BMW 1 Series 128ti 2021 UK first drive

BMW’s iDrive retains plenty of solid-feeling physical controls, and elements such as the leather airbag cover, contemporary plastic finishes and red stitching leave several notable rivals feeling dreary. Even the Golf GTI feels one or two notches below the mark set by the 128ti, and – hallelujah – BMW has even supplied some deliciously simple digital instrument dials to replace the unclear sidewinders found on every other 1 Series. Pray it catches on.

However, you will also notice that there’s no traditional gearstick, and that’s because the 128ti is offered solely with an Aisin eight-speed torque-converter automatic gearbox. BMW claims the gearing for any manual would have had to have been overly long for emissions tests and that market research shows that uptake would be minimal. There’s probably truth in those statements, but the fact is that the 128ti purports to be a ‘proper’ hot hatch, yet you can’t have it with three pedals. And in light of that, you might be left wondering just how ‘proper’ it can be.

Well, in some respects, it’s very proper indeed; and in others, a little underwhelming. First, BMW has been brave with this car, nailing its colours to the mast in the form of the passive dampers. Should the chassis feel too soft on back roads, there’s no push-button rescue service to raise the level of control. Equally, if BMW’s set-up feels like skateboarding down cobbled streets when you’re on the motorway, that’s your lot.

Fortunately, an unusually fine balance has been struck. And while there’s some low-speed jostle that can sometimes feel only just the right side of punishing (please, stick to the 18in alloys), once you’ve got some speed up and begun to work the dampers, the 128ti flows with what could be called ‘forgiving poise’.

It’s almost exactly the blend of comfort and control that I want in a hot hatch: serious enough that the car immediately feels lean and toothy and capable enough to deal with Britain’s frequent crests and troughs without making your heart skip a beat, but also compliant enough to live with daily.

Overlaid on this is the revised steering, the gearing for which is measured without ever feeling ponderous. It’s a world away from the frenetic rack in the Renault Mégane RS, although still crisply responsive around the dead-ahead and, thereafter, more convincingly weighted than that of the Golf GTI. (It’s best left in Comfort mode; Sport is too artificially heavy.)

Its overall effect is to give the 128ti an enjoyable sense of dimension-shrinking precision, which is gratefully received in the era of hatchbacks almost as wide as an early Lamborghini Countach.

As for the engine, it’s more effective than engaging. The B48 2.0-litre is now well known, its undersquare design packing a uniformly powerful, if slightly laggy, punch that does plenty to push you forward from 2000rpm upwards but little to pull on your heartstrings. It’s well-matched to the gearbox, though, whose shifts are crisp and, in Sport mode, theatrically forceful.

So, steering, ride and powerplant: all are good or good enough. This leaves the stage set for that vaunted ti-unique handling to shine. Which it does, in parts, but not blindingly so. Damp patches on drying roads possibly don’t help, but the promised adjustability didn’t easily materialise.

There are hints this thing can play. Mid-corner, its nose responds acutely to the throttle closing, and it’s balanced enough that it will indulge being flicked through challenging direction changes at truly exciting speeds. But you might struggle to summon the commitment needed to really get the chassis going, which isn’t true for, say, the ever-exuberant Ford Focus ST. The 128ti majors on neutrality. It never feels especially keen to adopt any yaw on the way into corners, and while the differential is predictable, it isn’t as effective as you might expect on the way out.

Yes, there’s a fair amount of torque steer if you’re lead-footed, although more fundamentally, outright grip often feels limited. Depending on your expectations, it means that, when driven hard, the 128ti can frustrate as much as it can impress. 

(PS – You might get more out of the LSD, both in terms of traction and precision, with a more serious tyre. BMW has elected to use Michelin's very capable Pilot Sport 4, but the truly superb 4S would elevate the package).