6:15 pm, August 17, 2011
JAMES BAGGOTT takes the wheel of one of the most exciting M-badged sports cars to date and doesn’t want to let it go
WHAT IS IT?
The closest buyers will get to a reborn E30 M3. This is the pumped-up, low-production-run M car that many fans have been waiting for. With just 450 coming to the UK, exclusivity is guaranteed and tempted buyers need to be quick – BMW say they have already found homes for 300 with most signing on the dotted line before they’d even seen the car in the metal. Allocation is so tight dealers won’t even get a demonstrator.
WHAT’S UNDER THE BONNET?
A fantastic 3.0-litre, inline, twin turbocharged lump that’s packing some serious punch. BMW has squeezed 335bhp and 450Nm of torque out of the unit, but it’s the flat torque curve from 1,500 to 4,500rpm that makes it such a delight to drive with power available whenever you need it. By deploying its Efficient Dynamics principles, the 1M (never M1) can return 29.4mpg and emits 224g/km ensuring it doesn’t fall into the highest tax bracket. But it’s the performance most will be interested in – and that’s staggering: 60mph is dispatched in 4.9s and it’ll hit 155mph.
WHAT’S THE SPEC LIKE?
Impressive, but then buyers expect that when they’re shelling out £40k on a 1 Series. There’s a bespoke interior and lashings of exterior design details such as 19-inch wheels, dual chrome tail-pipes and bi-xenon headlights. There are only three colour options though: Orange, black or white.
WHAT’S IT LIKE TO DRIVE?
Awesome. The car is essentially an M3 chassis with a 1 Series body grafted on top so all the handling dynamics learnt with the bigger car are transferred. The car is staggeringly quick and the engine is extremely flexible, pulling hard in pretty much any gear. The rear-wheel-drive set-up is as a sports car should be – full of feedback and lairy when required. Our only complaint would be it’s a little too quiet inside. A good opportunity for sports exhaust upsales perhaps.
WHAT DO THE PRESS THINK OF IT?
Andrew Frankel writing in The Sunday Times said it ‘returns the M badge to the territory of the original M3’ but concluded the Porsche Cayman still has ‘the edge’. Meanwhile, Autoblog said it ‘harked back to great hot M cars of the past’.
WHAT DO WE THINK OF IT?
M cars lost their way a little with the bulging X5M and X6M, but purists can once again rejoice that BMW’s tuning arm is back to its best. The 1M is a brilliant car to drive, looks stunning and would be our choice over a Porsche Cayman. Our only complaint would be a steering wheel that’s a little too chunky and the lack of aural delights that should come as standard with an M car. Neither of which would stop us buying one though.
