The BMW 1-Series Saloon Is Here, But You Can't Buy One

BMW has revealed a new saloon version of the 1-series, but unless you live in China, you won't be able to buy one

18 Jul 2016

The BMW 1-Series Saloon Is Here, But You Can't Buy One

We’ve been expecting a saloon version of BMW’s 1-series hatchback for a while now, and at last it’s here. Except ‘here’ perhaps isn’t the right word: it’ll be built exclusively for the Chinese market, so if you were hoping for a dinky version of the 3-series and live elsewhere, you’re out of luck. Instead, you’ll have to wait for the anticipated but as yet unconfirmed 2-series Gran Coupe.

So, what do we know about this piece of forbidden fruit? Very little, as the press release isn’t what you’d call revealing. However, a BMW UK spokesperson did confirm that it’s riding on a cut-down version of the existing 1-series hatchback’s platform, and said that it’s likely to receive a range of four-cylinder and six-cylinder petrol engines. So it’ll be rear-wheel drive, contrary to previous reports of it running on the 2-series Active Tourer/Mini platform and therefore being front-wheel drive.

We also know that it’s been developed by BMW Brilliance Automotive Ltd, a joint venture between BMW and Chinese firm Brilliance Auto. It’ll be built in China alongside locally built versions of the 3-series, 5-series, X1 and 2-series Active Tourer.

As well as a lack of details, there also isn’t any additional imagery on top of the front three-quarter shot at the top of the page. So, in the absence of more pictures, here’s a rather dashing imagining of a ‘BMW M1 Sedan’ by prolific renderer X-Tomi Design. It won’t happen, but hey - there’s no harm in dreaming.

Growing up on a diet of World Rally Championship highlights and lengthy Gran Turismo 2 sessions, a life in cars was as good as inevitable for Matt.

Comments

if it had a ‘’1M’’ version with same engine as the M2,we would have another german rival for the STI and the mighty ford focus RS

Sounds crazy but here: import it, swap engine, brakes, suspension seats? Etc of a bmw m car, and rejoice of having an exclusive franken m1

BMW. The ultimate Chinese machine.

This better be some sick joke… I need that car here in the uk

I’m not sure I liked it at first, but the 1M render changed my mind. Looks good, and if it were to be sold elsewhere, America let’s say, it could be a good rival to the A3 saloon and Merc CLA

Are you guys sure it’s going to be RWD? By that BMW render, it looks to have pretty standard FWD proportions. Wheel-arch to greenhouse distance makes me think it uses the 2 series active tourer platform :/

Cut down 1-series hatch chassis with RWD is what BMW UK told us, but I have seen a lot of news stories suggesting otherwise… We’ll let you know when we find out for sure.