derBayerische January/February 2023 - 33

2 0 2 3 B M W 1 1 8 i
■ (From the Left) The BMW hot hatch that we'll never have. Why we like hatchbacks.
T
he rapid recovery of tourist
travel caught that entire industry
by surprise. And the rental
car industry seems to have been
impacted the most. In addition to an
unforeseen surge in demand, the lack
of inventory has resulted in all-timehigh
rental-car rates; especially when
traveling overseas
In Europe, I like to rent vehicles
from SIXT. Not only do they seem to
have the best rates, but they also
seem to carry a more upscale inventory
than the other rental car
agencies. However, for this trip, the
best rate I obtained was THREE
TIMES that of our December rental in
Italy. Nonetheless, when the agent
told me that a new shipment of
vehicles arrived last night and asked
if a new 2023 BMW 118i would do,
of course I said, " yes.
You may recall that we asked for
January I February
such a vehicle during our recent
Roman holiday, but instead were
assigned an Audi A2. Hopefully, you
all enjoyed the article that was
published in the May/June 2022
edition of this magazine. In that
article, I discussed that my attraction
to " hot hatches " was due to my
coming of automotive age and working
on Shelby Dodges during the
1980s. To this day, one of my favorite
cars is the 1986 Shelby GLH-S.
While not as refined as the GTI, the
GLH-S rapidly gained a street reputation
for eating those - and the 1980s
era Mustang, Camaros, Corvettes,
and Firebirds - for breakfast.
Having read nothing but favorable
reviews in European " buff book "
articles about the BMW 1 Series fivedoor
hatchback with the M Sport
package, I was eager to get my rental
vehicle.
I then remembered that I was in
Ireland and this brand-new BMW
118i was right-hand drive. Seeing
how the rental car parking lot exited
on to a freeway, never was I so thankful
for having a vehicle with an automatic
transmission.
After placing my bags in the
rather large rear cargo area, I took the
time to inspect this new 118i.
The exterior design is outstanding.
Looking like a lowered, shortened
X2, the M Sport package adds an
aura of driving excitement. For the
1 Series, BMW incorporated the
" hot hatch " look - which is a direct
contrast to the exterior design of my
Shelby GLH-S, which was an
" econobox " Omni with side cladding,
front air dam, and large " Shelby "
stickers. These enhancements were
(and looked) tacked on.
It's clear that BMW learned a lot
of lessons from the 1998 318ti. In
North America, the 318ti has a very,
very, very loyal owners group. Their
fondness for that vehicle is
admirable. However, what prevented
the 318ti from becoming a North
American sales success was that it
felt like a de-contented BMW.
The vehicle's entry-level price point
eliminated several items that defined
the BMW brand during the 1980s
" yuppie " area. The two-door design
with the shortened rear gave the
product a rather " truncated " look.
With rear-wheel drive and a 1.8-liter
DOHC 16-valve four-cylinder engine,
which produces 138 horsepower at
6,000 rpm and 129 pound-feet of
torque at 4,500 rpm, and the fivespeed
manual transmission, the
318ti very much drove like a proper
BMW.
When the 318ti was launched,
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derBayerische January/February 2023

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