BMW 120d Auto Coupe
An entry level fuel efficient BMW coupe. That is what it says on the label. How well does the recently facelifted 1 Series coupe live up to that promise you ask?
For a start one needs to remember this is Beemer's entry level coupe, and finish is not quite up to 7 series levels. Plastics feel just a little bit more built to budget. It is a huge jump in quality from the pre-facelift model, and is a quality place to be. Way ahead of wanna-be entrants into the Teutonic league, but built to a price nonetheless. Having said that it feels very well screwed together, and the well-used test car was rock solid with no visible signs of wear, unusual in this class.
Clever aerodynamic tweaks have resulted in a more efficient package, for example, what BMW call an “air curtain” at the front, a sort of magic trick using the air intakes to screen turbulence from the front wheels. Brake energy regeneration and that diesel engine go a bit further, BMW even list a gear shift indicator as a fuel saver, but in my mind, it is just another distracting idiot light that will be ignored by most.
The frugal will change early anyway, the rev happy, will deliberately ignore it, and the vacant of mind will never notice it is there… BMW isn't the only one bragging about this “new” must have. As for the drivetrain, BMW have added their TwinPower Turbo to the common rail direct injection 2 litre which puts out 135kW and 350Nm of torque, giving it huge driveability and a sprint time of 7.8 seconds. The excellent auto box is hardly noticeable in its efficiency, bar one small detail. For upselling or budgetary motivations, BMW sadly left off the steering wheel mounted paddle shifts, for those you will need to go to its more sporty siblings with the sublime BMW DSG box. It is a pity, as it deprives the dieselthat- can from more sporty pretensions. Not that you can't change via the gearshift, it is just felt in its absence.
So what do you get? It looks the part, the curvy coupe has that overtaking presence. The diesel is frugalish, averaging 5.3 litres per 100km. The standard variant will set you back R367 000, which somehow does not feel entry level, but it is a hell of a lot more glamorous than the entry level 3 door 116i which is a R100k cheaper, and only a tad more than the 120d 5 door hatch.
