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BMW 1 Series F40 (2019–2024)
The F40 is the first front-wheel-drive 1 Series, sold as a five-door from September 2019 to mid-2024. Find your version by the kW figure on the registration document: the 118i, for example, changed from 103 to 100 kW in November 2020. Figures come from BMW documents and the ADAC catalogue; anything we could not verify is left out.
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What changed compared with the F20
The F40 switches from rear-wheel to front-wheel drive, with transversely mounted engines; xDrive all-wheel drive is fitted to the 120d xDrive and the M135i xDrive. At 4,319 mm it is 5 mm shorter than its predecessor, 34 mm wider and 13 mm taller, on a wheelbase 20 mm shorter; the boot grows by 20 litres to 380 litres (1,200 litres with the rear seat folded). Every engine is a three- or four-cylinder turbo; the diesels add SCR exhaust treatment with AdBlue. Three gearbox types appear: six-speed manual, seven-speed dual-clutch and eight-speed automatic. For maintenance, the handbook describes an electronic oil level measurement read in the vehicle menu, and oil quantities range from 4.25 to 5.5 litres depending on the engine.
Engine line-up and engine codes
Petrol: 118i (103 kW, three-cylinder B38) and M135i xDrive (225 kW, four-cylinder B48) from the September 2019 launch; 116i (80 kW, B38) and 120i (131 kW, B48) from November 2020, when the 118i moved to 100 kW; 128ti (195 kW, B48, front-wheel drive) from November 2020. Diesel: 116d (85 kW, three-cylinder B37), 118d (110 kW) and 120d xDrive (140 kW), four-cylinder B47, from launch; front-wheel-drive 120d (140 kW) from March 2020. Engine codes in the ADAC catalogue: B38A15A (116i, 103 kW 118i), B38A15F (100 kW 118i), B48A20A (120i), B48A20E (128ti, M135i), B37C15A (116d), B47C20B (118d, 120d). BMW UK’s technical data names them differently: B38A15M1 (118i) and B48A20T1 (M135i). No BMW document consulted for the F40 mentions 48-volt mild-hybrid technology: BMW announced it for the 1 Series with the fourth generation in 2024.
Maintenance: what BMW documents
Oil change quantities in BMW’s specification sheets: 4.25 l for the 2019 118i (103 kW), 4.5 l for the 116i and the 100 kW 118i, 5.25 l for the 120i, 128ti and M135i xDrive, 4.8 l for the 116d and 5.5 l for the 118d and 120d. For top-ups the handbook allows up to 1 litre of: petrol — BMW Longlife-12 FE or Longlife-17 FE+, SAE 0W-20 or 0W-30; diesel — BMW Longlife-04 or Longlife-12 FE, SAE 0W-30, 5W-30, 0W-40 or 5W-40. Coolant: BMW LC-18, 50:50 with water. AdBlue (diesels): ISO 22241-1. Due dates are calculated by Condition Based Service and shown in the car; BMW’s regular maintenance covers oil, brake fluid, vehicle check, air filter and cabin microfilter, plus spark plugs (petrol) or fuel filter (diesel). The handbook gives no mileage for the oil service and no period for the brake fluid, which is counted in time: note what the car displays before the appointment.
Production dates
BMW set the worldwide launch for 28 September 2019. The ADAC catalogue dates the end of the series to 06/2024; production of the fourth generation began in Leipzig on 1 July 2024. By the end of June 2024, nearly 443,000 third-generation 1 Series had been delivered.