First Test Report of 1M Coupe PreDrive from Hong Kong Z4 driver

[Bigmouth Studio]

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I am the only Asian test driver of this event.
I have a Z4 23i & a X5 30xdrive. I have driven 135 convertible before.

The first impression was not so impressive because the real shape of the car was masked by the camouflage. But I noticed the back of the car was so wide. The sound of starting the engine was wonderful. The clutch is not extremely hard. The gear shift distance is short & precise. Easy to handle (this is my 1st time driving a left-hand drive MT car).

After we went onto the highway, it was raining heavily. I already noticed the steering was very sensitive. The dampers were so good & no jumping at all. Even passing puddles, the car remained in the driving line. I can easily feel the movement of the chassis from my seat. I can overtake easily while on 6th gear just by putting my right foot to the gas paddle. Then we went onto small country road. The chassis remained clean & accurate even we were driving 100km/hr.

On the test track, it was also raining heavily & my car was loaded with 4 people including me. I could not push the car to the limit. The brake was very strong & smooth. It could bring my car from 200km/hr to 100km/hr before the U turn quickly & I only needed to down shift 1 gear to slow down the car. Even I used 3rd gear at the U turn, the power remained & I can shift to 4th gear after the apex. No turbo lag was experienced. I noticed the toque remained almost abundant from 2000rev up to 5500rev.

The interior is little bit boring because the layout same as normal 1 series. Only the orange stitches & bucket seat were attractive.

The exterior of the car is aggressive. Thank you to the front bumper, wide fender & nice looking wheels. If it is orange, you will recognize this is an M car easily. There will be a LED line above the headlight. The tail light use the L shape LED thick strip. The back diffuser housed 4 exhausts.

What I like: the highly balanced chassis with the bi-turbo engine
What I dislike: still a little bit under-power if this is an M car. The interior is not very interesting.

[spiderz17]

Originally Posted by Bigmouth Studio

I noticed the toque remained almost abundant from 2000rev up to 5500rev.

Thanks for the write-up. One additional question from the quote above: did the power feel like it dropped off at 5500 rpm, forcing you to shift before redline? I know you said you couldn't push the car to its limit, so you may not have been able to test this out. Thanks.

[MrRoboto]

Only the orange stitches & bucket seat were attractive.

I guess we have our answer on the stitching

[blueshark]

How many people were in the car? Weight could have held the car back quite a bit!

[Tuned1M]

^ At least another 450 pounds (3 people x ~150 pounds).

[Cris]

Good write up. For some (if not most) people, keeping the interior simple and un-distracting is a plus. Without the bells and whistles with today's vehicles, the driver can maintain his/her attention on the road and actually enjoy the driving experience. I think today's society is so detached from the joy of driving because a lot of folks are multitasked, overscheduled and forget to set a little time aside for simple things like driving.

[blueshark]

Originally Posted by Tuned1

^ At least another 450 pounds (3 people x ~150 pounds).

Probably more like 3 x 175 lbs = over 500 lbs.
Big, big difference vs a single driver.
More power would be nice nonetheless.

[02fireman]

Any mention by anyone about limited numbers? (if you are allowed to disclose).

[Crazy Bimmer]

Thanks for the review!

After the event, did you feel as if you wanted one?

[Tuned1M]

Originally Posted by blueshark

Probably more like 3 x 175 lbs = over 500 lbs.
Big, big difference vs a single driver.
More power would be nice nonetheless.

I was trying to be as conservative as possible

[gobuffs]

You had the best quote in the video!

[blueshark]

Yes, I loved the "terrible" characterization, if that's what you're referring to -
It captures the imagination better than other commentary so far.

[Dan K]

Great review...but an LED line above the headlight? Not so sure I like the sound of that.

[pyrat]

thanks for the writeup. sounds like a cool experience

[Evolution_GT]

Great review, one question though, do you know if the angel eyes are white or yellow?

[bobloblaw]

Originally Posted by Dan K

Great review...but an LED line above the headlight? Not so sure I like the sound of that.

Don't worry, I don't think it's going to be like Audi's LED strips, it is just the BMW eyebrows that have been on the cars for a while.

[JB135MDCT]

Bigmouth, Is the vertical air duct real and does it feed a brake duct?

[formula M]

Bigmouth, how balanced & tossible did the car feel. I understand the car was full... but what is your impression of it's neutrality?

[as7920]

$64k question (which someone else posed), after driving it, will you still buy it?

[330CIZHP]

From your write up, it is clear that the engine ran out of steam after 5500 rpm similar to the N54 engine?? I assume, the redline just like in the publicity shots was 7000 rpm??

[oman135]

135i with a tune and u have the same power !

[formula M]

Originally Posted by oman135

135i with a tune and u have the same power !

Horsepower is not the problem with the 135i.... never was.

Secondly, if a car has better balance, then you are able to use what HP u have, more proficiently. So your statement make little sense, as compared to the topic at hand; the 1M.