I've got one of these on order. After several years of 'Should I or should I not' and plenty of well-deserved abuse from Fox, I'm finally in the position to justify owning and running a performance car, and boy am I glad I resisted the temptation and waited!
The moment this was announced last year I knew it was going to be something special. I had looked at the 125i M Sport previously which also has a cracking engine but the M135i was the icing on the cake. For those who are unfamiliar, BMW claim 320bhp, 37mpg and 0-62 in 4.9s. (Independent reviews have found 0-60 in 4.5s). That level of performance is frankly awesome for a Hatch and I'm anticipating the running costs will be far lower that what one might expect for such a car.
Being an early-twenty-something I haven't driven a huge amount of performance cars in my life and I don't purport otherwise. However when I test drove this thing it was rapid. It felt ludicrously fast to me. The 6 cylinder engine sounds fantastic and the exhaust growls, bangs and pops in a similar fashion to a JCW. What really surprised me however was the fact you can flick this thing into Comfort mode and you suddenly get a car that's refined, quiet, comfortable and easily capable of hitting mid 30s on the old MPG. It's definitely a Jekyll & Hyde!
So what is the catch? Yes, it's the looks. Despite looking significantly better in the flesh than in photographs, it still is not the best looking car in the world. The MK6 Golf GTI looks far nicer but you know what, I don't really care. I also like the understated, Q-Car appearance. It has all the hints to suggest to anyone looking there's a monster under the bonnet but it isn't over the top and it doesn't scream 'Look at me' like, say, a Focus RS does. I think BMW have got the styling spot on with their recent M Performance and full on M Cars. I did however opt for Estoril Blue which stands out but it really is a fantastic colour!
Finally: THIS IS NOT AN M CAR!
Loads of people have been comparing this to the 1M. The 1M is supposed to be a more-hardcore track car. This is supposed to be a daily-driver that gets you from A to B quickly. The fact that it can keep up with cars like the 1M and even considerably more powerful cars is just a huge credit to BMW.
So anyone else driven one? Opinions/thoughts?
The wait continues
The moment this was announced last year I knew it was going to be something special. I had looked at the 125i M Sport previously which also has a cracking engine but the M135i was the icing on the cake. For those who are unfamiliar, BMW claim 320bhp, 37mpg and 0-62 in 4.9s. (Independent reviews have found 0-60 in 4.5s). That level of performance is frankly awesome for a Hatch and I'm anticipating the running costs will be far lower that what one might expect for such a car.
Being an early-twenty-something I haven't driven a huge amount of performance cars in my life and I don't purport otherwise. However when I test drove this thing it was rapid. It felt ludicrously fast to me. The 6 cylinder engine sounds fantastic and the exhaust growls, bangs and pops in a similar fashion to a JCW. What really surprised me however was the fact you can flick this thing into Comfort mode and you suddenly get a car that's refined, quiet, comfortable and easily capable of hitting mid 30s on the old MPG. It's definitely a Jekyll & Hyde!
So what is the catch? Yes, it's the looks. Despite looking significantly better in the flesh than in photographs, it still is not the best looking car in the world. The MK6 Golf GTI looks far nicer but you know what, I don't really care. I also like the understated, Q-Car appearance. It has all the hints to suggest to anyone looking there's a monster under the bonnet but it isn't over the top and it doesn't scream 'Look at me' like, say, a Focus RS does. I think BMW have got the styling spot on with their recent M Performance and full on M Cars. I did however opt for Estoril Blue which stands out but it really is a fantastic colour!
Finally: THIS IS NOT AN M CAR!
Loads of people have been comparing this to the 1M. The 1M is supposed to be a more-hardcore track car. This is supposed to be a daily-driver that gets you from A to B quickly. The fact that it can keep up with cars like the 1M and even considerably more powerful cars is just a huge credit to BMW.So anyone else driven one? Opinions/thoughts?
The wait continues