T

he upmarket mini cars won’t be available in Indonesian showrooms until December but BMW Indonesia has already announced that it began accepting orders for the all-new BMW1 Series on Sept. 12, obviously a marketing tactic intended to heighten (potential) customers’ desire to get their hands on them.

Only an established brand can do this: you are seduced into ordering a car while the demo unit is nowhere to be seen for a test drive.

“We have opened up the opportunity for pre-booking this new model in Indonesia and the first delivery of the units will be in early December 2011,” said Ramesh Divyanathan, President Director of BMW Indonesia, which invited local journalists, including The Jakarta Post, to the BMW Innovation Expo on Keppel Island, Singapore on Sept. 9-10.

The 1 Series featured in the recent Singapore expo is a premium all-new compact five-door hatchback BMW 116i which comes in a Sport Line and an Urban Line with a youthful and sleek look.

The series is the second generation, a major innovation after seven years in the market. On show were two demo units, one a sport model and the other urban.The BMW 1Series is a small family car first introduced to the market in 2004. Other models in the 1 Series are the coupe and convertible known as the 128i and the 135i respectively.

“The new BMW 1 Series is modern, extroverted, sporty and confident, and a symbol of the contemporary, urban lifestyle. I believe that this new model is ideally suited for cosmopolitan cities such as Jakarta, Surabaya or Bandung,” said Divyanathan.

The new BMW116i carrries state-of-the-art 1,600 cc BMW TwinPower Turbo 4-cylinder 1.6 -liter petrol engine technology designed for high performance with improved fuel efficiency.

The two show units were available in the three-day expo for “see and touch” only, and not for a test drive.

While the old model’s drawback is tight rear legroom, the new model has more space. The boot is now bigger, with more space for storage for groceries, luggage and oddments.

The new version is rear-wheel drive, bigger than the older version — 84 mm longer and 17 mm wider, with the wheelbase widened by 30 mm, but the height remains unchanged. The BMW 1 Series is the first model to be offered with Sport and Urban lines. In the small local premium-minicar segment, it will compete with the Volkswagen GTI and the Audi A3.

Of the exterior, the Sport Line model’s front and rear bumpers gleam with elements in high-gloss black, black grille with eight extra-wide kidney grille slats in high-gloss black, black exterior mirror caps, black chrome-plated tailpipe, the Sport logo on the side of the vehicle and 17 inch light alloy wheels.

In the interior, the design features a series of red highlights, such as red chronoscale on the speedometer, red contrast stitching on the sport-leather steering wheel, door sill finishers with the “BMW Sport” logo, car key with red detailing and Dakota leather with contrast stitching.

Reviewers fret about a seat height-adjuster that denies shorter occupants thigh support that spoils an otherwise excellent driving position. The control layout looks good and the free-standing infotainment screen attractive.

The Urban Line features front and rear bumpers with elements in white, a white kidney grille with 12 chrome-fronted grille slats, horizontal bars in white on the front and rear bumpers, the Urban logo on the side of the vehicle, tailpipe trim in matt chrome and 17 inch light alloy wheels.

For the interior, it is provided with door sill finishers with the “BMW Urban” logo, sports-leather steering wheel, car key with white detailing, interior trim in white acrylic glass with matt Oxide Silver accent lines  and modern Dakota leather.

The all-new BMW 1 Series features iDrive with a stand-alone 6.5” high resolution flat screen monitor display. It is equipped with a BMW Radio Professional entertainment system with USB and bluetooth interface.

On the LCD screen the driver and passengers can see information about the car such as the fuel and oil levels, temperature outside the vehicle, and the average speed.

The intelligent car offers the hightech EcoPro mode, which assists economical driving that will eventully reduce the fuel consumption. The mode restricts the maximum output of the air conditioning system and changes sensitivity of the accelerator pedal to ensure more moderate acceleration.

But if you want an aggressive driving style, you can always override the system’s recommendations at any time. The system updates you about your current bonus mileage — kilometers you have saved by driving in EcoPro mode.

The monitor screen offers the driver EcoPro tips on how to drive even more efficiently with moderate acceleration or maintaining constant speed. It also provides you feedback on your driving behavior as reflected in the fuel-consumption history — valuable information that can help you improve your driving style.

Auto stop-start, multiple drive modes including the fuel-saving EcoPro are all good news for environmentally-friendly driving style in a car priced at Rp 529 million off-the-road for Jakarta. Both Sport and Urban Line models carry the same price tag.

For the Sport Line, colors available to choose from are Alpine White, Black Sapphire, Glacier Silver and Crimson Red exterior colors combined with a choice of Dakota leather upholstery in Everest Grey with black highlights, Coral Red with black highlights or Black with red highlights.

While the Urban Line is offered in Alpine White and Mineral Grey, exterior colors with Pearl Grey or Black Dakota leather upholstery.

Facts at a glance

BMW 116i: Four-cylinder in-line petrol engine with BMW TwinPower Turbo technology package, consisting of twin-scroll turbocharger, High Precision Injection, Valvetronic and Double-VANOS variable valve control

Capacity: 1,598 cc, output: 100 kW/136 hp at 4,400 rpm,

Maximum torque: 220 Nm at 1,350 – 4, 300 rpm,

Transmission: 8-speed automatic transmission with Steptronic and auto star/stop function

Acceleration 0 – 100 km/h: 9.1 seconds,

Maximum speed: 210 km/h

Combined-cycle fuel consumption: 17.24 km/l,

CO2 emissions: 134 g/km, emissions standard: EU5

Price: Rp 529 million off-the-road, Jakarta