After a couple of years of production in Europe, BMW brings its new 1 series to the U.S. The car comes with two engine choices and two body styles. The 128i comes with a straight 3-liter six cylinder engine, while the 135i gets the same engine with twin turbochargers. Both versions can be had as a coupe or a convertible.
BMW stuffs a lot of engine under this hood. The 3-liter twin-turbo six cylinder is the same engine used in the 335i and the 535i. It produces 300 horsepower and 300 foot-pounds of torque.
The back of the 135i looks abruptly cut off, with a quick drop of the cabin toward the rear. However, the rear seats aren't unusable. We found adequate legroom, as long as both front and rear occupants are shorter than six feet tall.
Because of the 135i's engine power, BMW fits the front wheels with six piston brake calipers, providing extra stopping power. While driving, we found that the brakes felt more road-tuned than track-tuned.
The interior fit and finish is good, comporting with BMW's general quality. If this car were equipped with navigation, an LCD would pop up from the center of the dashboard.
With the automatic transmission and M steering wheel, we also got paddle shifters. This was our least favorite part of the car, as the paddles are chunky, and mounted to the steering wheel.
We had the six speed automatic transmission in our car. Its Sport mode downshifts fairly aggressively when you tap the brakes before a corner, and it has a manual mode. However, the base six speed manual would have been our preference.
The base audio system in our 135i was powerful, but not too impressive. There is a premium audio system upgrade available that includes two subwoofers.
Bluetooth cell phone integration with voice command comes standard. The cell phone integration is excellent, as it downloads your contact list and makes it accessible on the radio display.
