BMW gave us a real treat in the Arctic north today! Sure sure, this is another set of pictures of the F20 1-Series hatch, but look closely, there is something new and different here. BMW had previously removed almost all the masking tape from the hood to give us an advance snapshot of the styling language we should expect to see on the next generation 1-Series and 3-Series. However, before the cars were a bland silver color which hid the true depth to the styling. Now with a sparkling red color, we can see the depth in the lines of the hood.
From the first look,
this is the most sculpted hood ever seen on a 1-Series (not hard with only 1 Generation), or even a 3-Series for that matter, and takes a tangential design direction from the F01 7-Series, F10 5-Series and even F25 X3 hood design. The hood on this car has the raised edges as on the aformentioned series cars, but the edges have been substantially softened to give a much more flowing effect. A new central column is now raised (whereas it is sunken by sharp lines on the F10), giving a very very sporty effect and is reminscent of the Fisker Karma.
Just a quick note before someone makes a comment about it.
The headlights are not as massive as you may think they are from looking at the pictures. BMW has cleverly masked the headlights into a strange shape as an illusion, to make you think they are giant L shaped pieces. In fact, if you look closely you can see that these headlights are somethin more akin to the pieces you would see on the 5-Series GT.
The overall effect is too give the new 1-Series a
much more upmarket elegant/sport visual appeal; I have to assume the same styling language will be seen on the other parts of the car that are still covered up. BMW has long talked about stepping up the quality and attention to detail on this car, as the 1-Series is expected to make a bigger part of the sales pie for the next generation.
Both cars are due out later this year, with the 1-Series hatchback (a car not likely to come to the USA) expected to make its World Premiere at the Frankfurt Autoshow in September (
http://www.bimmerpost.com/future-bmw/).
In usual BMW fashion, the Coupe body style (F22?) should arrive roughly 1 Year later, and would be expected as a 2013 model. BMW M will also have its hands at the new 1-Series and an M version should arrive 2 Years after the arrival of the hatchback this year. Rumors have been afloat as to whether the next generation 1-Series Coupe would indeed be spun off as its own series, presumably the 2-Series, which opens the door for the 1M to be renamed more properly as the M2.
I've included a snapshot of the 1-Series and next generation 3-Series (F30) next to each other to demonstrate how far along in development the new 1 is compared to the 3!