For some reason, and despite the fact that most shops are closed or open for limited hours, it is almost impossible to avoid shopping on a bank holiday weekend.
And so we come to the next trial, a notional six months into our 'compressed' 1-series M test (it's the test that's compressed, not the car) - the high-stress shopping trip.
The first part of the bank holiday trial is the heavy traffic approaching whichever out of town shopping centre or retail park you've singled out. The 1M copes with this bit with aplomb -despite its hardcore billing the 1M (as we discovered in our last report) is actually quite a road-biased beast and so, apart from an oddly lengthy clutch pedal, makes for quite an easygoing companion in a traffic jam.
The next trial of the bank holiday shopping trip is the search for a parking space. Perversely, despite its apparently diminutive appearance, the 1M doesn't score quite so highly on this count.
The large, upright glass areas give it reasonable visibility, but the curvy, bulgy lines of the bodywork make it kind of hard to spot where the car begins and ends, while the frankly massive wheels contribute to a surprisingly useless turning circle.
It's also not actually that small a car, with a footprint surprisingly similar to an E46 M3's. The final inconvenience are relatively long doors, which make extricating yourself from the car a rather inelegant process if you've parked in a tight space.
'Accelerated' beard coming along nicely
There is plenty of space in the boot, however, and, should you have to put a relative through the torture of a bank holiday shopping expedition you'll find the rear seat passenger will benefit from moderately generous head and leg room.
The 1-series M might not be brilliant at shopping, then, but is that a good reason to plump for a Vauxhall Corsa instead? Er...no.