If you’re getting a sense of déjà vu, it’s totally understandable. BMW UK dropped diesel engines from the 3 Series last week and it’s doing it again with the 1 Series. The F70 won’t be available in the country in the 118d and 120d flavors announced for other European countries. With no plug-in hybrid or electric derivatives available regardless of region, British customers will only get two variants: 120 and M135.
BMW doesn’t say whether the diesel’s demise in the UK has to do with poor sales and/or stricter emissions regulations. The choice between a manual or an automatic transmission is also gone. To be fair, that’s true everywhere since the fourth-generation 1 Series is sold only with a seven-speed, dual-clutch automatic.
While the old 1 Series retailed from £28,750, its replacement begins at £29,950 for the 120 before adding options. As for the M Performance model, the souped-up M135i xDrive used to cost £41,880 whereas its successor is slightly cheaper, at £41,000. With the generation change, BMW is dropping the “i” from the names of its gas cars. Consequently, the hot hatch is simply called M135 xDrive.
BMW UK is already accepting orders for the new 1 Series and will start deliveries to customers in October. Meanwhile, the configurator has already been updated to feature the F70, as seen at the source link below. It includes the Sport, M Sport, and M135 models, along with Individual colors and up to 19-inch wheels. The configurator lists the “on the road” (OTR) costs, which factor in the mandatory fees.
The UK represents the third best-selling region for the 1 Series, after Germany and Italy. BMW originally launched the 1er in 2004 and has sold more than three million examples globally since then. The new 2 Series Gran Coupe (F74) debuting before the end of this year is likely to have borderline identical technical specifications. That means diesel engines probably going to be a no-show in the UK.
Source: BMW UK
