Spy Shots: BMW 1-Series Five-Door

The BMW 1-Series three- and five-door have always ranked fairly high on the “European cars we wish were sold stateside but aren’t” list. Our hope that the 1er will make its trip over in hatchback form has been renewed with these photos of a five-door variant zipping around Deutschland.

Based on the bigger wheels, brakes, and dual exhausts, it looks like this prototype may be a sport version of the 1, possibly featuring the N55 turbocharged straight-six that currently resides under the 2011 135i and 335i. It may also feature a much-rumored triturbocharged (!) inline-four.

Look for a debut in 2011, possibly in Geneva, and a showroom arrival sometime in 2012.

Scroll down for comments from our spy shooter.

Last week we showed you the very first photos of the three-door version of the upcoming BMW 1-series, and now its time for the latest photos of the five-door, here in the turbo version. We have seen the five-door version before, but as time and testing goes by there are always smaller changes to the camouflage showing new details and parts. Rumors around the engine in this turbo version are that there could be a tri-turbo petrol four-cylinder engine or the N55 6-cylinder twin-scroll turbo engine. Let’s just wait and see.