Car Model Guide/ BMW/ 1 Series/ E81

BMW 1 Series 3-door, E81

The three-door, sold only from the 2007 facelift onwards: mechanically identical to the E87, rarer, and no more practical for the compromise.

Overview

The E81 is the hatchback BMW 1 Series, built 2007–2012. 8 standard engines are documented here, each with its own issue list, inspection sequence and price band. Asking prices across the standard range run €2,500–€12,600, and 4 of the 8 carry a risk level of 4 or 5. The cheapest way in is the 116i N43B16 from €3,100, while the 130i N52 is the lowest-risk engine at €6,800, which engine you buy matters more here than which year. Prices are illustrative placeholders rather than a sourced market sample. See the methodology.

BMW 1 Series hatchback (E81) · photo BMW E81 116i Performance by Thomas doerfer · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Body style	hatchback	Production	2007–2012
Platform siblings	E87 hatchback · E82 coupe · E88 convertible	Facelift (LCI)	none

Engine matrix: pre-facelift, 2007–2012

The 8 variants sold before the 2013 facelift. Power and years come from the variant records; prices are illustrative, not sourced.

FilterFuelGearboxRisk ceilingGood buy under8 of 8

Badge↕	Engine	Fuel	Years↕	Power↑	Torque↕	Risk↕	Issues	Price band↕	Good buy↕	Verdict
116d	N47	diesel	2009–2011	116 PS	260 Nm	R4	19	€2,900–€6,000	€3,600	Caution	View
116i	N43B16	petrol	2007–2011	122 PS	160 Nm	R3	17	€2,500–€5,250	€3,100	Buy w/ conditions	View
118i	N43	petrol	2007–2011	143 PS	190 Nm	R3	18	€2,800–€5,800	€3,450	Buy w/ conditions	View
118d	N47	diesel	2007–2012	143 PS	300 Nm	R4	19	€3,300–€7,000	€4,100	Caution	View
120i	N43	petrol	2007–2011	170 PS	210 Nm	R3	18	€3,100–€6,400	€3,800	Buy w/ conditions	View
120d	N47	diesel	2007–2012	177 PS	350 Nm	R4	19	€3,700–€7,950	€4,600	Caution	View
123d	N47S	diesel	2007–2012	204 PS	400 Nm	R4	19	€4,650–€10,200	€5,750	Caution	View
130i	N52	petrol	2007–2011	265 PS	315 Nm	R2	19	€5,350–€12,600	€6,800	Strong buy	View

Engine matrix: facelift / LCI, 2013–2012

The 0 variants sold from the facelift on, priced at a 9% premium over the pre-facelift car.

0 variants from the facelift on, carrying a real market premium of roughly 9% over an otherwise identical pre-facelift car. Variants appearing in both tables were sold either side of the changeover, the build month decides which one you're looking at, not the model year.

FilterGearboxRisk ceilingGood buy under0 of 0

Nothing matches those filters.

Market availability varied by country; check the engine code stamped on the block rather than the badge on the boot. · Compare every engine side by side →

Model-year availability

Which engines were on sale in which year, from the year ranges in the variant records. Availability varied by country.

Variant	07	08	09	10	11	12
116d N47			◐	●	◐
116i N43B16	●	●	●	●	◐
118i N43	●	●	●	●	◐
118d N47	●	●	●	●	●	●
120i N43	●	●	●	●	◐
120d N47	●	●	●	●	●	●
123d N47S	●	●	●	●	●	●
130i N52	●	●	●	●	◐

● full year · ◐ arrives or leaves mid-generation. Years from 2013 in the accent colour are facelift (LCI) cars. Verify the engine code, not the model year.

Rating map, price against risk

Good-buy price plotted against risk level for every standard engine, so the value corner is visible at a glance.

Every standard engine in the chassis, plotted at its good-buy price against its risk level. Cheap and low-risk is the top-left; expensive and fragile is the bottom-right. M cars are excluded, they would stretch the price axis and tell you nothing about the rest.

Buy / strong buy Buy with conditions Caution / avoidLeft is cheaper, up is safer. The top-left corner is where the value is.

Prices across the range

Where the money sits across the whole chassis. Every figure here is an illustrative placeholder, not a sourced market sample.

Every standard engine on one euro axis: the bar spans the 10th to 90th percentile of asking prices, the tick is the median and the green marker is the good-buy figure. M cars are excluded; they sit an order of magnitude above the rest.

Cheapest good buy€3,100116i N43B16

Median good buy€4,100across 8 engines

Dearest good buy€6,800130i N52

Full range€2,500–€12,600P10 to P90

Every standard engine · cheapest first · 130i N52 highlighted as best value

€5k€10kGood buy

116i N43B16€3,100 118i N43€3,450 116d N47€3,600 120i N43€3,800 118d N47€4,100 120d N47€4,600 123d N47S€5,750 130i N52€6,800

at or under the good buy · good buy · median · bar spans the 10th–90th percentile

Chassis-wide issues, every engine inherits these

Faults recorded against the bodyshell and running gear rather than one engine, so every variant on this page inherits them.

Front control arm bushing wearE9x chassis€300–€700

Knocking over bad surfaces, vague or wandering steering, uneven front tyre wear, steering shimmy under braking. The front lower arm bushings are a known wear item on this chassis and go well before the ball joints.

Check: Drive over a rough road at low speed with the windows down and listen. Check the inside edges of the front tyres for feathering.

SuspensionuniversalDetectable at viewingevidence: documented80–150k km

Water ingress and footwell module damage1 Series platform€0–€1,200

Damp or soaked front carpets, a musty smell and fogged windows, and, when water reaches the footwell electronics, failed lights, windows or indicators. Most often the bulkhead scuttle drains block by the pollen filter and overflow into the cabin; perished door membranes and tailgate seals can add to it. Water then attacks the footwell module.

Check: Lift the front and rear carpets and press for damp. Check the boot and spare-wheel well for standing water, and confirm the scuttle drains near the pollen filter are clear.

ElectricalcommonDetectable at viewingevidence: documented60–200k km

Run-flat tyres and kerbed or cracked wheelsE9x chassis€150–€900

Harsh ride, vibration at speed, slow punctures. Stiff-sidewall run-flats transmit impacts straight into the rim, and these alloys crack rather than bend.

Check: Inspect the inner rim edge of every wheel for cracks and hairline splits, not just the face for kerbing. Budget for a set of conventional tyres; most owners switch and the ride improves markedly.

SuspensioncommonDetectable at viewingevidence: documented

Corrosion at the rear subframe and arch seamsE9x chassis€300–€2,000

Bubbling at the rear arch lip, scaling on subframe mounting points and rear suspension components. Age plus road salt. This generation isn't a notorious rotter, but nothing from 2005–2013 is immune in a salted market.

Check: Put it on a lift and look at the rear subframe mounting points and the arch lips from behind. Largely a non-issue on cars from southern Europe, a real one on northern and Baltic cars.

Body & corrosionoccasionalDetectable at viewingevidence: documented

Footwell module (FRM) failureE9x chassis€150–€700

Headlights, indicators, windows, wipers and central locking stop working at once, usually right after a battery change or a jump start. The module's memory corrupts when supply voltage dips. It is the single most common electrical failure on this generation.

Check: Test every window, both mirrors, the wipers, all exterior lights and the central locking before you drive. If any cluster of these is dead, this is why.

ElectricalcommonDetectable at viewingevidence: documented

Rear shock mount wearE9x chassis€250–€500

Knock from the rear over speed bumps, a hollow thump from the boot area. The rubber mounts perish. On hard-used cars the mount can crack the surrounding turret metal, which is a far bigger job.

Check: Lift the boot floor and look at the top of the shock towers for cracking or a lifted mount. Listen for a knock over bumps.

SuspensioncommonDetectable at viewingevidence: documented100–180k km

xDrive transfer case actuator failureE9x chassis€600–€1,200

Grinding or binding at low-speed full lock, 4x4 warning lights, a shudder when manoeuvring. The actuator motor and the transfer case's internal chain wear, especially on cars run with mismatched tyre sizes.

Check: Full-lock circles in both directions in a car park, slowly, listening for binding. Check all four tyres are the same brand and wear, mismatched tyres destroy these.

DrivetrainoccasionalDetectable at viewingevidence: documented120–220k km

Rear trailing-arm and subframe bush wear1 Series platform€150–€500

A knock or clonk from the rear over bumps, a vague or wandering rear end, and uneven rear tyre wear. The rubber bushes in the rear trailing arms and subframe mounts perish and let the axle move. On older cars in salted climates the subframe and its mounts can also corrode.

Check: On a ramp, lever the rear bushes for splitting and check the subframe mounts for corrosion; on the road. Listen for a rear knock and check for even tyre wear.

SuspensioncommonPartly detectableevidence: documented100–200k km

iDrive CCC head unit failureE9x chassis€300–€900

Black screen, rebooting, refusal to read the drive, non-functioning navigation. The early CCC unit's hard drive and mainboard fail with age. Later CIC units are more reliable.

Check: Turn it on and use it for a few minutes: navigation, radio, settings. Reboots during that window are the fault showing itself.

ElectricaloccasionalDetectable at viewingevidence: documented

Coolant expansion tank crackingE9x chassis€120–€250

Coolant smell after a drive, slow unexplained loss of coolant, crusty residue around the tank seams. The plastic tank goes brittle with age and splits, usually at a seam or around the level sensor.

Check: Look at the tank with the engine warm, dried coolant leaves a white or pink crust. Cheap to fix, but it tells you how the car has been maintained.

CoolingcommonDetectable at viewingevidence: documented90–200k km

Unregistered replacement batteryE9x chassis€30–€60

Random electrical faults, warning lights that come and go, a battery that dies again within a year. The car's power management must be told a new battery was fitted. Cheap replacements are routinely fitted without coding, which then overcharges or undercharges the new battery.

Check: Ask when the battery was changed and whether it was registered. A car with a new battery, no registration and a scatter of odd electrical faults usually just needs coding.

ElectricalcommonPartly detectableevidence: documented

Written once against the chassis and shown on every variant page below, so nothing here is repeated 8 times: M cars included, since the bodyshell and electronics are shared.

Buying summary

Our read on the chassis, built on the records above rather than added to them.

Everything true of the E87 applies, and there's less choice: the three-door was never the volume car, so buy on condition and history rather than holding out for a particular colour. The engine and chain questions are the same, and every car here is a facelift car with electric steering on the fours.

Cheapest and dearest in this chassis

The ends of the range by good-buy price. Useful for sanity-checking anything you're quoted.

Lowest entry price

116i N43B16 : from €2,500, risk 3

118i N43 : from €2,800, risk 3

116d N47 : from €2,900, risk 4

Lowest risk

130i N52 : risk 2, good buy at €6,800

116i N43B16 : risk 3, good buy at €3,100

118i N43 : risk 3, good buy at €3,450