Test drive: BMW M140i xDrive

I openly admit, I´m a sucker when it comes to hot hatchbacks. I think they are probably the coolest thing you can buy on four wheels. So when this opportunity presented itself I couldn't pass it now could I.

This thought may have popped into someones head that the concept of a hot hatch has been taken too far. Maybe that is why a new term for the most powerful hot hatches mainly the A45 AMG and the RS3 has been coined, "hyper-hatch". Where the difference between a hot hatch and a hyper-hatch goes is still a bit unclear. I'd call the VW Golf R with 300 HP a hyper-hatch but the Civic Type R with 310 HP a hot hatch. After deliberating on this matter a while I realize there are more pressing issues to be discussed so we'll just gloss over that point.

Hurray for Angel eyes!

Which brings me onto something which is not a blurry line the BMW M140i. Only when it goes 250 km/h does it become very blurry indeed. The M140i is the most powerful and dynamic 1-series BMW you can buy today. Under the rather long bonnet lies a slightly renewed classic BMW 3.0 litre single turbo straight six developing the same amount of horsepower as its spiritual predecessor the 1M, 340 HP. In this small car that is plentiful.

BMW M140i xDrive in Alpine white, probably for the bilboard effect.

Talking about the exterior, I happen to like it. The predecessor to this looked in my opinion as a VW Polo which had eaten like a rich Freemason. But this looks more focused and more upmarket than ever. The long bonnet makes it look like the driver sits right in the middle of the car rather than in the front which further strengthens BMW's "ultimate driving machine" ad-phrase. The rear I'm not so sure of. It feels like BMW where so focused on making the 1-series front-end blend with the rest of their fleet of cars that they sort of forgot it was a hatchback. This is highlighted very well by the fairly small rear doors, which made even little nimble me struggle to hop in the rear.

I happen to prefer two large exhausts instead of four smaller ones.

Interior is typical BMW. Nothing has changed in 10-15 years, just more digital screens and a smoother iDrive. In the M140i however there are some nice touches such as alcantara on the steering wheel and above the glove box. Also some sprinklings of carbon fiber can be found on the door handles and the gear knob. I cannot say if it was real but it didn't feel like a nasty plastic knock-off. All in all a nice sporty place be. The seat made that abundantly clear. It was good but unnecessarily hard.

Half digital dash, with analogue speedometer and rev counter.

Usually when you heat the drivers seat with your own bottom you tend to be driving and who wouldn't with a 340 HP hatchback. The 1-series is famously rear-wheel drive but this was fitted with xDrive four-wheel drive. The xDrive is thankfully more weighted for rear-wheel drive action, which may have been taken advantage of on the snowy roads. By putting the car in Sport mode the traction control also allows to have a bit of controlled fun which is enough on public roads. For track-day goers I should report that switching it in Sport+ turns it off altogether. The car is beautifully balanced and almost feels like it pivots around your hip like a hula hoop. Steering is obviously accurate and agile and feels surprisingly connected to your finger tips despite the electronic steering assistance.

Pay attention when choosing a driving mode. In sport mode you can choose sport chassis or drivetrain setup or both.

The four-wheel drive system made it possible to unleash that magnificent straight six in these tricky conditions. The noise through the M-sport pipes is in my view better in the M140i than in the M3 or M4. Listening to the engine rev and take new flight when the (probably) award winning 8-speed ZF automatic selects a new gear is pretty special in a small car like this. The xDrive M140i has an official 0-100 km/h time of 4.4 seconds. I will not argue that at any point.

The engine in the BMW M140i is something to experience. There may be faster cars and larger engines than this but this is a complete and full package. Over here in Finland this particular car has a price tag of over 70 000€, which is a huge amount of money for a car of this size. But after sensing that engine, handling and noise, I wouldn't judge anyone for buying this hyper-hatch.

BMW M5, a beast in disguise

An early history from developing race winning cars in the 1970's to converting mundane German cars into autobahn speed junkies, categorizes the BMW M badge to a status of legendary.

Even though the first production BMW with an M-badge was a racing car for the road, the M1, the BMW subsidiary changed direction by creating the BMW M535i. This is considered the genesis of BMW sports saloons. The next 5-series BMW also got the Motorsport treatment and it eventually got named M5, which has stuck ever since.

But more about the history of the M5 perhaps later on, now let me introduce you to the M5 I drove on a warm summer evening in southern Finland.

This is the third M5 named 5-series from 1999. It was the first M5 without the signature straight 6 since it boasts a hefty 5.0 litre V8 developing 400 HP (60 more than its predecessor) to the rear wheels. This particular M5 though had been moderately tweaked to a tested 412 HP to make it feel that more special. All this power is at your hands with a 6-speed manual. No feeble automatic action here. But a traction control button is much needed to keep the 500 Nm of torque safely on the road.

BMW M5 from 1999 in Avus Blue metallic.

The numbers are indeed worthy of the M5 badge, which there are a lot of. These are the only telltale sign of the beast within. Otherwise it looks like a normal E39 5-series but with some added slice of testosterone with those beautifully crafted exhaust pipes. This particular M5 has 262 thousand kilometers on the clock, but you really don't notice it on the exterior or the interior for that matter. It has been taken good care of.

I'm not really sure about the colour of the leather, it was spotless though.

It does have a manly stance

The driving experience is quite what you'd expect. It's seriously fast when you straighten your ankle but if driven respectfully it feels like a normal car. The seating position is excellent as are the seats. The seats compliment the ride elegantly as well. The ride is firmer than a normal 5-series', to cope with the immense acceleration, but still surprisingly smooth, even on Finnish back roads. The steering had a bit of play in it but did tighten up a bit with 'sport' mode switched on. But for a large powerful car it is as easy to drive in traffic as a hatchback. But when the traffic light turns green you find yourself having a remarkably heavy right foot. But if you drive like a normal human being the M5 doesn't shout about and behaves the way it looks, stylishly and discreetly.

The diffuser has been given a carbon fibre look. Which, weirdly enough, works.

On the whole the BMW M5 (e39) didn't disappoint, but then again why would it. It's a piece of expert level German engineering which shows both inside and out. The distant rumble of the V8 and a quick glance at the speedometer will be an everlasting reminder of the beast within.

... Oh yea, and the millions of M-badges.

M5

BMW Vision Gran Turismo

In the last post I presented the first Vision Gran Turismo (VGT) concept car, the Mercede-Benz AMG VGT. The Germans keep on giving since the second concept is a BMW creation.

I will not explain what Vision Gran Turismo is in this post since I already did it in the Mercedes one.

BMW Vision Gran Turismo at the Nürburgring GP track.

BMW Vision Gran Turismo is the name of the concept car, but actually it could very well be called the BMW 2-series racing concept. So many design features are taken from the 2-series. Nonetheless, this car looks absolutely fantastic. It has the sense of the old 3.0 CSL (one of my favourite BMWs) about it. The fixed rear wing and the wider stance with those wheel arches make it look like a well trained attack dog with David Coulthard-like features. The classic BMW M-sport stripes are back as well. Painted, apparently, where the airstream would flow around the car.

I do like side-exhausts. Spitting flames as the Merc before.

The outstanding looks is not a front either, this car goes. It hosts the traditional BMW 3.0 litre straight six coupled with two turbos. Before i mention the power numbers let me tell you, the sound - even though it is in a game - is absolutely operatic. It sounds like the engine is, a pure masterpiece. Now that you probably have rushed out to hear that sound yourself, let's talk numbers. The engine delivers 549 horsepower and a peak torque of 680 Nm. There's no weight to hold it down either, the car weighs only 1,180 kg.


The BMW Vision Gran Turismo has a compact look that was present in the BMW racing cars in the 70's which in my mind makes it look great. In the words of Karim Habib (Head of Design BMW Automobiles) "It is engineered to race and win".

Side view with the airflow M-sport stripes.

Here they meet, like father like son (almost). BMW 2002 turbo in the role of father.

The future is here...

...and it looks bright too. As we all know the future of cars and motoring is all about efficiency and refinement in which the car uses its energy i.e. fuel. That is why many brilliant engineering minds are working on ingenious ways to make a car as environmentally friendly as possible.

But whilst all this is happening BMW have had a vision, for all I know, from the year 2009 to make the best of what we know now. BMW is utilizing the absolute peak of technology to create a series of cars that, in my opinion, closest resembles how cars are going to be laid out in the near future.
This series is called the i-series. Why does it have to be the letter i? I'm really not a fan of that. But anyhow. The star child of the i-series is the i8. It's a car that 5 years back was only a concept called BMW Vision EfficientDynamics. The name is far from being sexy, but the name spoke for itself. The i8 is everything the BMW Vision EfficientDynamics concept promised, it even looks like it if not better.

The BMW i8 has two engines an electrical one with 129 hp and then a rather interesting 1,5 litre 3-cylinder turbo, putting out a quite astounding 228 hp. That is 357 hp in total, which is in the Porsche 911 range. But then again, the i8 is a sports car so we shouldn't expect anything less. And because of those amazing engines the fuel consumption is unbelievably low, only 2,1 l/100km. Not even the small frugal city cars can match that.

I think this is a revolutionary car. I know the idea of mating a normal combustion engine with an electric motor has been around for the last 15 years. But the BMW i8 shows the car enthusiasts that in the world of cars words hybrid and economical have more potential that we ever knew.

I can't believe that this car is already on sale. It looks so much like a concept.
It's brilliant.

The emissions coming out of the back are only 49 co2/km.

It seems unnecessary

Lately I've been hung up on manufacturers giving their car models names that really are not needed. Today it is BMW's new 4-series. Now for those who don't know, the 4-series is the new 3-series coupe. To have a different name to a car with a different body does sound smart, until you realize it is the exact same car as the 3-series. 

So what is the point in renaming a car that you're not going to change anyway? In the case of the M3 it's nice to have a different name for the coupe, the M4. But it still isn't a big challenge to call it the M3 coupe now isn't it. 

This even happened to the to 1-series as well. It's no longer the 1-series coupe it's the 2-series. It does make sense that the odd numbers (1,3,5,7-series) are saloons and the even numbers (2,4,6-series) are coupes. But let's not forget that there is a four-door version of the 6-series. 

So why did they do this? Probably because now BMW can release four-door versions of the 2- and 4-series'. I wouldn't be surprised if that happened. 

BMW M4. 426 hp from a 3.0 litre twin turbo straight 6.

From this photo you can see it's a 4-series. But what if you couldn't see the back?

And the 2-series. There probably will be an M2 somewhere in the future.

It's all pointless

Let us stick to the same theme as the previous post, which is ranting about pointless cars. So I give you the all new uninteresting BMW 3-series Gran Turismo or GT, which was revealed at the Geneva Motor Show earlier this month.

You might recognize that style of coupé/saloon design from the clumpy BMW 5-series GT. And let’s make something immediately clear, that design doesn't work with the 3-series either. BMW obviously just wanted to make a liftback version of the 3-series and indeed the 5-series and then call it something sporty like GT. Or then BMW just forgot about how to do a liftback version of a car. I don’t what the reason is for BMW making it, but it just isn't necessary. 

When the 5-series came out a couple of years ago they were everywhere. But now there just isn't as much of them on the road as when it first came to the show rooms. I suspect the same will happen to this car as well. A person who was going to buy an ordinary 3-series buys this instead and thinks it makes him special and people will finally be interested in him. But a year or so passes and he finally realises what a huge mistake he has made and buys an Audi A4 instead. And get this; the 3 GT actually has got a bigger boot than the 3-series estate by 25 litres. This then renders the 3-series Touring, pointless.

That backside looks far from delicious

And yes, it's a liftback

And here is the 5-series GT for observing the similarities

In the past year there have been launched many cars that are worthy on being named on this puny blog, the new BMW 6-series and the Lamborghini Aventador springs immediately to mind. But some affordable cars like the all important seventh edition of the VW Golf was launched late last year. So all in all, a very eventful year was 2012 for the car manufacturers. And now we are going to mark some of our favourite new cars of the past year. 

Lamborghini Aventador LP700-4

Volkswagen Golf mkVII

-TheSeatHeater