the dash of this car? More, have you touched the dash? The build quality is worse than a Golf. And the looks are worse than both Golf and Astra. I don’t even mention the Alfa 147 and the A3.

I thought all BMW’s were either RWD or AWD.

I hope they bring it over too. These three-doors are both functional and fun. This styling is not half-bad.

You thought right. This one is rear wheel drive.

Useless underdog car.

Well, the Benz A-Class is fwd, and is supposed to fill a smilar niche as this Bimmer.

However, the 1-series is allready looking much better than any A-Class!

a mazdaspeed 3 will run circles around it

Don: bull****. That Diesel engine is King. And we all know true cars are made RWD or AWD. FWD is for grannies.

mbftw,
this car is direct competitor of Merc B-Class, not A-Class.
I’ve read reviews of 130i (5 dr.)with ///M-Sport pakege in independent BMW magazine ‘BMW Car’ from UK and they say that ride on that suspension with Run Flat tires is brutal. Regular suspension in their mind is far better choice. But real world car to live with everyday is 120d.

Bring ‘em over.

Sweet hatch

I love the 1-Series, and I also love how Europe gets ENDLESS engine options, that’s so cool to have multiple diesels to choose from, along w/ 3 “standard” gas engines

The interior of this car is as bad as the 3 series. We just have to accept the fact that they’ve chosen cheaper lighter interior materials for their newer offerings.

onur. i have to disagree with ya. i’ve also driven mentioned cars in germany, well, not the fancy 130i, and obviously there are very impressive small offerings from BMW. The interior is on par with other BMWs (like 3 series). build quality seems to be good and materials are just like 3 series. While I am not a big fan of the normal version front end (exception of sport or M version that has better looking front bumper) the overall design and proportion of this car is quite lovely. it’s such a unique package on this segment as well. of course, if you are looking for 100% practicality, there are better choices, but some practicality combined with BMW engine and chassis dynamics means a killer hatchback!! i will take the 5 door though…

I see this directly competeting against the Volvo C30. Wether or not we get it in the ‘States will probably depend on how well the Volvo does in the market. Also, BMW may not want to it to compete against the 2nd gen MINI or the eventual MINI Traveller. I hope we get it.

It’s well under $30k, can be optioned with a 260 horsepower inline-six, is rear wheel drive, and has BMW engineering behind it. For me, this far outclasses a Honda Accord.

I don’t see paying more than $20k for a FWD family sedan no matter how great the quality control is. THIS type of car is worth spending that kind of money on, not a tarted up econobox. Bring it over, BMW.

Clarkson may be right about it not being as practical as a Golf and the quality may indeed be very poor for the interior but why on earth is it a bad idea to have a RWD compact? Sure, it’s no 350Z but if I wanted a FWD car I’d buy a Toyota Corrolla or Yaris. To me, paying a lot for a FWD car is a complete waste of money.

I think BMW has a market for this above the Mini and below the 3 series.

Hell, I could see myself paying 40k for a loaded 135i. Maybe they really should call it a 2-series here though.

The diesel models, if US-emmisions legal, would be smash hits.

I hope BMW USA doesn’t play it too conservatively on this one.

Amazing how much this reminds me of the first Z3 coupe in profile, but finally practical enough for four.. no wonder the Z4 coupe got a slopey roofline this time. BMW would be wise to bring both 3- and 5-doors to directly compete with the A3, which is doing quite well despite the US buyer’s typical reluctance to buy premium hatchbacks.

I want a 3-door A3. BRING THIS HERE BMW so audi will follow you.

Unattractive by any measure.

It’s saving grace … 265 hp.

Hey, do they still build tail lamp assemblies that fill with water?

It doesn’t make me to love it, but this is at least better executed design than X3 or 6 series cuope/convert, and I wish to see that front end on 5 series instad of that korean-like face.

haha you guys are unbelievable. have you ever been to europe? the A3, A2, A1, 1 series, A class, B class, and C class are NOT premium vehicles! in as few words, they are all a POS! and they are all just plain god awful looking, especially the audis. and for an enthusiast site like this where everyone drools over supercars, you guys are drooling over diesels??!?! hahaha, theres a reason why Top Gear has a rule against having diesels on their show (with one exception). they are BORING. i mean please, the only reason why europe likes them so much is cuz their gas is like 1.30euro a liter. typically cars can carry at least 60 liters so thats 78euros which is about 100 bucks. seriously…i think someone already said it, the mazdaspeed 3 will give an S3 a run for its money and do it for half the price. 25-30k can buy you so much, 350z, WRX, Evo RS, civic si, golf GTI, and a mini cooper S. all of these are way more fun, come with manual (for those who want to go slow) or dsg and has a build quality and interior similar or superior to any of these bottom rung german cars.

bmw needs to keep the 1-series out of america…. these cars will just cheapen the brand. that’s why the a-class isn’t here

mbzelite — why would you want to keep a decent car out of the US?

It won’t cheapen the brand.

Mercedes and BMW are not viewed the same. Mercedes is luxury, BMW is the ultimate driving machine.

A straight-six, RWD, hatchback certainly fits with BMW’s design.

Why would you want to keep the future segment performance leader out ?

America needs (modern) diesels, and it’s true Top Gear has a rule against diesels on their show, but we also agree that Jeremy Clarkson is…Jeremy Clarkson, very full of himself, arrogant, self-pmpous, slightly bigoted and a great entertainer

This Bimmer is quite small and I don’t really care whether it’s got three doors or five doors, I generally like the design but would never want to own it.

I don’t know about the A3 and GTI but the 260HP BMW mini-coupe doesn’t sound like a bad deal. What are the weight figures on it? If under 3000lbs then yes, it’s a better perfromance deal than a loaded Rabbit GTI no matter how cheap the interior and taillamps are.

Finding a brand new RWD 250+ horsepower car that weighs only 3000lbs or less is tough in America. Not many choices there if you refuse to buy anything less.

Screw the brand, I welcome the cheap performance bargain BMW 130i.

The Malibu Maxx came out in 2004 and it appears everybody else is playing catchup. Again. And yet, the Maxx will still trounce this POS in reliability, quality, interior layout, and just all out better looks.

America needs more small I4/5-spd RWD coupe/hatches. This is a good move by any stretch of the imagination. The fact that you can get an inline-six makes the deal that much sweeter.

i want the 3 liter straight six from the 335i in this!!!

mbzelite, Mercedes-Benz has been cheapening their product line WITHOUT the help of that uglier than sin A-class. Today, a Mercedes is actually worth about 75% of sticker, the rest is a premium for the 3 pointed star.

GM#1 you forgot about how even the 4 cylinder Maxx would out handle any BMW and blow the doors off it in a race! hahaha. You crack me up man.

GMnumberone4ever makes an ass out of himself yet again. You never cease to amaze me. The Malibu Stacy IS THE POS. I now know the truth behind your lies and propaganda. You cant afford a BMW so you take the stance on creating lies. Dont hate.

Before we were interrupted by GMnumberone4ever halfwitted comment i wanted to say, i use to own an A3. The size and capability of it was great, of course it was FWD. But this BMW 1 i think would make a great addition to the line up. Its the new entry vehicle. And yea its no 5 series, its priced in the mid 20’s so dont expect the materials to be on par w/ a 3,5 or7. They have to make money some how. They cant give out a 535 for the price of a A3. Look at it for what it is. A entry level BMW.

I forgot to mention the Malabu Maxx is a midsize you twat. Your comparing an apple to an orange…I sware, who let this guy in anyways?

A 3 door 130 hatch with the M sport package might well have tempted be over my 3 door MVK Golf R32 (with DSG), depending on the final price, but the 5 door was just too ugly, brittle on the inside and compromised (not to mention a good bit pricier with all the options I wanted) and the 3 door 1 series wasn’t out here yet. No complaints though – the Golf R32 is more practical, faster, better built and better looking.

What I don’t get is why it’s taking them so long to release the notchback and cabriolet verisons of this car. Those models would likely do much better everywhere in the world as they would remind people of the iconic E30 3 series and not a mini BMW stepchild (no pun intended). Had a 130i coupe with the M Sport package been available, I wouldn’t have thought twice about going into a little more debt!

Give me a mini cooper s anyday

GM#1: Would that be the Malibu Maxx SS? Comparing it to a new BMW is the best thing I’ve read all day!

@ 1c3d0g,

Yes! The modern, diesel engine is king. Totally agree with you on the RWD/AWD vs FWD as well. If the car comes FWD only my answer is ‘no thanks.’

LOL finally someone understands my passion for the unloved Malibu Maxx!! I am in no way a GM fan, but the Maxx was a Bold Move for sure!! Of course I am joking, but I did like the idea of a usable midsize hatchback without me-too wagon styling.. too bad they couldn’t offer a reworked, better looking version with the sedan redesign, since the Maxx already sits on that longer platform.

Lets clear something up. Chevy is built for lower to lower middle class income. BMW is designed for middle to upper middle class. You cannot compare a chevy to a BMW other than they are both cars. This is ludicrous. Id like to make a point that when BMW builds and releases a car such as the 1 series yes it may start at 23k and you “could” put it in the comparisons to chevy modesl. However, this is still a BMW. To me BMW means performance driving machine. Drive any BMW and you will know what i mean. Its designed and built to meld perfectly w/ the road in its handling prowess. A chevy is just a **** box built for GM to make money. They dont really care and they dont have the technology to come close. The M Maxx is great for those ppl who just want a car to go to point a to point b. Basically for ppl w/ no driving passion. BMW’s niche is developing cars that appeal to ppl who love to drive. THAT is the reason GM will NEVER come close to BMW. You have to take each car for what it is, and who its built for. That would be like me saying the Yugo is a strong player to take sales away from the Nissan Altima. LOL i mean how crazy does one have to be to make a statement such as that. Just foolish

If you don’t like what you read xeroblue, just skip over it. I habe driven a BMW, on numerous occasions. One of them broke down on the highway with roughly 12 miles on the odometer and the second, a 330i trashed an auto tranny puling out of the dealership. BMW’s a ****boxes, get that through your thick skull. 90% of the posters here appreciate GM’s efforts and you seme to be the only one dissing them.

Really, if you don’t like GM, then you probably shouldn’t be reading a GM fansite like LLN. Time to move on buddy.

The point of this car is just for Europe. I was in France of Christmas and all they drove were these kind of small hatchbacks- its not for America, but it still might come here

a fool and their money are quickly departed….

… measured in milliseconds these days.

Looks good, hope they bring it over! GMnuberone4ever- really you can’t possibly belive what you say, can you ? I’m all about supporting american brands, but right now no other cars but a few cadillac’s and the corvette can actually compete with the much more refined german and japanease brands – Your making yourself look like an absolute fool by what your posting, and no one here on this board takes you seirously – do some reasearch about the cars your talking about and try to form some kind of logical comments before posting again -

GMrules again with the GM fansite thing….god!

GMnumberone4ever is the funniest fun fictionalist in the whole wide world for ever and ever and ever! Three “F”s in a row mean he’s never wrong! G-M-Number-One! G-M-Number-one!

Sorry to hijack the thread like that guys but I’m getting really sick of this person.

rwd, fun, bimmer handling and steering… bring it over… 2-door, 4-door, they’ll sell better than hotcakes.

“Really, if you don’t like GM, then you probably shouldn’t be reading a GM fan site like LLN. Time to move on buddy.” – Since when was LLN a GM fan site?!?! If it is, I’m in the wrong place!! GM#1 is pretty much confirming all I suspected of the American car fan, please let it be that your all not the same!!! For what its worth, in the top 5 of the JD Power in the UK last year none of the manufacturers were GM subsidiaries and within the top 10, 2 of them were BMW subsidiaries. As for this variant of the 1 series, it has given me a conundrum, what do I buy to upgrade from my MINI One? A 118i, or a Cooper? As for 90% of posters here appreciating GM’s efforts, maybe a poll would be useful? As this is supposedly a democracy it would be nice to see whats what.

GM#1: Why do you talk about reliability when we all know that the most unreliable thing on the road are the people who drive GM cars and trucks. So, when I’m driving down the road I much rather be behind some a BMW rather than an old lady and her Oldsmobile, or some puck and his lifted Silverado cutting people off in the middle of nowhere.

Watch:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09s8eMLHIUM

Didn’t they try this back in the late 90’s? Unless it’s dirt cheap I don’t see a point.

1c3d0g,Who drinks tea,listens to Enya, and drove the front wheel drive VW A1 chassis Golf?The Irish Republican Army.