BMW 1-Series Hatchback (2004 - 2011) 116d Sport 5d (2010/60) Owner Review

What does this car say about you?

What do your friends / family / neighbours think of the car?

Would you buy this car again and why?

No, I would rather a Mercedes-Benz but in fairness I did not pick the car for the badge. Realistically I would probably go for a VW Golf or Scirocco BlueMotion.

What are you likely to buy next?

VW Golf BlueMotion.

Type of dealer you bought from?

Franchised

Did you buy this car new?

Yes

What price did you pay?

£20,195

When did you buy the car?

December 2010

Did you get a good deal and why?

N/A dealer arranged via the leasing company.

Is there any special reason why you bought this car?

Company car - one of only 2 options and the only realistically option given the budget.

What was the dealer like?

Cambridge dealership off whom I collected the car were very friendly - although it was a long wait between arriving and finally driving away.

What's it like to drive?

A little sluggish, but it is clearly geared to economical driving. It took a couple of weeks to get used to driving at 30mph in 3rd gear. Steering is quite sharp due to being rear wheel drive - does feel quite stable for a small wheelbase car.

What's it like to park?

Easy - it's probably the smallest car i've ever had - my previous cars were X-Astra Coupe, 53 Vectra Fastback, 06 Mazda 6 Estate & 05 Vectra Estate.

Have you had any problems with the car?

Everything - in all 7 breakdowns - recurring electrical fault meant I had courtesy cars between April 2011 & January 2012. Car returned in late January 2012 & have so far had no further faults.

What's most practical about your car?

Affordability on company car tax due to low emissions.

Favourite gadget, option or accessory?

Best gadget is the environmentally friendly Start-Stop. In my opinion all cars should have this technology no question - in the 18 months I have been driving Start-Stop cars I realise just how much fuel other motorists are wasting which is clearly unnecessarily polluting the atmosphere. 2nd would be the KERS type system (braking energy is harvested to re-charge the battery) I wouldn't recommend the Automatic windscreen wipers - I had them on my own car which I replaced this car with, the BMW system is rubbish (you have to set it to Automatic manually - had these been on a test car I would not have selected the option).