1 Series M Coupé (Germany, 2011)

The new BMW 1 Series M Coupé was officially presented ahead of the Detroit Motor Show 2011 where it had its world premiere.

With the new 1 Series M Coupé, BMW M GmbH combined the sports-style driving pleasure characteristic of its M models with the agility and lightness of the compact 1 Series Coupé. With the 2-door model BMW M adopted for the first time its concept of racing-oriented performance characteristics in a car developed for everyday use.

The BMW 1 Series M Coupé is powered by a 3.0-litre, in-line 6-cylinder engine with M TwinPower Turbo and petrol direct injection that features a maximum power output of 250 kW/340 bhp and maximum torque of 450 Nm, at 4500 rpm. With an engine-speed-related performance curve characteristic for M models, the BMW 1 Series M Coupe boosts from 0 to 100 km/h in 4.9 seconds and reaches a limited top speed of 250 km/h.

In terms of fuel efficiency, the 1 Series M Coupé spends 9.6 liters per 100 kilometers in the EU test cycle, which represents CO2 emissions of 224 grams per kilometer. The power is directed to the wheels of the 1 Series M Coupé via a newly developed 6-speed manual transmission, which is operated using a very short M gearshift lever.

As the first ever high-performance model in the compact segment, with 4,380 millimeters in length and 1,420 millimeters in height, the BMW 1 Series M Coupe is both the shortest and the flattest model in the BMW M GmbH range.

The 1 Series M Coupé also received some modifications in terms of design. It features a shaped front apron that forms a homogeneous surface, dominated in the lower section by three large-format air intakes. With the goal of optimizing aerodynamics BMW M GmbH used for the first time in a serial production vehicle the so-called air curtains.