Tremendous performance, rear drive hilarity
Tight rear space, options pricing a bit stiff
The five year course of the first generation BMW's 1 Series saw the introduction of three impressive hot hatches. The first was the 130i, an old-school rear-drive sports car, but with a hatchback body and 180kW from a straight six.
Then came the two door, turbocharged 135i Coupe and finally, the completely bananas 1M. This left the new 1 Series with a hard act to follow, while also having to keep a respectful distance from the M3.
Has the M135i achieved both of these things?
BMW M135i Overview
The M135i sits atop the five door range at $64,900, a decent chop out of its original price when launched around 18 months ago. It has recently been joined by the 2 door version, the M235i, which has more power, standard adaptive suspension and a very stiff $80,000 price tag.
You can only have your M135i in five door form and there's a choice of eight-speed automatic or the no-cost option six speed manual.
BMW M135i Interior
The M135i is largely stock 1 Series, but with some handy reminders you're in the quick one. There's some M badges scattered around and an M steering wheel with a lovely chunky rim and slim spokes. Sport seats are standard and hold you in nice and tight once you've pumped up the adjustable bolsters.
The rear seats are a bit flat in all directions, unfortunately, meaning a strong grip is required for back seat riders when the driver is in an enthusiastic mood.
There's a big 8.8-inch screen with sat-nav, a Harmon Kardon stereo, dual zone climate control, bluetooth and USB. The seats are trimmed in leather and the dash has some nice aluminium-look inserts on the dash and doors.
Rear seating is okay for two adults and a squeeze for three, but it is roomier than its E87 predecessor, with better head and leg room as well as a larger boot.
BMW M135i Exterior and Styling
The 1's, er, challenging looks are much improved with the M bodykit and on our test car a dazzling shade of orange that makes you forget about its frumpy visage. The 19-inch alloys are very attractive and lift what is otherwise a pretty ugly car (facelift on the way, thank goodness).
Our car was also fitted with the Active LED headlights which look terrific during the day and do a fantastic job at night. You can also spot a M135 by the blue calipers, which mark out BMW's halfway between brand, M Performance.
Less welcome are the grey caps on the door mirrors which are a bit old man-looking.
BMW M135i On the Road
The M135i is a tremendous thing on the road. Even without the awesome M Adaptive suspension (an almost $5000 option), the car is a very, very fast point-to-point machine. With brilliant steering and subtle electronics, you can cover a lot of ground quickly and safely while having an enormous amount of fun.
Power is from BMW's 3.0 litre straight six, turbocharged to 235kW and a thumping 450Nm of torque. In the M135i it is a bit more raw-feeling than in the 335i or 435i, with a delightful crackle on the overrun when Drive Select is switched to Sport or Sport+.
In Comfort and ECO PRO, it's a strong performer, even with the mushier throttle response of ECO PRO, allowing you to surf along on the fat torque available from just above idle.
Nail the throttle, though (once you're out of ECO, of course) and the engine immediately lights up, the eight speed transmission dropping anywhere from one to six ratios depending on your speed and trajectory.
In Sport mode, the steering weights up and the shift and throttle patterns become far more aggressive, giving the car a raw, sporty character. The steering could do with more feel, but as with every new BMW, it's better than what has gone before and will no doubt keep getting better.
The only way to provoke understeer is to go into a tight corner way, way too fast and it is easily quelled with a lift of the throttle. The rear drive chassis is just on the right side of neutral with the electronics turned off.
Powerslides are easily achieved and reined in with a flex of the right ankle.
You don't have to be delicate in this car, you can chuck it around and it will keep giving, its small dimensions giving you more margin for error than you might have in bigger, faster and more expensive cars.
When you're just pootling around, however, it's very easy car to live with. The standard suspension is definitely very firm but not crashy or uncomfortable, a very tolerable trade-off for its very high limits.
And to top it off, even with a less-than-gentle week in our hands, we averaged 9.9l/100km. That is mightily impressive.
BMW M135i Issues
Some nice-to-haves, like the LED headlights and M Adaptive Suspension, are extortionately priced. The lack of a limited slip differential will challenge some while the absence of all-wheel drive (present in Mercedes' A45 and CLA45 and also in the Audi S3 and VW Golf R) will trouble others.
The steering wheel paddles are clicky-clicky plastic items and don't feel at all special and the seats don't look very sporty at all.
BMW M135i Verdict
The BMW M135 picks up where the old 135i left off, with some of the good bits of the 130i and 1M. It takes the 1M's fantastic straight-line performance and blends it with the 130i's five door practicality and easy driveability.
Amazingly, you can step out of the outgoing $125,000 V8-powered M3 and have most of the same fun, just without the raucous V8 soundtrack and extra fuel and tyre bills. It shows just how good this car is while suggesting how far along things have moved for the new M3/M4 pairing.
The M135i is a brilliant hot hatch and stands alone in the class with purist's choice of six-cylinder power and rear-wheel drive. It's also cheaper than similarly-specced competitors from Mercedes and Audi.
BMW M135i The Competition
1 Mercedes Benz A45 AMG/CLA45 AMG priced from $74,900 and developing 265kW
2 Audi S3 priced from $59,900 and developing 206kW
3 Volkswagen Golf R, with pricing TBA and developing 206kW
