Posted on Wednesday 17 January 2007
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.
this is quite a bit different than the deal that the US gets with the Audi A3, where we only get the 5 door version. quite a strange move by BMW.
Well, this BMW New 1-Series Three-Door Model is for a change, a new look for BMW. And, I guess that this will hit the US market. And I like the available features of the new BMW 1-Series which include MP3 and USB capability, iDrive system, Adaptive Headlights, and Cornering lights. Nice move, BMW.