2010 BMW 1-Series

• Overall
• Prices
• Performance
• Exterior
• Interior
• Safety
• Reliability

Exterior - What the Auto Press Says

Reviewers are torn about the appearance and styling of the BMW 1-Series. Although some think the car looks sharp and edgy -- particularly with the top down -- a few outspoken critics think that shrinking the 3-Series to make the 1-Series is an experiment gone wrong.

• "Its compact dimensions, strongly creased character lines and taut surfacing can be jarring from some angles and certainly won't be to everyone's taste, but they do provide the new two-door with an alluringly muscular appearance that expresses its sporting aspirations." -- Edmunds
• "It looks great, hardly like the baby, entry-level BMW that it is." -- Boston Globe
• "You might have to see it in person to appreciate it fully, but there's something instinctively right about the way a 1 Series or 3 Series looks with the top down that makes the others look a little awkward from certain angles." -- Cars.com
• "It doesn't look cheap or cut off or bandaged.Every major part of the car, the nose, the bodyside, the roof and the rear end, blends beautifully with the rest of the car to make a shorter, narrower version of the 3 Series with a different and special roofline." -- New Car Test Drive
• "While the front of the 1 Series remains true to BMW, sloping down into a frown, the sides look sucked in and hollow. Puddles of excess material gather at the bottom of the doors like curtains too long for the window, and the roof bubbles up like a piece of Muenster under a broiler." -- Detroit News