With that said, I had the opportunity to sample two different variants of the F20 chassis 1 series.
The first was an F20 116d M sport.
First things first, when the new model was released, I was a little unsure of the front nose. Having the opportunity to play with it a little more, it's certainly grown on me and in the M guise, it's certainly not ugly.
Impressions of the car, well the list is close to £30,000 with a load of options added and that's the biggest downfall of this car given it's gutless engine.
Yes it's a 1.6l diesel with about 114hp and 192lb of torque, but I found that the engine really needed to be pushed to get anywhere.
Aside from the lack of power, the car handled really well, be it attacking country roads aggressively or about town. Certainly had more than enough stopping power (courtesy of the M brake upgrade kit). The gearbox was fantastic, smooth and seamless and when in sport mode, the whole car overall was pleasing to drive.
Another bonus was the eco mode and this is where the car came into it's element. Driving sensibly yielded great mileage while pottering about daily driving (indicated an average of a little over 50mpg)
The cabin reeks of typical F series BMW build. Nice chunky M wheel, comfortable driving position and conveniently placed controls and all that boring stuff.
Seats, sufficiently supportive, however the whole interior feels let down by the choice of materials on the dash. Plenty of plastic, which cheapened the experience. (The estoril blue trim on the dash as well as the key was an incredibly nice touch!)
This model also had the premium audio, not something I'd personally want given the price tag, though easily understandable why some would certainly be happy to pick this option!
All in all, this car, with the current spec felt like it was crying for more power. Having a less efficient engine in favour of a more powerful one would be a no brianer for most to really enjoy the car but I'm still left on the fence for owning one.
The next, an F20 114i se. The best thing about this car for me was that it was a manual...and that's about it. Gear changes were incredibly smooth and unlike my Z4, the clutch incredibly light.
Aside from that, the rest of the car was well...a bit boring. Even less power and torque than the 116D. The colour wasn't as special as Estoril blue, candles would have been better than the halogen headlights, the seats weren't as comfortable however the ride was incredibly comfortable (obviously at the expense of a decent handling car).
The stop/start I managed to get used to, stick the car in neutral and release the clutch. It's nice to see how fact the technology has moved. Compared to my old Smart which had stop/start, BMW have managed to make the car restart much faster and less invasive. By the end, I had gotten so used to it, it didn't even feel the car was starting up. The best bit was moving the gear lever even from side to side would cause the car to start again. Very cool!
The purist inside of me is crying at the state of these engine bays. It seems long gone are the days of classy engine covers (when they were used of course) to now be replaced with big plastic things covering everything. Boring. At least the snail is on display.
Like with the M sport I drove before, plasticy interior but a nice driving position with great visibility. The little things such as the red stitching complementing the red accent on the key was certainly a nice touch.
However, with that, the contrast to the outside where it seems BMW has gone through all the effort of the little touches as seen below, but still opting for halogen bulbs. Sure it brings cost down to the buyer but the lighting is so bad as a result that it boggles the mind why one wouldn't opt for xenon headlamps!
Well to conclude, I could see myself driving a F20 as a daily, however it would have to be a 3 door model and have plenty of power (cough M135i). Considering a base M135i is £32,350 on the road without any options, I know I rather dabble in the used car market for something that offered more.