BMW 1 Series review

The new BMW 1 Series Cabriolet and Audi A3 Cabriolet models, which are set to lock horns when launched this spring, will both command strong residual values further down the line.

Market analyst Cap Monitor predicted retained values for both cars at around the 50 per cent mark after three years.

It’s no honeymoon moment either as Cap analyst Martin Ward told Motor Trader: “I can see these cars still being really popular in 10 or 12 years’ time which will help values for second generation models. I doubt they’ll drop below £5,000-£6,000 even then. The 1-Series is better to drive and more stylish, but I believe female buyers in particular will absolutely love the A3.”

This will be music to the ears of both premium brands who are throwing their hats into a market that until recently has been dominated by mainstream volume players with metal-folding roofs, including VW’s Eos, Volvo’s C70, the Ford Focus CC and Renault’s Megane CC.

Both BMW and Audi have chosen material roofs that allow for more variation in rear end packaging and thus exterior styling – a key factor in this segment.

The A3 Cabrio is classically good-looking with a pleasingly hatchback-esque profile compared to its more saloon-like metal-top rivals.

To these eyes, the A3 Cabrio also looks less awkward than the BMW 1-series convertible – the latter’s distinctive lines seem to jar without a roof and lack the concave rear interest of the hatchback.

Still, both cars avoid the wedgy ‘big bums’ of most retractable hardtops. Both are four-seaters but the Audi feels bigger in the back, the BMW’s interior sides tapering inwards to restrict thigh room with hard front seatbacks unyielding for squashed six-footers’ knees.

Audi trumps the BMW on extended boot space as well – both offer 260 litres with the seats upright but Audi’s rear seats fold 50:50 flat to stow longer items and offer a maximum 674 litres to the BMW’s 305 litres (created via a load-through hatch opening).

Audi’s roof drops in only nine seconds – half the time it takes BMW’s 1-series and the VW Eos (both 22 seconds).

The reason for the swiftness is that Audi has dispensed with a separate metal cover and changed the way the ragtop folds to a ‘Z-shaped’ pattern where the stiffer front roof part becomes the final ‘cover’.

But BMW has trump cards too. It has a bigger range of models for a start offering four petrol engines from 141 to 302bhp plus a 175bhp 2.0 diesel compared to Audi¹s more modest two-petrol, two-diesel line-up.

The BMW 120i petrol also offers significantly better mpg and emissions than its Audi equivalent 1.8TFSI – 42.8 versus 38.6mpg and 158 versus 174g/km CO2.

The latter difference equals four company car tax bands.
Of the two ranges, the BMW is still the better to drive and offers a fully electric roof as standard on all models.

Audi only offers a semi-automatic one with less acoustic insulation up until its Sport trim.

The convertible is the fourth and final model variant for the 1-Series following the three-door, five-door and coupe.

It is expected to account for up to 3,000 units this year and 3,850 in a full year out of about 30,000 1-series total UK registrations (the rest will be made up of 15,000 five-doors, 8,500 three-doors and 4,000 coupes).

According to 1-series product manager Oliver Parsons, the 118i and 120i petrol variants will take up most of that sales volume – 40 per cent and 30 per cent respectively – with the 120d only accounting for 10 per cent – a reversal of the normal 1-Series sales split due to the reduced options for top-down sound insulation from the diesel.

Ultimately the 1-Series convertible looks to be a sales winner but with competition as strong as the Audi A3 cabriolet BMW dealers cannot afford to rest on their laurels.

Product and marketing planning general manager, Carl Sanderson said: “It’s about product first then service.
You have to be obsessive about customers.

“Years ago we’d wipe the floor with our rivals on product but now everyone makes good product. The BMW UK operation is the only G6 country where BMW outperforms Mercedes and Audi and that is a testament to our UK dealer network and business operation.”