Prices open at just over £27,000 for this 118i and you'll choose between the brand's familiar 'SE', 'Sport' and 'M Sport' designations. A 6-speed manual gearbox is standard, or you can pay £1,350 more to get a dual-clutch 7-speed auto. Even the thriftiest 'SE' trim level gives you plenty; to be specific, 16-inch Star-Spoke alloy wheels, LED headlamps, LED front fog lights, Park Distance Control front and rear parking sensors, heated power mirrors, an alarm and auto headlamps and wipers. There's also a package of 'Active Guard Plus' camera-safety features.
Inside, there's automatic air conditioning, cruise control with a braking function, an auto-dimming rear view mirror and a 'Sport' multifunction leather-trimmed steering wheel. In addition, there's the 'Drive Performance Control' system that, via 'ECO PRO', 'Comfort' and 'Sport' modes, allows you to alter throttle response, steering feel and, on an auto model, gearchange timing, all of it better suiting the way you want to drive.
You'll want to know about infotainment and media stuff too - there's lots of it. Let's start with the fact that all mainstream 1 Series models come as standard with the brand's 'BMW Live Cockpit Plus' package, which gives you an 8.8-inch centre-dash display, your access point for a navigation system, Bluetooth with audio streaming, 4G LTE connectivity, an on-board computer and a decent quality six-speaker 100-watt DAB stereo. There's also a 5.1-inch display in the instrument cluster and an Intelligent Voice Assistant.