BMW 125i Coupe Car Review

Facts At A Glance
Car: BMW 125i Coupe range
Prices: £23,425-£25,080 - on the road
Insurance Group: 16
Emissions: 190g/km
Performance: 0-60mph 6.1s / Max speed 152mph
Fuel Consumption: (urban) 24.8mpg / (extra urban) 47.9mpg / (combined) 35.8mpg
Safety: Twin front, side & head airbags, ABS, DSC
Dimensions: Length/Width/Heightmm 4360/1748/1408

CLASS OF THE FIELD

Our Rating: 6.9 / 10

BMW’s 125i may look a little odd but it’s business as usual when it comes to making its rivals appear second rate. Andy Enright reports…

Compromise isn’t a dirty word as far as the BMW 125i Coupe is concerned. It’s quick enough for most, comes with a manageable price tag and is even reasonably practical. If you can live with the wilfully unorthodox styling, it’s a car that has a lot to offer the enthusiast driver.

If you’re much younger than about 30 years of age, you’re probably wondering why many BMW fans get so dewy-eyed over the old E30 generation BMW 3 Series. The last of the really square baby Beemers, this car is revered by many. These same aficionados are now getting quite excited over the BMW 1 Series coupe, seeing it as a reincarnation of many of the values preserved in the hallowed E30. Of course it’s a far more modern car with all that entails, but in the 125i Coupe, BMW has produced a car with some real old-school appeal.

Like all the best BMWs, there’s the 50:50 weight distribution, derived from the classic engine at the front, drive to the rear layout. Then you have a great engine, a simple, driver-focused cabin and a playful chassis. The closer you examine the car, the more you come to the conclusion that BMW has worked hard to meld the best aspects of old and new.

You used to know where you stood with BMW badging. A BMW 325i was a Three Series with a 2.5-litre engine. Sometime in the early Eighties, BMW started to get into the habit of fudging this issue. The 125i Coupe uses similar sleight of hand to disguise the fact that under the bluff front end, there’s not a two and a half litre lump. Instead there’s a rather high-tech 2,996cc piece of plumbing that will generate 218bhp. In a car this small, that’s a lot of power. True, it’s somewhat dwarfed by the 306bhp 135i range topper, but it’s still enough to catapult the 125i to 60mph in just 6.1 seconds and on to a top speed of 152mph. Do you really need to go much faster?

The car rides on double-joint spring strut suspension at the front and a five-link arrangement at the rear, chosen to leave the maximum degree of adjustability available to the chassis engineers. Big power like this in a compact rear wheel drive car is a recipe for big fun but also for the odd hairy moment. With this in mind, BMW’s DSC dynamic stability control is standard and the two more gutsy engines get DSC+, which includes various addi

From the A-pillar forwards, the 1 Series Coupe looks ostensibly similar to the more familiar hatchback car with the bumper jutting forward from the plain of the grille and headlamps. Below, the air intakes are more aggressively shaped and as you progress back down the car’s length, the differences become more pronounced. The booted outline of the car owes more to the 3 Series Saloon and Coupe than the 1 Series. The car is 133mm longer than the hatchback that spawned it and the sharply angled windscreen, along with the protruding rear, emphasise this. Beneath the boot lid, which is drawn up into a subtle spoiler, the available space is measured at 370 litres, that’s 20 litres up on the hatch and there’s a 60:40 split rear seat to add a little of the hatchback’s practicality.

The interior will hold few surprises for existing BMW owners. The high quality materials and solid construction always impress and it’s this general classiness that makes it all feel special rather than any stand-out detailing. The major controls for the entertainment and ventilation system are confined to a panel ahead of the gear lever and the rest of the stuff you need is clustered on or around the steering wheel where it’s simple to access on the road.

Plump for the 125i Coupe and you’re faced with a choice of two trim levels. The starter point is represented by the £23,425 SE model and while this remains a very well equipped car for the money, it’s hard to see that many buyers being able to resist the extras served up by the £25,280 M Sport derivative. This adds 18-inch alloy wheels, sports seats and a body styling kit and really gives the 125i Coupe a bit of attitude.

Despite the punchy performance and sports car dynamics served-up by the 1 Series Coupe, the car is still being positioned as an entry-point to the sportier side of BMW. Targeted at younger buyers who may otherwise have gravitated towards the current crop of performance coupes or premium performance hatchbacks, the 1 Series