Twin-turbo 1-series hatch going to America in 2008

BMW’s 1-series hatch will be sold in the US, and it could be in showrooms as early as 2008. Winding Road reports that a BMW official made the confirmation during a statement at a recent corporate event. It was initially thought the car was at least 2 years away, but now it looks like the 1-series will be announced for the US market before the end of 2007.

To kick-off the new range, BMW will debut a new 135i model that picks up the same twin-turbo 3.0L inline-6 from the 335i coupe. This engine features piezo direct injection, and delivers significantly more thrust than its official 300hp rating suggests. With the 1-series’ lighter weight, the potent hatch should be able to beat the 335i’s sprint to 62mph of 5.1 seconds. This would make its performance comparable to that of the previous M3. Yikes.

The US will miss out on the five-door version, with customers being limited to the 135i and naturally aspirated 3.0L 130i. Pricing hasn’t been finalized, but expect the car to cost somewhere in between the BMW 3-series and MINI. We’re likely to see the introduction of a new two-door convertible and sedan models in the following years. As for the possibility of a 2.0L model, officials say not until there’s a decent high-output turbo model.