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BMW showcases all-new 1-series to fleet bosses
Date: 13 July 2011 | Author: Tristan Young
BMW has given UK fleet bosses the full run-down on the all-new 1-series at a future mobility event hosted by the brand.
Answering criticism about the outgoing car's ride comfort, the new 1-series is the first BMW model for eight years to be tested on and specifically developed for UK roads.
Alongside UK testing, BMW has also worked hard to offer better visual model distinctions between the different trim levels to improve residual values after admitting that the current cars are difficult to tell apart on a forecourt come disposal time.
Despite BMW's international aim of removing the SE trim level, this has been kept for the UK as both it and the Sport trim are expected to be the main sellers in fleet, which will make up 65% of sales.
However, BMW has also added a new 'Urban' trim level alongside Sport, which allows for almost Mini-esque creativity on colours, including white grille sides, white front bumper inserts, white alloys and white door mirror housings.
Being added to the range in March next year will be an M-sport trim level, which will feature new sportier front and rear bumpers plus side skirts.
While the 1-series will only have class-equalling, rather than class-leading, CO2 emissions and fuel economy figures, BMW maintains higher real-world mpg figures will be more achievable thanks to its Drive Performance Control system. This system, standard across most of the range, enables the driver to switch between 'sport', 'normal' and 'eco' modes. Each of the set-ups then adjusts settings within the car, such as the engine management, throttle input and steering weight.
As part of the 'eco' mode, drivers can monitor their mpg performance on-screen over time and they can also see how efficient they're driving thanks to a readout showing the number of miles in terms of range they've saved by driving efficiently.
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