{"id":31641,"date":"2010-10-12T08:26:19","date_gmt":"2010-10-12T12:26:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thedetroitbureau.com\/?p=31641"},"modified":"2021-01-25T04:41:53","modified_gmt":"2021-01-25T09:41:53","slug":"first-drive-2012-bmw-1-series-m-coupe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/2010\/10\/first-drive-2012-bmw-1-series-m-coupe\/","title":{"rendered":"First Drive: 2012 BMW 1-Series M Coupe"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Partially disguised, we get our first drive of the 2012 BMW 1-Series Coupe. But feel free to call it the M1…unoffiicially.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Other than the transformative 2002tii, few BMW models have been the subject of more lore than the original, hand-built M1 sports car sold between 1978 and 1981.<\/p>\n

So, when word got around that a new BMW M coupe was clocking blistering speeds around the Nurburgring race circuit rumors began to circulate that the legendary nameplate was coming back.<\/p>\n

Alas, as I learned during a visit to Spain\u2019s Ascari race track, over the summer, BMW\u2019s surprise was really a 1-Series coupe in crafty camouflage.\u00a0 In the German logic, the name M1 has been permanently set aside, like the number of a baseball Hall-of-Famer.\u00a0 So, what we\u2019re about to get is the new BMW 1-Series M Coupe.<\/p>\n

Once we got past that dance with semantics our next question was simple: when can we go for a drive?\u00a0 We got our answer, earlier this month, in Munich, at the formal unveiling of the smallest model to emerge from the vaunted M GmbH.<\/p>\n

(Learn about the best BMW Extended Warranty options<\/a><\/span>)<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Surprisingly, even at the 1-Series M Coupe\u2019s unveiling, BMW still was holding back on a number of technical details \u2013 and the product I got to drive still wore some camo.<\/p>\n

The full and final presentation won\u2019t come until mid-December.\u00a0 But with a wee bit of seat time and a few subtle questions for spokesperson Stefan Behr and development chief Albert Biermann we were able to get a pretty solid sense of what to come.<\/p>\n

So here are our conclusions: the new M-variant is based on the 135i and will get the face lift that is due for the 1 Series in mid 2011. It has four exhaust pipes and serious M3 brakes that are visible through the M-wheels, with fat Michelin rubber (245\/35 ZR19 and 246\/35 ZR19).<\/p>\n

The new car has the engine of the Z4 35is, the 3.0-liter turbocharged I-6, which delivers 340 hp and 323 lb-ft of torque. It has a maximum turbo load of 2.0 bar. Power of the 1Series M is some 30 hp more than the 135i.<\/p>\n

According to German \u2018spies\u2019 at the N\u00fcrburgring, the 1-Series M Coupe pulled lap times close to 8\u201910\u201d. That is pretty fast, when you know that the E46 does 8\u201922\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are hardly any parts of the suspension that are still the same,\u201d hinted development chief Biermann. The car gets stiffer springs, shocks with less travel, stiffer bushings, a lowered body and a wider front and rear track.<\/p>\n

From the driver\u2019s seat, it is immediately obvious that those measures pay off. The suspension seems more than prepared for the engine\u2019s solid power.<\/p>\n

So, might we expect a real M1 coming up after the face lifted 1-Series is settled into the market?<\/p>\n

Spokesman Behr\u2019s answer was a simple, \u201cno.\u201d\u00a0 The M1-nameplate, which was fitted onto the only mass-produced BMW mid-engine model ever sold to the public, has been formally retired.<\/p>\n

But not without some debate at the BMW board level \u2013 where the decision was ultimately approved.\u00a0 Is there a chance the name could be \u201cun-retired\u201d?\u00a0 Well, we saw that happen with the 328 badge.\u00a0 And I personally suspect it would put out something closer to 380 hp and be targeted for a new race series.<\/p>\n

But, for now, we\u2019ll have to get used to the formal designation, BMW 1-Series M Coupe, though we imagine folks will quickly start calling it the M1, anyway.<\/p>\n

And whatever you prefer to call it, the newest M-model is not a bad choice at all.<\/p>\n

Of course, it will also depend on price. In Germany, it\u2019s been suggested that will be somewhere between 50,000 and 55,000 euro, which is at least 10,000 more than the 135i.<\/p>\n

Considering the current, weak state of the U.S. dollar, that would work out to a hefty $70,000, but BMW hasn’t always made a direct conversion on exports knowing that such a price premium could kill a new model before it even puts down roots.<\/p>\n

Formal pricing will be announced in \u2018stage 5\u2019 of the 1-Series M Coupe\u2019s rollout, which will be closer to the market launch in May.<\/p>\n

For Americans looking to get a first good look at the coupe, that\u2019ll come in stage 4, at the BMW news conference at the 2011 Detroit Auto Show, in January.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Don’t call it the M1. That name has been retired like a hall-of-famer’s jersey. But even with the unwieldy nameplate BMW 1-Series M Coupe, we’re pretty impressed after getting our first drive. Here’s the review from European correspondent Henny Hemmes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":31642,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"make":[],"post-state":[],"category_old":[151],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31641"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31641"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31641\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31642"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31641"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31641"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31641"},{"taxonomy":"make","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/make?post=31641"},{"taxonomy":"post-state","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post-state?post=31641"},{"taxonomy":"category_old","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/category_old?post=31641"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}