The prospect of driving a manual gearbox-equipped hot hatch on the back roads of Portugal is exciting, but even more so when said hot hatch is painted bright orange and adorned with the hallowed M badge. Okay, so the M135i isn’t a “true” M-car in the way an M3/M4 is, but it’s about as close as it gets to an “M1”.
This is a car that’s been around for a few years now – what you see on these two pages is the LCI model (Life Cycle Impulse, BMW’s fancy term for a facelift), whose changes are mostly cosmetic.
At the front, it’s now got slittier headlights that can be specified with an all-LED array, a more chiselled jawline and wider gaps between the slats on the kidney grilles. The rump also went under the knife – gone are the chunky tail-lights in favour of sleeker items that now extend seamlessly into the tailgate.
On the mechanical front, even less has changed, with the M135i retaining the same 3-litre turbocharged inline-6 engine, though it now gets 6bhp more. While the increase is indiscernible everywhere but on the specs sheet, its modestly improved output quashes the “sibling rivalry” between the M135i and M235i, as the latter car was once marginally more powerful.
However, the most interesting thing about our orange bomber is how it’s equipped with a manual gearbox – a welcome inclusion, since it’s been a while since I’ve seen a “proper” hot hatch that requires the use of the driver’s left foot.
On the plus side, the clutch in the M135i is a cinch to operate – its weighting is just right and there’s a well-defined biting point, which makes it easy to avoid embarrassing jerking (or stalling) due to misjudged footwork.
Acceleration is still as urgent as before and it’ll hit triple-digit speeds from a standstill in just 5.1 seconds (the automatic variant does it in 4.9 seconds), but what’s really impressive is the car’s in-gear acceleration. Once on the go, I could almost leave it in third or fourth gear all day long. Even in its top sixth gear, the M135i can still pull away from slower traffic with ease.
Sadly, aside from the easy clutch operation, there’s not much else going for the stick-shifting M135i. The shifter feels rubbery, and lacks the rifle-bolt action befitting a hot hatch of its calibre. Its throw is also on the long side.
The three-pedal M135i is wanting in the ergonomics department as well, with its awkwardly positioned pedals, particularly the accelerator, which is placed too high and therefore impedes heel-and-toe manoeuvres. Of course, this would have been less of an issue if the M135i was equipped with the automatic rev-matching system seen on the M3 and M4.
Aside from that, there’s little to complain about in the M135i. Its adaptive suspension is well judged and it strikes a fine balance between comfort and handling. The handling ability of M135i is particularly apparent when driven back-to-back with “garden-variety” 1 Series models, which feel less sorted, especially around the rear axle.
While I’d like to see more manual sports cars being put on the roads, I think I’d pass on the manual M135i, whose gearbox is a blemish on an otherwise excellent experience.
While I didn’t get to test the 8-speed automatic in the facelifted 1 Series in Lisbon, we suspect that it would still be as sweet as before. If it were up to me, an M135i with an automatic transmission would be the automatic choice.
SPECIFICATIONS
ENGINE 2979cc, 24-valves, inline-6, turbocharged
MAX POWER 326bhp at 5800-6000rpm
MAX TORQUE 450Nm at 1300-4500rpm
GEARBOX 6-speed manual
0-100KM/H 5.1 seconds
TOP SPEED 250km/h
CONSUMPTION 12.5km/L (combined)
CO2 EMISSION 188g/km
PRICE INCL. COE
To be announced
