2025 BMW 1 Series gets heavy makeover and new nomenclature

The updated 2025 BMW 1 Series has been unveiled with a significantly refreshed design inside and out, along with a new naming nomenclature.

The new hatchback’s completely restyled front fascia features a radical BMW kidney grille that is a departure from previous designs. Positioned lower and stretched wider, it gives the car a tauter, more aggressive look. The rear has been heavily updated as well, with the taillights and bumper boasting all new design.

Down the side, the trademark BMW C pillar Hofmeister kink now has the number ‘1’ carved into it denoting the 1 Series nameplate. New wheels round up the exterior facelift.

On the inside, the dashboard has been totally revamped with the digital driving instrumentation display and centre infotainment display merging into one single display pane. The steering wheel, air vents and centre console have also been modernised.

The new 1 Series is available with a range of improved 3- and 4-cylinder engines, with the most powerful version pumping out 233kW and 400Nm in the flagship 1 Series M135 xDrive.

It’s not just the powertrains that have been enhanced, the chassis and suspension have also been tweaked to increase rigidity through a revised anti-roll bar, new dampers and updated suspension geometry.

You may notice the ‘i’ missing from the M135 badge. That’s not a typo as BMW is rolling out a new naming convention starting with 1 Series. The ‘i’ is now dropped for all petrol-powered models in order not to be confused with the electric ‘i’ line-up. In the 1 Series case, the updated models are now simply called 120 and M135, for example. This same naming scheme will apply to all future updated petrol models.

Naming for electric models will be simplified as well. For example, the iX1 eDrive 30 will simply be called iX130, while the i5 eDrive 40 will be renamed to i540. Plug-in hybrid models will continue to be post-fixed with ‘e’, similarly diesel models will continue to use the ‘d’ post-fix.