[potts]

Background: I'm en ex 1 series coupe owner, now with an E91 320D MSport.

My wife is quite keen for me to downsize and move back to a 1 series (but with 5 doors), so I've been anticipating the F20 thinking that I'll probably be investing... So I sneaked into my local dealer today to spy the F20 on launch day.

First impressions. Disappointing. I can live with the evolved Teutonic styling and have been 'adjusting' to it since we saw the first official photos. For me, the interior is a big thing, so to get into the car (118d, Urban, auto) to find solid hard plastics on the glovebox lid and door pockets was very disappointing. Not being padded/softened in any way, the feel of these plastics remind me of my 1985 Vauxhall Nova. The dashboard had the same surface pattern as the glovebox lid and pockets, but they'd not managed to get the two surfaces the same colour, though at least the dash had a slight soft touch. The blower vent controls seemed cheap and flimsy, as did the plastic around the climate/entertainment controls. Am I really sitting in a BMW? The Nav/Display screen looked as though it's been stuck on top of the dashboard - you kind-of expect that it might fold down, but no, it's fixed. The seats were non-sport (as you would expect in an Urban - which is about the same price as sport), but seemed super narrow and very flat. The seat adjustment controls on the side were in the same place as my E91, but the labels had been omitted as to what each adjustment lever did and the plastics also seemed very poor again. The only bits that seemed decent quality were the steering wheel and that bit of brushed metal (though reduced in size, compared to my old E82) on the front of the dash.

A salesman came over and I briefly asked him what had happened to the quality - he just muttered that the plastics were 'supposed' to have been improved.

To say I'm disappointed is an understatement. What also concerns me is that the 1 and 3 series share so much, so will the new F30 feel like this too??? Could I have been sat in a car that's pre-production (what with the seat controls not being labelled)? Were my expectations too high coming from an E91 and being an ex E82 owner? I've also driven a few E87 courtesy cars and thought they were quite good. I don't know.

Yours gutted (with first impressions),
Richard