BMW 1 Series review – Practicality & boot space

Practicality is the main reason BMW ditched rear-wheel drive for its family hatchback. Instead, the engine is now mounted sideways – allowing for a shorter bonnet – and with no necessity to send power to the back wheels, the transmission tunnel running the length of the car can be much smaller.

Before the facelift, the result was a car that – despite being similar in size to the one that came before it – boasted more space for passengers and a bigger boot. That’s unfortunately been undone with the facelift, because the mild-hybrid system robs 80 litres of boot space. In the M135, there’s a hump in the floor because of the all-wheel drive system, which impacts foot space for the centre rear passenger.

BMW 1 Series interior space & storage

Space in the front isn’t too much of an issue, with plenty of room for two adults to get comfortable, and enough adjustment in the driving position. You sit a bit higher up than in the rear-wheel drive 1 Series, but that does at least provide a better view out.

While the rear seats of the BMW 1 Series will be fine for children, adults won’t thank you on a longer journey because there’s not a great deal of leg or headroom. Even an adult under six-feet tall will find their knees brushing the seat in front of them, and this problem is made worse in the M135 by its chunky sports seats. There’s an average number of interior storage solutions such as a small opening in the centre console and door bins with space for a small bottle. There are three ISOFIX mounting points in total – two in the outer rear seats and one for the front passenger seat.

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Boot space

The maximum boot space of the BMW 1 Series is 380 litres, which sounds pretty good for a hatchback on paper, beating the Mercedes A-Class and Audi A3 by 25 litres. Sadly, though, that only applies to the hot non-hybrid M135 model. In order to make space for the mild-hybrid system, the standard 120 Sport and M Sport models are limited by a boot capacity of just 300 litres, which is sub-par. 

Lower the seats in the BMW 1 Series and you’ll free up 1,135 litres for the standard 120 model or 1,200 litres in the M135. The boot itself is a pretty good shape and the loading lip isn’t overly high off the ground, but the boot is fairly deep, which might make loading heavy items a strain.