not so rare, but who's counting?

[singular]

Spotted an article in the WSJ today with a picture of the "one millionth 1 Series" being unwrapped in Germany "this month".

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...523911540.html

Got curious and did a search and found that BMW announced they had hit one million over a year ago.

http://www.autoblog.com/2010/04/12/b...-series-built/

Guess this puts some context on how rare these beasts actually are.

[pixelblue]

Funny I would have never guessed. Hardly see any on the streets.

[Prof T]

They must be in storage. Don't see many in the Midwest

[yakswak]

I think the various incarnations of the 1-series has been pretty popular in the Eurozone.

[1speedbike]

They're really popular everywhere except the USA. Here, the snobs just buy BMWs and since three is bigger than one, they just jump on the 300 dollar a month 328i leases that dealerships are always offering. Gotta look rich for.. ya know.. showing off... to nobody that cares..

[BrokenVert]

In London I cant walk two blocks without seeing a 1er of some sort either parked on the street or driving. The same goes for the Fiesta.

Both of them are everywhere around here.


Back home in NYC its only 2 or 3 a month.

[Section147]

I'll spot two a month...maybe. And that's if I'm looking real hard.

It's a big reason why I want one!

[MZWIE]

Well. 135's are somewhat rare. When I talk to my German colleagues (and when I visited the Welt) I was told that you will not see coupes or 135's in Germany or for that matter Europe.

[dtwyim]

I have never seen my twin ie
MY 2008 E82 N54 6MT sparkling graphite metallic.

Sorry for

[SPB PELICAN]

Here in New Hampshire I see about 1 every 2 months.

[1SerieStud]

Originally Posted by 1speedbike

They're really popular everywhere except the USA. Here, the snobs just buy BMWs and since three is bigger than one, they just jump on the 300 dollar a month 328i leases that dealerships are always offering. Gotta look rich for.. ya know.. showing off... to nobody that cares..

Huh???

Has it ever crossed your mind that some people actually prefer or need more space?

[kamilS]

i roam the streets of chicago looking for another 1er to join my 1-car wolfpack but have never seen one on the street except back when wheelsto had one as their project car.

[993 911]

1 series went on sale in Europe in '04, not surprising at all. I'd be more interested in knowing the number of 1 series coupes (particularly 135i coupes) sold in the US because I can easily go a week or two without seeing on the road in Portland.

[DARK PHX]

Originally Posted by 1speedbike

Gotta look rich for.. ya know.. showing off... to nobody that cares..

It's funny cause it's true!

[bluephobic(1)]

In a way I'm kind of glad were so rare in the US. I smile everytime im home and someone says something to the tone of "Ohhh you baught the 1 series the "entry" level BMW" my so and so has a new 3 series" hahah dumb america gotta love it Smile and walk away pointless in trying to shed light on the subject bc 3 is bigger than 1 LOL

[1speedbike]

Originally Posted by 1SerieStud

Huh???

Has it ever crossed your mind that some people actually prefer or need more space?

Yes. But its also crossed my mind that every person I talk to who isn't automotively inclined chides me for buying a 1, says shit like "why didn't you just get a 3? Couldn't afford it or something?", doesnt understand why I would ever get an "ugly" 1 series, etc etc. This is in the NYC area where I regularly see shitty 250k houses (an amount of money which would get you a nice house elsewhere, but gets you the equivalent of a 2 bedroom trailer here), with a new 5 series parked out front. All about appearances and looking good. Haven't met a single BMW driver from the more affluent towns around here that even knows what engine their car has, and sometimes how many cylinders that engine even has... They're not enthusiasts around here. They buy for the badge and their logic is that since 300 is a larger number than 100, they are richer and therefore better because their car is apparently "nicer". Why would you get a 1 instead of a 3? Why a C instead of an E? And forget about Mercedes even bringing the A and B class over, no affluent person would be caught dead in one of those!

[P1]

There are a lot of 1-series BMWs in Europe, but not many of them are coupes.

[Dackelone]

Originally Posted by singular

Spotted an article in the WSJ today with a picture of the "one millionth 1 Series" being unwrapped in Germany "this month".

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...523911540.html

Looks like the WSJ is a few weeks late on this news...


BMW AG Leipzig Werk - one millionth car rolled off the line, a white BMW 116d

http://www.1addicts.com/forums/showt...llionth+Series

[Dackelone]

Originally Posted by P1et

There are a lot of 1-series BMWs in Europe, but not many of them are coupes.

...and even fewer of those coupes (over here) are 135i's or even 125i's(128i's)!

Most by far are 120d coupes. Last year BMW has even started to make 118d coupes are well... which are also popular. Of course everyone deletes the model designation of the rear trunk lid.


That is what makes the look on other driver's faces so priceless when you blow them into the weeds with a tuned 135i.



Btw... I think the US sales numbers for the one series is under 1K units per month. Most of that is 135i sales - I believe 60% or so. Excellence magazine use to publish BMW NA's sales figures every few months. I don't think BMW NA releases this info anymore.

[Sinister Crayon]

I'll say for the record that yeah; in Europe you can't go anywhere without seeing a 1'er, but almost without fail they are smaller engined hatchbacks rather than coupes.

Here in the Midwest USA I see a handful of 1'ers every week (I see a bushel of 3'ers daily by the way), but most of them are 128 'verts. Very few are coupes, even fewer are 135's. The only time I know I will see some 135i's other than my own is at Cars and Coffee (on hiatus for the winter though).

The other funny thing is that I've had friends in my car from around this area, and friends from Denver all of whom comment how they pretty much never see a 1-series ever... and in fact one of my friends in from Denver commented that he didn't even know they existed.

[rsjean]

And still no repair manual from Bentley

[DivideBYZero]

Originally Posted by rsjean

And still no repair manual from Bentley

It's a BMW, not a Bentley.