Category: Small Family 
Price Range: £22,030 to £29,615
Agile, elegant, brilliant engines.
Poor rear leg room.
A great car to drive.
If you've driven a 1-Series hatchback with one of the better engines you'll have a good idea of what the Coupe is like to drive. You sit low, with your legs forward, and you very soon start to feel a psychic bond with the steering. The 135i's rack and pinion system is different from the diesels' electronic set-up, but the end result isn't very different. The Coupe's steering is precise, predictable, informative, and controlled by a small, thickly rimmed steering wheel.
The ride feels slightly firmer than the hatchback's, especially on the 18" wheels fitted as standard to the 135i, but it's not as firm as any of BMW's M cars. You could happily drive the Coupe all day without fearing for your teeth or your spine.
When you're outside the car it sounds very much like a diesel, but when you're inside you barely notice, apart from some vibration through the 123d's gearknob when the engine's idling. It does 0-62mph in 7.0 seconds, with a top speed of 148mph.
If the 123d was the only 1-Series Coupe engine we'd tried, we'd say it was smooth, revvy, responsive, lively, strong and very powerful. But step from the diesel into the petrol and you have to recalibrate your brain: the 135i is smoother, revvier, more responsive, livelier and faster - licence-losingly so. That said, it's a fast mini-GT, not a super-sharp sports car.
The 135i's peak torque of 295lb-ft comes low down the rev range and must get the credit for the 0-62mph time of 5.3 seconds. It's the quickest time of any BMW not carrying the M badge, and is 0.2 seconds quicker than the 335i. The 135i's top speed is electronically limited to 155mph.
We haven't driven the 120d, but we have driven the 320d, which has exactly the same single-turbo engine, and it's a very solid performer in that heavier saloon, which bodes well. It has a 0-62mph acceleration figure of 7.6 seconds and a top speed of 141mph.
