Is it me or have all the 1M participant's writeups been tepid?

[ucla1995]

I don't get a 'Wow, Amazing' tone when I read those writeups. More like a 'Solid car, liked it' tone...

[PKL]

agreed.

[PyratOne]

sure, sort of. But lets remember.
1) 1-3 passengers = heavy
2) new BMW prototype cars = $$??, worry of really giving it a workout
3) RAIN
4) this isnt the final car

Overall, Im reading the things I was hoping to read. quick, responsive, firm.

More importantly, I think, very few (significant) negatives

[blueshark]

Could the tuning experts out there weigh in on this -- will there be much room for legitimate aftermarket HP increases? (I'm specifically thinking of Dinan)

[TunedM2C]

^ If it's going to be a N54 with larger turbos then yes, this will be a helluva tuning platform.

[My135]

It is less drama to improve upon an already great 135.

[cstavaru]

Originally Posted by blueshark

Could the tuning experts out there weigh in on this -- will there be much room for legitimate aftermarket HP increases? (I'm specifically thinking of Dinan)

Dinan is rather conservative, but they managed 408hp (~370whp ?) with their Stage 3 flash.

But you can easily get an extra 100whp with the GIAC Stage 2 flash. Several cars run that flash at the race track and are doing great. Of course, there is also the JB3 and the Procede, but those are more used for drag races.

I think a tuned 1M will be able to beat on the track much more expensive supercars like Porsche 911 Turbo.

[My135]

"I think a tuned 1M will be able to beat on the track much more expensive supercars like Porsche 911 Turbo."

Are you kidding me??? I am very skeptical about this statment.

[Racing Teatray]

I prefer to think of it as "measured"...rather than "tepid". Hyperbole is overrated!

And it also depends on what your yardstick is. I thought it was a superb car but coming from a car as good and as ultimately quite similar as the 135i, there's a limit to how different it is possible for it to feel and that's going to always limit the scope for being really wowed, however good it is.

If it's any help, I was much more wowed by the 1M than by the E92 M3 I tried the previous w/end.

[ucla1995]

Originally Posted by Tuned1

^ If it's going to be a N54 with larger turbos then yes, this will be a helluva tuning platform.

True, that's a plus for sure.

[ucla1995]

Originally Posted by Woland's Advocate

If it's any help, I was much more wowed by the 1M than by the E92 M3 I tried the previous w/end.

That's interesting. Thank you. But of course if you're driving the E92 on the M25 or A4 vs the 1M on the Autobahn might that have had something to do with it? If not then that's a strong recommendation in my book.

[Robert]

I think differently. There's has been more overly positive comments than critical ones. 135i is already a decent car and we all know 1M will be an improvement over it. I want to know how does it differentiate itself from other great cars, like M3, Cayman S, S4, S5, Mustang Boss. Under which areas is the 1M stronger and where does it fall short against others.

[HERR FSTIR]

I think Advocate is absolutely correct. The tester's comments all seem reasoned and carefully considered. I get the impression they are trying hard to be objective and not let their enthusiasm cloud their judgement.

That being said, I am eager to hear one of them compare the 1M powerband to a N54 vehicle with a tune. Obviously this car is not all about power, but I am curious as to whether they simply remapped the ECU or have in fact altered the turbos a little bit to provide better top end performance. Based on what they've written so far, I am hopeful the snails have been mildly upgraded.

[Ryan_T]

It sounds to me as if their enthusiasm were buried under a ton of forced journalism. Most likely giving a 'balanced' review is part of the deal somewhere, and in the guideline on 'how' to give that review, BMW has made it a little too complicated and the end result is what we see now. A bunch of similar-sounding review of a product that seems to be good.

What they need is for one or two to really hate it, and spark a big debate.

[EmmDrei]

I don't know what people expect. Face the facts: some drivers are not used to left hand drive. Almost all are not used to german roads. Most of them probably think 200km/h is going fast. And then some obviously didn't feel comfortable in the wet. Combine all of that with "guided tour" and "only the engineer is allowed to turn the dsc off" and you get a driving experience very similar to that, that the journalistic testers had. "You can drive it, but not too fast. And don't break anything." And the answer to any comment was probably always "we'll have that changed for the serial production." Sure they will. The more marketing hype they're building, the more sceptical I personally get about the car.

[skier219]

I thought the reviews were fine. But clearly there are some heavy expectations here among many forum members, and I detect a bit of jealousy/resentment too. I think we're lucky this much information is available, and that some normal enthusiasts have been able to drive the car and share information (I don't care what kind of car they drive now or if they have a track pedigree -- that's not the point of the exercise -- and anybody nitpicking that needs to chill). Other than this info, the fallback is to wait for the magazine reviews, which is what we'd be doing in any other case.

[PKumarM3]

no offense to the participants, the lucky few were "everyday" guys who drive their cars from point a to point b. I am looking at the 3 that participated in the experience, and it seems that none of them had modified n54 motors or modified cars suspension wise. if these participants did have a "worked" car, i believe that they would be more apt to provide a better analysis of the car on street and street driving that could simulate track duty, rather than cruising on a highway and state that the motor seemed peppy and car felt light.

for example, one of my biggest gripes with the n54 is the shifting. it is a dog when it comes to heel toeing. It takes a BIG blip adn the RPMS fall so hard that it requires a strong blip to catch the lower gear. Was there a difference in the 1M?

I also despised how the motor died after 5500rpm, how many full RPM pulls did the participants take?

Did the shifting feel different?

Could you feel the LSD kick in?

The list goes on and on.

[CrazyIvan]

Originally Posted by PKumarM3

no offense to the participants, the lucky few were "everyday" guys who drive their cars from point a to point b. I am looking at the 3 that participated in the experience, and it seems that none of them had modified n54 motors or modified cars suspension wise. if these participants did have a "worked" car, i believe that they would be more apt to provide a better analysis of the car on street and street driving that could simulate track duty, rather than cruising on a highway and state that the motor seemed peppy and car felt light.

for example, one of my biggest gripes with the n54 is the shifting. it is a dog when it comes to heel toeing. It takes a BIG blip adn the RPMS fall so hard that it requires a strong blip to catch the lower gear. Was there a difference in the 1M?

I also despised how the motor died after 5500rpm, how many full RPM pulls did the participants take?

Did the shifting feel different?

Could you feel the LSD kick in?

The list goes on and on.

Read the post above yours...

[Brandon26pdx]

Originally Posted by cstavaru

Dinan is rather conservative, but they managed 408hp (~370whp ?) with their Stage 3 flash.

But you can easily get an extra 100whp with the GIAC Stage 2 flash. Several cars run that flash at the race track and are doing great. Of course, there is also the JB3 and the Procede, but those are more used for drag races.

I think a tuned 1M will be able to beat on the track much more expensive supercars like Porsche 911 Turbo.

It's a very tunable platform but let's not get carried away. 911 Turbo's are 500 hp right out of the box and only get nastier from there.

[Madozu]

Originally Posted by PKumarM3

no offense to the participants, the lucky few were "everyday" guys who drive their cars from point a to point b. I am looking at the 3 that participated in the experience, and it seems that none of them had modified n54 motors or modified cars suspension wise. if these participants did have a "worked" car, i believe that they would be more apt to provide a better analysis of the car on street and street driving that could simulate track duty, rather than cruising on a highway and state that the motor seemed peppy and car felt light.

for example, one of my biggest gripes with the n54 is the shifting. it is a dog when it comes to heel toeing. It takes a BIG blip adn the RPMS fall so hard that it requires a strong blip to catch the lower gear. Was there a difference in the 1M?

I also despised how the motor died after 5500rpm, how many full RPM pulls did the participants take?

Did the shifting feel different?

Could you feel the LSD kick in?

The list goes on and on.

All your questions are answered ... despite the negative facts mentioned (e.g. wet conditions, 4 people in the car). Just read the 3 review threads ;-)

If I'm not wrong, "M3 Adjuster" has a lot of track experience ... what about convincing him to write a review himself?

[Mu Mu]

Originally Posted by PKumarM3

no offense to the participants, the lucky few were "everyday" guys who drive their cars from point a to point b. I am looking at the 3 that participated in the experience, and it seems that none of them had modified n54 motors or modified cars suspension wise. if these participants did have a "worked" car, i believe that they would be more apt to provide a better analysis of the car on street and street driving that could simulate track duty, rather than cruising on a highway and state that the motor seemed peppy and car felt light.

for example, one of my biggest gripes with the n54 is the shifting. it is a dog when it comes to heel toeing. It takes a BIG blip adn the RPMS fall so hard that it requires a strong blip to catch the lower gear. Was there a difference in the 1M?

I also despised how the motor died after 5500rpm, how many full RPM pulls did the participants take?

Did the shifting feel different?

Could you feel the LSD kick in?

The list goes on and on.

lol

[JasonCSU]

Originally Posted by PKumarM3

no offense to the participants, the lucky few were "everyday" guys who drive their cars from point a to point b. I am looking at the 3 that participated in the experience, and it seems that none of them had modified n54 motors or modified cars suspension wise. if these participants did have a "worked" car, i believe that they would be more apt to provide a better analysis of the car on street and street driving that could simulate track duty, rather than cruising on a highway and state that the motor seemed peppy and car felt light.

for example, one of my biggest gripes with the n54 is the shifting. it is a dog when it comes to heel toeing. It takes a BIG blip adn the RPMS fall so hard that it requires a strong blip to catch the lower gear. Was there a difference in the 1M?

I also despised how the motor died after 5500rpm, how many full RPM pulls did the participants take?

Did the shifting feel different?

Could you feel the LSD kick in?

The list goes on and on.

I did hit on some of the points you mention. When the 1M is in sport mode via the M button, the throttle response is MUCH improved making it easier to heel-toe than in my 135. My copilot and I ran the car past 6500 rpm several times each and the power does not drop off like in a regular N54/N55 car. The shifting absolutely feels different. The throws are much shorter and the engagement feels very precise. Out there on the wet roads, we could definitely feel the LSD kicking in.