BMW’s new baby zeroes in on Fiesta

The real thing?

How can it be a BMW without rear wheel drive? Whatever happened to the "ultimate driving machine"? I'm disappointed. BMW are lowering their standards to make a quick profit!

By Starrchild on 5 November, 2009, 12:48pm

EU reg's killed the Petrol Head

Headline says it all really.
If you have a new M5 on the horizon that pumps out over 250g/CO2 per Km you need a little econobox to compensate.

Our future is looking very bleak ladies and gentlemen.
Battery cars that after 2 years will only hold a quarter of their charge.
Higher Electric bills because the government forced 'Average Joe' to buy EVs because of inflated taxes on normal internal combustion motorised vehicles. So power station's will have to work harder to meet our energy demands and pass that cost onto us.
So called 'supercars' that will push out less than 300hp in fear of being penalised by the EU.

I don't know what the EU's game is but this B.....d child of a BMW is the Ultimate Diving machine's future. Best go by a KIA because it will drive no different.

Why is the motorist and motor companies being hit on in the great big Eco-drive. Transport contributes approx only 25-30% of our Global 'Carbon foot print'. So Why is the EU not doing anything about the other 70%?

By W00DZ on 5 November, 2009, 2:17pm

Unnormal

What is BMW today? Audi isn't really premium brand, but Mercedes - yes. BMW Mini. MinimumMini etc. Sick...

By Depp1 on 5 November, 2009, 2:42pm

Great Look

After the ugly 1 series, 7 and the new 5 humpback and the possibility of 3 humpback as well, the look of this 0 series is refreshing and very BMW. Love it. I will buy this just for it's look.
Great to see BMW can design good looking cars again (sometime).

By carrlam on 6 November, 2009, 1:25am

Not bad looking but very wrong!

Ultimate driving insult, why would you buy one doesn't say life didn't work out as planned, can't afford a 3 series. Better off buying the cheaper Fiesta, that says you want quality and value but you are not tring to be something you are not.

If you want power, performance, inovation and a premium badge then buy a Jag, a brand that only sells premium sports cars and luxury cruisers, not little chav machines to make a few bob extra. Nice looking car, but £16k front wheel drive super mini, a seriously bad move from BMW

By Focus_your_mind on 7 November, 2009, 12:23pm

Not bad looking but very wrong!

Ultimate driving insult, why would you buy one doesn't say life didn't work out as planned, can't afford a 3 series. Better off buying the cheaper Fiesta, that says you want quality and value but you are not tring to be something you are not.

If you want power, performance, inovation and a premium badge then buy a Jag, a brand that only sells premium sports cars and luxury cruisers, not little chav machines to make a few bob extra. Nice looking car, but £16k front wheel drive super mini, a seriously bad move from BMW

By Focus_your_mind on 9 November, 2009, 10:21am

Not bad looking but very wrong!

Ultimate driving insult, why would you buy one doesn't say life didn't work out as planned, can't afford a 3 series. Better off buying the cheaper Fiesta, that says you want quality and value but you are not tring to be something you are not.

If you want power, performance, inovation and a premium badge then buy a Jag, a brand that only sells premium sports cars and luxury cruisers, not little chav machines to make a few bob extra. Nice looking car, but £16k front wheel drive super mini, a seriously bad move from BMW

By Focus_your_mind on 10 November, 2009, 9:17am

"B"udget "M"otor "W"orks

Ok fine, it doesn't look half bad, but... I have to echo some of the thoughts posted above: BMW is all about driving dynamics. How on earth are they going to deliver the ultimate drivers car using a front wheel drive chassis?

"What about the Mini?", some may ask. A Mini is a Mini. They may be built by BMW but a Mini doesn't carry a BMW badge, This is a deliberate ploy by BMW to identify Mini as a psuedo-seperate brand and it works, damn well. So why do BMW need to move down market? Well, to be frank they don't. This car will carry a price premium over its rivals because it carries a BMW badge. This will probably bring it into the same price sector as the Mini. So ask yourself this, which would you buy? Most probably it'll be the Mini. Nuff said...

By sgtgrash on 12 November, 2009, 11:47pm

Hmmmmmmmm.............

To be honest, I'm not sure about this one. Front end is straight off the 1 Series which may not be a bad thing but I'm not convinced about the "0 Series" profile or rear end. I'm not sure about it being badged the "0 Series" either although it does squarely indicate where the range sits, in between the 1 Series and the MINI, but it seems to me to be pretty pointless. I always thought the 1 Series was the natural step up from the MINI, a "0 Series" seems to me to be a bit superfluous.

By nick7 on 22 December, 2009, 5:41pm

Superb!

At last BMW have designed a superb looking car! Why has it taken so long? I can't wait to see the five door version, but I am woried that this may be another Autoexpress prank - where they show us a great design then the manufacturer releases something totally bland.

By raylat on 19 January, 2010, 9:01am

Back looks better than front !

By SurreyVulture on 19 January, 2010, 3:58pm

Market Forces v Sacred Ideals

Top-end gas guzzlers are going to be dead in the water and people like BMW and Mercedes and Audi cant rely on the sales of them to keep them afloat. How many S8s or 7 Series or Phaeton etc do you actually see on the roads compared to the lower spec models... hardly any... and do you know why? They make no sense to own thats why. The day of the bloated, fat-cat, über-saloon is dead.

BMW are just playing to market forces, I think 'O' looks good, opens a market for them – I rather buy that than a Fiesta.

So stop whining on about the death of a sacred brand and the supposed devils spawn that is front wheel drive - and as for 'ultimate driving machine', thats just an advertising tagline, if you truly believed that, you'd be driving a ferrari, not a rep-mobile bimmer. The world has changed (temporarily at least), suck it up - your day in the sun is over.

By Neillo10 on 2 February, 2010, 10:13am

don´t worry...

fear not my rear wheel driving friends!Remember,it´ll use the mini platform and as such,it shall be as rewarding to drive!I´ve driven a first gen mini and it felt like a bimmer in every way!(except for that huge gear knob that has the size of a pumpkin...),so I´ll be waiting for this one!
but please,tell that BMW dutch designer to pen something that has some macho looks,not the likes of recent z4 or 5 series...

By Bubuxxl on 16 February, 2010, 7:36pm

3Deuce27

Love the design and the package size.... just wish it were RWD

By 3Deuce27 on 9 March, 2010, 8:40am

I like it.
Thank the Lord Chris Bungle has gone.
BMW's can return to stylish design and not "The Emperors New clothes" attitude to whats stylish.

By toycollector on 9 March, 2010, 11:30am

Looks ok, but the estimated price tag screams rip off.

A pretty reasonable looking design, tidy and retains the BMW family look and pricing but not the key principals behind what the brand used to state repeatedly in an effort to distinguish their products.

After all, BMW started life manufacturing pots n pans before taking on cars, as far as I'm concerned, can go back to making them. - But then I guess the cost of food will go up because it's been ...'cooked in a BMW'.

I don't know if it has been noticeable to anybody else, but in general the labelling German brand products, seems to be getting noticeable louder and brasher, something I've noticed with other items other than cars.
German design used to be all about subtlety and the engineering content hidden away that made it perform what it was designed to do well.

It seems to me it resembles the "Made In Japan" stickers the big multi-national Japanese brands used to employ by applying them to all their electronic products, convincing the consumer it was a quality item, worth the price and yet another reason not to buy Korean or Taiwanese made products. When the likes of Samsung, LG and others started to turn a corner in the their ideas and manufacturing quality, popularity grew and the Japanese brands had to do something to protect their years of actual investment of the honest brand ideologies when they first formed.
After they must have carried out some brand market research, the label was applied to anything and everything to continue their justification of a price hike and for the 'greed is good, let's claw back lots of money' to start taking effect.

Isn't BMW doing the same thing by introducing this car?

The more corporations trying these marketing stunts, the more acceptable it becomes to other brands to start applying the same way of thinking, consequently everything gets more expensive.

Isn't it time now, with the Credit Crunch as the perfect chance to start resetting all the ridiculous price bubbles everywhere and to take a stance against this advertising malarkey that they've been using to con the public?

It's not as if the worker is getting any more to ensure he/she is given an incentive to continue working towards a better product.
With cheap credit no longer in place, who bears the brunt?

By TomTom on 10 March, 2010, 2:31pm

A sub-1 series model that costs just as much?!!

I'm assuming these pictures are just a computer generated knock-up from existing 1 series bits and the eventual model may not look anything like this? But if it does, its good to see designs at BMW are improving since the departure of that over-rated talentless farce Bangle.
Shame about the pricing as no matter how good the car is, I won't be paying close on 20 grand for a supermini with the usual BMW lowly standard equipment list.

By gavsmit on 11 March, 2010, 9:00pm

Let's wait for the real thing before passing judgment

I've owned three BMWs and, while they were relatively low in their respective model ranges, they drove well and had a feel of quality about them. The "ultimate driving machine" tag is just an advertising tagline.
I've since owned a nippy Focus and now a MINI and I'd happily punt either of them down a twisty road and gain as much enjoyment as in a Beemer. I've also been able to go out in the recent ice and snow without looking like Bambi on a frozen lake, which is the curse of rear-wheel drive.
If the design of the 0-series (change the name please BMW) is similar to your artist's impression, it'll be a handsome car and certainly better looking than the equivalent new Audi.
If it's well-built, drives as well as a MINI and gets the dealer care for which the BMW brand is renowned, I'd certainly consider buying one.

By snappyuk on 13 March, 2010, 1:05pm

The Ultimate Torque-Steering Machine

They could call it the Maxi if they wanted, they do own the name

By davetst on 18 March, 2010, 9:46am

Looks like a 1 Series

Your image looks more like a 1 Series. If you are trying to give some idea on what it may look like, i would suggest some concept sketch from a reliable source rather than conjuring up a design idea of your own.

By f1moh on 24 March, 2010, 10:08am

At Last!

A nice looking BMW! I'm truly surprised considering what all the current BMW's look like. Hope it look like this when it comes to the show room.

f1moh It looks nothing like a 1 Series, it's aesthetically pleasing to look at for a start and doesn't resemble a shoe on wheels.

By EssexFish on 25 March, 2010, 10:43am

Great - BMW getting ready for the merger?

The car looks great and quite follows in the same design line as the new Opel- Fords, with a couple of low cost Renault engines and built in Graz by Magna with cheap OEM parts from east Europe it should be a great seller at under EURO 12,000 starting price.

By vandenplas4litre on 25 March, 2010, 3:22pm

Much better looking than dog-ugly 1 series

I like the look of it and would seriously consider buying one. Nice to see a good looking BMW again after 5+ years of ugly ones such as the current 1 and 3 series. Small cars are the way to go.

By djvernon36 on 31 March, 2010, 7:10am

BMW Own Goal

I think its an own goal from BMW as it will hit the 1 series, I also think that the pricing will let it down as it will fill a strange space i.e. its not quite a 1 series, but not a Fiesta, its hard to see where it fits in or the market size.

It will also take sales off the Mini and may be this is the idea, lower the cost of the main mini brand whilst offering the mini coup at a higher price and make these the "modern" version of the Mini accounting for the Mini styling being quite specific and more than a bit limited. It would mean the mini could be very much more mass market - problem then is its been pinned by the DS....it will be interesting to see what the sales are like and what effect they have on the mini sales...that will be very interesting.

That said, I think BM are going to merge, PSA or I still think Ford/BMW could be on a runner.

By North on 2 April, 2010, 3:47pm

Bob Lewis

Wow! - the best looking Beemer for 10 years. Probably because it looks like an Opel / Vauxhall (apart from the grill, obviously.)

By robertcglewis3 on 27 April, 2010, 3:20pm

The Ultimate Torque-Steering Machine vs "Metro" Prime - (Bungle Bangles Flame Grill remix)

"They could call it the Maxi if they wanted, they do own the name..."

ROFLMAO

Cue a wealth of Austin/Rover put downs ;)

By sgtgrash on 29 April, 2010, 10:47am

Shame About The Name

Styling, 10/10. Name, 0/10. 0-Series?. Is that Nought Series, Nil Series, Nothing Series, Zilch Series, Owh Series?. Just call it a 1-Series.

By LANMAN on 11 June, 2010, 12:55pm