BMW SOUTH AFRICA CONFIRMS NEW 1 SERIES, HYBRID 5 AND i3 FOR LOCALS

Great news for BMW fans. The company has confirmed that a brand new shape 1 Series hatch is coming to South Africa before the year is over. Additionally a 5 Series Hybrid will make its way to the 2011 Johannesburg International Motor Show (JIMS) happening at NASREC in October. More still, the upcoming full-electric i3 is headed our way, but not before 2015.

Details regarding the 1 Series – internally codenamed F20 – are being closely guarded. However, we know one or two things. One, the range will feature an all-turbo engine lineup. We speculate that it will consist of a 1.6-litre turbo, 2.0-litre turbo and two turbo diesels, including a 2.0-litre. There should be something smaller than a 1.6 as well. The bigger 2.0-litre turbo will even make 180kW in the 128i as it does in the X1 xDrive28i.

The other thing we know is that it will eventually come in five body styles; 5-door hatch first, then 3-door, a convertible, coupe and a sedan model. In fact, the current coupe which BMW launched in Soweto, is being facelifted in 2011. The same will be done for the Convertible.

More news on the blue and white propeller is that a new 5 Series ActiveHybrid model will debut at the 2011 JIMS, probably alongside the new M5, start selling in early 2012. The hybrid (running on both electricity and petrol) is expected to use a similar setup to the 7 and X6 hybrids. It should make a total system output of between 335kW and 358kW. A second BMW hybrid, probably a 3er, will join it at a later stage.

Lastly but not least, the upcoming i3 all-electric small car is a go for Mzansi. BMW says it will be here sometime in or after 2015. The i3 is all carbon fibre in terms of body build and runs on electricity, which means it has no engine at all, but instead uses an electric motor and lithium-ion batteries for power.