Hi there everyone, I am bit bored in the office today so I decide to write something about my 1M.
My name is Zheng, I am a subjective test driver in IDIADA Shanghai, I am 23 year old and I Drive a 2011 BMW 1 Series M Coupe
I bought my 1M on the 30th of December in 2015 for 388000CNY, which is equivalent to about 59495USD, I simply couldn’t dream about owning this car when it came out in 2011, because the asking price was 598000CNY(91696USD) and I was only 18.
There are rumors says that the number imported was firstly limited to 200 units, but due to the high demand, it was raised to 450, but only 418 were sold at the end.
In China, The 1M is one of the very few rear wheel drive sports cars that came with manual shifter, you can count them with one hand, apart from the 1M, there are Hyundai Genesis Coupe, Toyota 86, Subaru BRZ and BMW M4.
Porsche doesn't do manual models here in China because they think Chinese people has deep pocket and cannot drive, it is a fact that the bestselling models here are Macan, Caynne and Panamera. Porsche recently stopped importing 991 GT3 and GT3RS, some 991 GT3s made its way to China but non GT3RS has been imported before they made to the shore, for some ultimate toys like the Cayman GT4 and 911R, we can only dream about them.
BMW China just announced the M2, but sadly MT model won't be imported, I am so lucky that I am capable of owning the 1M and I really like to say Thank You to the gentlemen who decided to import 1M into China.
the 1M has changed every mile of my boring trip into something that I simply can't have enough, the noise from that straight six just makes me smile every time when I accelerate hard and blip the throttle when down shifting, the noise isn't very loud but it sounds so silky and thick and good to hear, I personally think it sounds better than most naturally aspirated sports cars.
The torque delivery is mental, you can overtake effortlessly on the motorway even if the car is in sixth gear, when you try to drift, slightly amount of throttle can send two 265mm wide Michelin Pilot Sport 2 into infinite skidding with the help of that clutch plate LSD on the rear axle.
The steering is smooth, precise and does not require much effort to operate, but I personally prefer the steering feeling from a standard E90 as it has a stronger on center feel and also provide more feedback than the 1M.
The car is a bit understeering on the race track when going through the corner, you have to firstly reach the limit of the front axle before you arrive at the apex and then apply some throttle to rotate the car to tighten your racing line. But understeering is stable and also helps when you try to have a long drift with a big angle.
Right… Sounds like I am trying to review the 1M in front of all the 1M owners here, but these are my true subjective feeling about this car and that explains why I love this car so much. Over 90% of 1M owners in China don’t take their 1M onto the race track, the only reason why they bought the car is the way it looks and the limited production number make them feel that this car is unique, they said that I should not drive the car as the way I am right now, the car will be suffered from wear and tear and it will decrease in value, they also some some BS like the clutch would burn easily something like that(the truth is they are not using the third pedal properly), but what I would say is, it is a shame that they cannot discover the full potential of their 1M.
If you love a woman, you fxxk her hard, if you love a car, you better drive it hard.
