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BMW 1 Series F20/F21 (2011–2015)
Launched as a five-door in September 2011 and joined by the three-door in 2012, the second 1 Series switched entirely to turbocharged engines. Both bodies share engines and servicing: pick your version by the kW output on the registration document. Figures come from BMW documents; anything we could not verify is left out.
Choose an engine
Phase, three or five doors: how to tell
F20 is the five-door, F21 the three-door, which BMW describes with wider doors and frameless windows. Both were built until the facelift BMW presented in January 2015, which brought flatter headlights with standard LED daytime running lights and two-piece L-shaped rear lights. Without those L-shaped rear lights, the car belongs to this first phase. BMW Austria’s January 2013 price list offers every engine in both bodies.
Engine line-up
Petrol: 116i (100 kW) and 118i (125 kW) from 09/2011, 125i (160 kW) in 2012, 114i (75 kW) from 07/2012, six-cylinder M135i (235 kW) in 2012. Diesel: 116d (85 kW), 118d (105 kW) and 120d (135 kW) from 09/2011, 116d EfficientDynamics Edition (85 kW, 1.6) and 125d (160 kW) from 03/2012, 114d (70 kW, 1.6) from 11/2012. xDrive all-wheel drive: 120d and M135i from 11/2012, 118d from summer 2013. Engine codes: 116i N13B16U0 and 118i N13B16M0 (BMW training) · 114i N13 · 125i N20 · M135i N55 · 114d, 116d, 116d ED, 118d and 120d N47N · 125d N47S1 (BMW parts catalogue). No engine change during this phase in the BMW releases consulted: the new-generation diesels arrived with the facelifted 2015 range.
What changed for maintenance compared with the E87
Spark plugs (petrol), fuel filter (diesel) and air filter move to every second oil service, against every third on the facelifted E87; the microfilter is still changed at every oil service. Approved oils per BMW’s handbook: Longlife-01, -01 FE or -04 for petrol, Longlife-04 for diesel. The N13 116i and 118i take 4.7 l at a change, against 4.25 l for the facelifted E87 118i and 120i; the 2.0 diesels stay at 5.2 l. Depending on the engine, the level is read on a dipstick (N13) or electronically. The maintenance need is also stored in the key. The F20 handbook gives no oil-change mileage: the car calculates the due date.