BMW keeps the best 1-Series till last

BMW is keeping the most appealing 1-Series model back until the new range is well established.

The new rear-drive range will be unveiled at the Paris motor show in September and built at a new plant in Regensburg, Germany.

The first model to land in New Zealand will be the five-door hatchback later this year, the first such model in BMW's history.

The range will thereafter grow quickly into a 1-Series family: three-door hatch, cabriolet, three-door coupe, wagon and perhaps a compact people-mover.

But it's the coupe - not due until 2006 - which is attracting early interest. It has been described as the spiritual successor to the 2002 of the 1960s and 70s.

It shares its styling with the convertible and is likely to become the sportiest of the small BMWs. There is talk that the coupe will be the basis for a performance variant badged the M2 to go up against Audi's A3.

The coupe is - on paper at least - the best looking of the 1-Series.

First drive reports say the five-door is as dynamically sure-footed as the rest of BMW's model range, but in the flesh is disappointing from a design point of view.

Spy photos of the three-door hatch, coupe, cabriolet, wagon and a sedan variant better complement chief designer Chris Bangle's provocative styling themes, especially found in the Z4 - deep side panels, a high waistline, and scalloped curve between the front and rear wheel arches.

The first 1-Series to arrive after the five-door will be the three-door, sportier but with an almost indentical interior layout.

It is expected to be launched in Europe next July, about nine months before the cabriolet appears. After the soft-top comes the coupe (2006) and the wagon (2007). Some of the variants will wear 2-Series badges.

The five-door hatchback is almost certain to arrive in New Zealand with the choice of three 2-litre powerplants, starting in price at over $40,000.

The petrol models will be badged 118i and 120i and the diesel the 120d. It is understood that BMW is still looking at the 116i, which uses a 1.8-litre engine and would theoretically be priced a tad under $40,000.