A quality motor for Fiesta money!

When Top gear (James May) reviewed the 1-series when new in 2004, they concluded the handling, quality and styling good but it was overpriced, cramped inside and underspecced in base trim, and the smaller engines underpowered.

Now some of these comments may be true when new, but a few years down the line the pricing and spec issues no longer apply as you can choose which model you want for much less, and certainly not if your better half (like mine did) upgraded from a 1.4 Peugeot 106 to a 116i Sport.

We purchased our low mileage metallic black 2005 116i Sport through the BMW used approved programme from a Dick Lovett dealership, and we cannot speak highly enough of the experience. Trade in price honoured, car as described (if not better) and not overpriced, with a full tank of juice to get us home (which we hadn't asked for). We have also found the dealership backup for any warranty issues to be superb. In short the ownership experience has been a revelation. (especially Peugeot dealers who in our experience are lazy and expensive with sloppy standards of workmanship)

We secured an ex BMW management car which meant the car had over £2000 worth of options fitted when new, which only served to enhance the quality feel even further. Servicing costs have amzingly proved to be LESS than the little Peugeot and the dealers don't talk down to you like you are the village idiot, and 18 months on, the novelty of owning this quality car has not worn off, and it will be around for a while yet.

Good points - Sublime build quality, fit and finish, 100% reliability, modern crisp styling, good equipment, interior comfort and refinement, polite dealers, affordable servicing, handling superb with lots of steering feel and feedback. Gearbox nicely weighted and precise to use.

Not so good - Combo of previous generation run flats and sport suspension means a firm ride comfort over rough surfaces - rear seat legroom tight - occassional clutch judder when cold - Emmissions quite high for small engine which lacks torque when car loaded up with people and bags.

Absolutely brilliant. I bought the 1.16 M Sport it looks good and drives great. Would strongly recommend it.

The BMW 116i is a good little hatch, great handling and nice to drive. If you have a family then probably a bit small but if you do lots of driving on your own and only occasionally use the other seats then its fine. Engine runs nice and smooth and although not a powerfull hatch it goes well enough. If you want power buy a Golf GTI. A BMW badge and good after sales make this a great buy.

The BMW 1 Series 116i Sports Hatch is a great car. You will enjoy driving it.I deffinatly prefer it to the VW Golf.

Review actually for 120d SE Auto

Probably the most disappointing car I've ever owned. The expected excellent BMW driving characteristics compromised by untrustworthy brakes and gearbox, the traction was poor, especially when wet. The ABS actuated unnecessarily on occasions (5 in 500 miles), these were all during low effort braking manoeuvres in good conditions. The performance was excellent, most of the time; unfortunately some journeys the gearbox refused to change down gear when required, resulting in a potentially dangerous lack of acceleration. Once this problem occurred it would remain until the car was stopped. As I couldn't trust the vehicle in poor conditions, it was hardly used in December and January.

The fuel consumption was excessive for a modern hi-tech diesel, even when I was making a special effort it struggled to better 40 mpg, on journeys of reasonable length using dual carriageways. It didn't take much effort for it to drop to 35 mpg, although the fuel computer was accurate and agreed with my manual calculations. For comparison I used a Rover 75 tourer (also 2.0 diesel auto) and, despite its size, found it more efficient and it also displayed significantly better engine refinement.

The engine noise was too loud and of poor quality, rattling more that a 10 year old 4wd at idle (even warm) and droning noisily at moderate cruising speeds, as if the engine was labouring. The ride quality was dire, the vehicle was constantly fidgeting and never settled down, and on certain surfaces it even seemed to magnify the surface imperfections. This was an SE not Sport model.

The switchgear layout is poor, I'm sure the one touch indicators were designed to confuse and the fog lights were hidden out of sight. I compounded it deficiencies by specifying cruise control, it was near identical to the indicator in form and feel. As it was positioned right next to the (one-touch) indicators this lead to frequent confusion.

I visited the dealer several time to try and sort these problems (some potentially serious), however they were incapable of sorting them. All they were able to do was plug in the diagnostics. Courtesy cars were never available, although they did find an equivalent vehicle for comparison.

I was attracted by the apparently good deals, which now seem to be common. So possibly others have realised these cars don't justify their price tag. This was also confirmed by the poor residual value. I decided to get out of it after 5 months as I couldn't trust it and it had fallen so far short of my expectations. I found that BMW dealers around the country didn't want it as they had a glut of low mileage demonstrators, so it lost 28% of its value in 5 months (worst than Fords in a year).