BMW 1 Series Rental in Paris

The 1 Series is the smallest car BMW builds, and in Paris that is exactly the point. Rent a BMW 1 Series in Paris and you get the badge and the cabin in a five-door hatch small enough to park on a real city street. We deliver it to your door anywhere in Paris, so there's no queue at a rental desk and no airport detour to pick it up.

Most people booking it are weighing it against a bigger, pricier BMW, and for getting around the city the small one usually wins. It's easier to park and cheaper to run, and you keep the BMW feel. For most trips around town, it's the BMW we'd hand you.

Small enough for the city

BMW moved the 1 Series to front-wheel drive a few years ago. That annoyed some enthusiasts, but it made the car better for exactly this kind of use. The engine sits sideways now, so the nose is short and the car drops into a gap without drama. It's no wider than a Volkswagen Golf, which matters when the only space left on the street is a tight one in the 6th.

You notice the size the moment you turn off a boulevard into the side streets, and it parks like the rest of our compact hatchback range.

An automatic petrol, which is what Paris wants

Every current 1 Series is a petrol automatic, and that's the right setup here. The crawl through the centre and the stop-start traffic on the périphérique wear you out in a manual, while the automatic box just deals with it. It's a recent car, so it carries a Crit'Air 1 sticker and the city's low-emission zone, the ZFE, won't hold you up on a weekday. You can drive into the centre without checking the calendar first.

How much space you actually get

Up front the 1 Series is roomy and the driving position is easy to get right. The back is where you make the trade. It's fine for children, but tight for adults: knees brush the seat in front, and anyone much over five foot nine will find their head close to the roof.

The boot is a sensible size for a car this small, with a low lip, so two people's luggage for a week goes in without a fight. A family holiday's worth does not.

It suits some trips better than others:

• Two people with a week of luggage: easy, with room to spare.
• One or two business travellers who want to arrive in something premium: ideal, and it parks anywhere.
• A small family with young children in car seats: workable, with three child-seat anchor points, as long as no adult has to sit in the back for long.

If you need real space behind you or a big boot, this is the wrong BMW, and you'd be better in the larger 5 Series.

Why pick it over a cheaper hatch

The honest reason is the cabin and the way it drives. Next to a Clio or a 208 the 1 Series feels a class above, in the materials and the way it settles once you're moving. You're paying for the badge and the build, and it isn't cheap, but you get a real BMW rather than a badge on an ordinary car.

It's the entry point to our BMW rental Paris range, below the saloons and the SUVs, so it's the cheapest way to drive the brand for a few days. If size is the only thing pulling you to it, plenty of cheaper hatchbacks do the job. If it's the BMW feel you want, this is the one.

How we hand it over

We bring the 1 Series to wherever you are in Paris, whether that's an apartment, a hotel, an office, or one of the airports. You can pay with a debit card, and you don't put down a big deposit or watch hundreds of euros get held on a credit card the way the exotic-hire firms make you.

Mileage is unlimited, so a weekend out to Versailles or a run down the A6 doesn't add to the bill. We hand it over, walk you round the car, and you're off.