The 2011 Frankfurt IAA represents the world public debut of the new 1 series hatchback and BMW wasted no space in highlighting the F20 1 series. The new 1 series had its very own feature section, which displayed F20s in nearly all available exterior colors, in standard model, and urban line and sport line models. There was also an M Sport package equipped model.
The exterior colors on display were Alpine White, Crimson Red, Black Sapphire Metallic, Mineral Gray, Glacier Silver, Midnight Blue, and Valencia Orange.
While still a bit of an avant garde design, the F20 was indeed better looking in person, due to the more visible front fascia sculpting. When seeing the F20 in person, the lines and contours which transition the inner headlight into the kidney grilles are much more visible than in photos. Photos often lack the contrast and three-dimension quality and the result is that the lines and contours disappear, resulting in the area between the headlights and grilles appearing flat and expansive. The mineral gray and glacier silver photos below show how the F20's front fascia appears in person - more dynamic and purposeful.
First, we show the Black Sapphire Metallic F20 1 series equipped with M Sport package. The F20 M Sport package comes with the M sport front bumper (which we think balances out the rather large headlights very nicely), side skirts, and rear bumper/diffuser. The wheels are 18" double spoke style 386 wheels, wrapped in 225/40 front and 245/35 rear tires.
The interior was the most impressive part of this F20 M sport. The M sport seats are alcantara with hexagonal pattern and blue contrast stitching, and this theme is repeated throughout the car. The aluminum dash trim also has a hexagon texture and features estoril blue accent strips. The door panel shares the same hexagon pattern as the seats and the door handles match the dash trim's hexagon texture. Finishing off the look is blue contrast stitching on the M sport steering wheel, shifter boot, and handbrake handle.
Also see the rest of our Frankfurt IAA coverage:
- BMW Press Conference
- 2011 Frankfurt BMW Display Hall
- BMW F20 1 Series Performance Study
- F10 M5 Debuts in Alpine White, Moonstone, and Monte Carlo Blue
- BMW 3 Series Coupe/Cabrio Edition Exclusive and M Sport Edition Premier
- X6 M Performance Accessories
- 6 Series BMW Individual
- AC Schnitzer 1M Coupe
- Alpina B6 Biturbo / Hamann 6 Series
