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| Cabin focuses on driver; in other words, limited room for rear passengers |
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The 130i is optionally available with Active Steering, which adjusts the steering rack's ratio according to the speed of the car. In practice, this means that at low speed, you get more turn-in for less steering lock to make parking and low-speed manoeuvring easier. At higher speed, the ratio adjusts to make the steering response less 'nervous' for a stable and predictable steering response. It's a system that's been criticised in the past, mainly because it can be difficult to judge how much steering response you're going to get for a given input. For the 130i, though, BMW has toned the system down so that it feels more linear and predictable. The company claims that this was necessary because of the 1-Series's relatively short wheelbase, which would have resulted in a more nervous steering balance if the system had remained in the same tune as for longer wheelbase models such as the 5-Series. Whatever the case, Active Steering feels more natural and less intrusive on the 1-Series.
1-Series not equipped with Active Steering (Inactive Steering?) still get a power-assisted set up, but this is noticeably more heavy at parking speeds, something to consider if you spend a lot of time three-point turning.
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| Specced-up 130i puts you in 5-Series price range |
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Otherwise, the 1-Series is familiar fare, with a cabin that offers a driver-focussed environment (i.e. not a lot of room for folks in the back, or their luggage) in which the driver sits low and cocooned with a bulky central transmission tunnel between him and his passenger.
As a way into BMW motoring, though, this really is an expensive option. The difference between an entry-level 116i and the top-spec M Sport 130i, for example, is more than £10,000. Even more affordable options within BMW's range include the larger 325i SE. And for a few £hundred more than BMW asks for the M Sport 130i, you could get behind the wheel of a 5-Series.
We reckon that if it's a hyper-performance 1-Series you're after, it might be worth waiting a while. Even though BMW isn't saying anything, we'd bet that a truly high-performance Alpina development of the 1-Series is inevitable. Now that really will be worthy of the M badge...
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