As BMW’s best-selling car in the UK, the 1 Series is a hugely important product for the German firm.
The new five-door hatchback might be the cheapest way into buying a brand new BMW, with prices starting from £24,430 – but why should that mean you have to compromise?
Sure, it might not offer the levels of luxury of range-topping models like the BMW 7 Series and X7, but the amount of tech fitted to the new 1 Series is very impressive for a compact model.
Here’s five bits of key tech on the new hatchback.
Your own Personal Assistant
If you don’t have the privilege of having a personal assistant to sort your schedule out for you, here’s where the BMW 1 Series can help out.
The innovative feature was first seen on the BMW 3 Series, and is operated using the command phrase ‘Hey BMW’.
The infotainment-based personal assistant can learn your preferences and favourite settings – such as routines, destinations and cabin temperature – and also provide traffic information and find car parks for you on the move.
The Driving Assistant package
The BMW 1 Series comes as standard with autonomous emergency braking and lane-keep assist – which will likely award it a five-star Euro NCAP safety rating – but this can be enhanced with the Driving Assistant package.
This features blind-spot monitoring, but a further system that can evasively stop you changing lane if there is a vehicle where you can’t see it, called lane change assist Rear collision warning and crossing traffic alert is also included in this package.
Unlocking the car via your smartphone
While keyless entry is something many new premium cars feature, the 1 Series takes this a step further with a ‘Digital Key’. This is essentially where you can unlock the car using a compatible smartphone with Near Field Communication (NFC) technology. The car can be unlocked by holding your phone next to the door handle, even if the phone is out of charge!
Once you’re in the car, it can even be started by placing the phone in the wireless charging tray. The system ensures strict security via the BMW Connected app.
Reversing assistant
Ever negotiated your car into a very tight parking spot or down a narrow lane that can be difficult to get out of? Here’s where the 1 Series can help.
An innovative feature known as a ‘reversing assistant’ is fitted to the hatchback, and is currently the only model in its class to come with the feature.
It can essentially memorise the car’s last steering inputs at speeds up to 22mph, and reverse the car along the same path it’s just gone forwards on for up to 50 metres. The steering controls itself, you just need to monitor the surroundings and control the speed of the car.
All the help you need to find a parking space
Another very useful bit of tech is the Parking Space Assistant, which comes as part of the connected satellite navigation. This means that, rather than get to your destination and have to worry about parking, the satellite navigation can propose various parking options well ahead of time, as well as suggest routes and car parks where you’re most likely to find a space.