2012 BMW 1-Series leaks ahead of Frankfurt

The 2012 BMW 1 Series - bigger and sharper

The 2012 BMW 1 Series isn’t due to debut until the Frankfurt Motor Show, but plenty of details and loads of photos have leaked out today.

It’s not as if we haven’t been expecting the 2012 BMW 1-Series to turn up any time soon. We have. But as it’s not due to bow in until the Frankfurt Motor Show in September we didn’t expect much of substance just yet.

But then the heap of photos we have and the snippets of information haven’t come from BMW, but from the German motoring press who we assume have them under embargo against a soon-to-arrive launch date. Which we guess BMW will now bring forward a tad.

Thankfully, the 2012 1 Series looks to be a sharper beast than the current model. The nose is much more confident and the headlights are surprisingly large, against recent trends.

The 2012 1 Series grows a bit too – as every generation of cars seems to – and is 85mm longer than the current model with a luggage space ten per cent larger as a result. That longer wheelbase (25mm) will also see some extra room for passengers and the back should be a little less snug than the current 1 Series.

It seems the big news is a new petrol engine. The current obsession with economy has seen car makers focusing on making high efficiently turbo diesels as powerful and economical as possible, rather to the detriment of petrol engines which seem to have been forgotten in Europe.

But BMW are rectifying that by offering an all new 1.6 litre four-pot petrol in the new 1 Series in two flavours – 134bhp in the 116i and 168bhp in the 118i. There will also be a 250bhp petrol lump later on.

Diesel engines will be three variations of the 2.0 litre with either 114bhp, 141bhp or 181bhp. Economy varies between 48.7mpg and 65.7 mpg thanks not just to efficient engines but the incorporation of lots of BMW’s EfficientDynamics gubbins like stop/start and regenerative brakes.

All the new 2012 1-Series models will have the option of either a six-speed manual ‘box or BMW’s very good eight-speed auto.

The 2012 BMW 1-Series may not be scheduled to debut until Frankfurt in September, but after this much detail – and this many photos – it seems likely BMW will bring forward the official information.

Within days, we reckon.