The STUNNING Rs 15-lakh BMW 1 Series soon in India

German car maker BMW's first hatchback offering -- the new 1 Series -- will be unveiled this September.

Developed on the same platform as the 3 Series, the new 1 series has been codenamed as F20.

The details including images were released recently.

The 1 Series has hatchback, coupe, and convertible body styles.

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The small car, which will be available in India, will be both three-door and five-door versions.

Reports suggest that once the BMW 1 Series comes to India it is going to be priced somewhere in the range of Rs 14 lakh to Rs 15 lakh (Rs 1.4-1.5 million).

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Initially BMW 116i and the cheapest diesel version 116d are expected to arrive followed by the frugal 116d ED.

Once in place, BMW 1 Series will offer car buyers an option against Ford Focus, Volkswagen Golf, Mercedes-Benz A-Class and Audi A1.

All these cars are, however, unavailable in India now.

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Based on the initial information available, let's talk about the features of the BMW 1 Series that would woo Indians.

Specifications

In order to make the 1 Series roomy besides making it more stable at high speeds, the dimensions of the new 1 Series have been extended.

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With the new dimensions, the 1 Series has 20mm more legroom and around 10 per cent more luggage space inside.

The 1 Series is powered by four cylinder engine except the 130i which has six cylinders. Similarly, all the 1 series cars have 2L engines except for 130i which has a 3L engine under the bonnet.

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The engine line up for India is expected to be two petrol engines and three diesel versions.

Petrol driven 116i has a maximum output of 136bhp, the 118i has 170bhp at the same rpm.

On the other hand the diesel version base model 116d outputs 116bhp, the 118d is a 143bhp car while the 120d outputs 184bhp.

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The 130i has the highest maximum output of 258hp at 6600 rpm in the entire series.

It is also a possibility that BMW will bring in the 116d ED diesel engine that has a sub-100 g/km CO2 emission.

The 116d ED engine outputs 116bhp and has only 99g/km CO2 emission with 27 km/l mileage.

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The suspension of the 1 Series uses more aluminum making the car sturdy and light in weight.

All the BMW 1 Series cars are rear wheel driven and come with a six speed transmission gear box.

The 130i wins the speed test with a top speed of 250 km/hr while the petrol and diesel cars have a top speed of 200 km/hr to 238 km/hr.

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The five-door 116i takes 9.8 seconds to catch 100 km/hr speed while the diesel 116d reaches the mark in 10.2 seconds all beaten by 130i that zooms to 100 kmph in just 6.1 seconds.

Reports have also come in that BMW is in the process of making its 1 Series more frugal with the introduction of 1.5-litre, three-cylinder turbocharged engines in petrol and diesel.

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These engines will be for the first time mated with ZF eight-speed automatic box.

The 1 series shares various components such as MacPherson strut front and multi-link rear suspension with the 3 Series.

The powerful models are expected to be introduced later.

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The new BMW 1 series is the newest creation of design chief Adrian van Hooydonk who has been recently elevated as the group design head.

Among other design changes, the bonnet has been further extended to make it more prominent by pushing the cabin back.

The front has a new look akin to the new concept. The kidney shaped grille has been reworked slightly and have been brought forward a bit.

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The headlamps add new texture to the front styling by being slightly sunken.

The shoulders are more prominent as compared to the old model and the tail lamps have been placed at the extreme rear end.

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BMW's Efficient Dynamics takes form in 1 series as well.

Automatic start stop function, gearshift indicator, low friction tyres, brake energy for battery recharge, power save modes besides and cruise control are some of the things to look for in the 1 series.

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Besides, 1 Series also has parking assist, night drive assist, lane drive assistance and collision warning systems.

All standard models of 1 series come with iDrive and digital display screen.