It’s nice to see that not every manufacturer is downsizing its hottest hatchbacks. If this BMW M135i concept is to be believed, the German car maker is sticking to a six-cylinder formula and making its fastest-ever 1 Series hatchback.
With the M135i concept, BMW are also giving us our first glimpse of the new 3-door body. The revamped 1 Series, released last year, is only available as a 5-door at the moment but BMW are keen to continue the success of the 3-door variant of the last model.
Sadly the larger doors and re-styled windows do little to improve the looks of the 1 Series. There’s no escaping the challenging appearance of that nose with its droopy eyes and flared nostrils. While the M-sport body kit ups the aggression factor of the M135i, it’s still not a pretty car.
Fortunately you can’t see the car when you’re sat behind the wheel, and the M135i promises to deliver ‘more than 300bhp’ from the straight six-cylinder, boosted by a pair of turbochargers. That should make for lively performance from the compact 1 Series, not forgetting that this is the only rear-wheel drive car in its class.
The chassis has been specially tuned to cope with the extra power, while an M sports braking system ensures that you should be able to stop reign in the extra speed that you will undoubtedly be travelling at. Surrounding the new brakes are a set of 18-inch M light alloys with a double spoke design.
If the M135i becomes a production reality it should certainly be enough to challenge the Audi RS3, current king of the über-hatch market. The downside to that is that it will most likely mean an asking price of close to, or even over, £40,000.
