STILL THE ONE?(some text hidden)

By Jonathan Crouch

Ten Second Review word count: 48

BMW has evolved its F40 1 Series small hatch into this fourth generation F70-series model. Changes include smarter looks, a redesigned interior and upgraded media connectivity. Plus, the company reckons, it's still the most rewarding steer in the premium compact hatch sector. Big claims for an important car.

Background word count: 168

With cars, generations come and go - and some of them aren't really generations at all. Take the model we look at here, an F70-era design which BMW refers to as the 'fourth generation 1 Series'. Actually, it's merely a heavy facelift of the MK3 design that arrived in 2019, an F40 contender significant because it switched the range into line with its two most immediate rivals in the segment for compact premium-badged hatches - Audi's A3 Sportback and the Mercedes A-Class. The current versions of both of those cars have been very lightly updated in recent times; BMW hopes this more far-reaching package of changes will make the 1 Series stand out. There's smarter looks, big cabin updates and a considerable slimming down of a model range that can only now be had in petrol-powered automatic form, with a choice of just two engines. The result is the simplest 1 Series line-up we've had since this car first arrived back in 2004. Let's take a closer look.