There's nothig wrong with the Series1.
Alllll comes down to your budget - are you going to spend 15k, 20k or 25k (etc) tops?
If say if 15k find a nice S1 and you'll be happy with it. Might score a manual for a cpl$ more.
Say 20, again find a nice S1 and modify it a bit, to suit you. Or buy a nice Series2 and you'll be happy with it.
Say 25k, well you can go ballistic with modifying a nice Series1 and get a very nice 200awkw awd wagon, or slightly modify a nice Series2, to suit you.
Thems the options Id think. Throw in the option of manual to the above, or whatever your budget is (Rs260 )
I took option 3, budget of 30k over 2yrs including car (18k neat S1 a year ago), so it'll have been improved in every aspect of 'refinement' by the time the budgets exhausted. Got 5k to go and am very happy with it as is atm. When I bought it tho I didnt have the extra cpl$ to get a S2 at the time (they were over 26k), although I would have preferred the tiptronic auto, the larger neo turbo and the better front brakes.
Work within your budget and you'll score a sweet Stagea either way.