BMW M140i and M240i announced
Come in M135i, your time is up - there's a new (and more powerful) straight six 1 Series
Keen to regain some ground, BMW has replaced both the M135i (plus its M235i coupe sibling) with the M140i and M240i respectively. Thanks to a new turbocharged 3.0-litre straight six, power is up in both cars from 326hp to 340hp and torque climbs from 332lb ft to 368lb ft. BMW says this is sufficient for both hatchback and coupe to hit 62mph in 4.9 seconds with the standard six-speed manual, shaving a few tenths from the old 35i cars. Opt for the eight-speed auto and that sprint time falls again, with 4.6 seconds claimed. Even the Golf might struggle to match that... The M240i Convertible, if you're interested, is said to reach 62mph in 4.7 seconds with the automatic. All are limited to 155mph.
Fuel consumption is improved too with the increase in performance, which sounds like a win-win. The manual cars are officially rated at 36.2mpg and 179g/km (M140i) or 34mpg and 189g/km (M240i), with the automatic 'box offering significant improvements: the figures are 39.7mpg and 163g/km (M140i) or 38.2mpg and 169g/km (M240i).
Pricing still looks competitive though, despite the new engine. The M140i is available now from £31,875, the M240i from £35,090 and the Convertible £38,535. You don't need us to remind you of the plethora of hot hatches available at the same money, or that the BMW is the only one to offer a six-cylinder engine and rear-wheel drive. It's always a tempting proposition! A replacement further depresses M135i values too; they're edging ever closer to £15K...
I may well order one in October for Christmas delivery when the Golf R goes back. I wonder if they'll do another colour. The current ones are a bit bland except Valencia, but I can't see me in that hue. Fingres crossed for Melbourne Red like the coupe.
On another note, I'm sure it will be a good car and hope Chris Harris manages to take time out of his Top Gear schedule to give us a video.
Some interesting info for the engine nerds here: http://s3.bimmerfile.com.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-conte...
I think it's just the nature of modern marketing. If they'd just quietly shoved the new engine in without changing the badge, no-one would have paid any attention. Giving it a new name gets them more press.
I think it's just the nature of modern marketing. If they'd just quietly shoved the new engine in without changing the badge, no-one would have paid any attention. Giving it a new name gets them more press.
I suppose they could have ditched the old naming convention completely and put the amount of power on the back but people don't like change.
Here's a topic where tuners discuss remapping the engine: http://www.n54tech.com/forums/showthread.php?t=375...
Since the M140i and 340i will share the same engine, I did a bit of research and found that their stock B58 340i did 330hp/460 Nm at the wheels compared to the old N55 engine which had 291hp/420 Nm on the same dyno.
A remap brought it to 390hp/510 Nm with regular gas.
With a remap + E30 fuel it is virtually identical to the stock M3/M4 engine.
Mind you those horsepower numbers are measured at the wheels, add at least 15% for comparable manufacturer ratings.
So it looks like these cars will have 375 bhp stock and 445 bhp remapped.
500 bhp with a remap and E30 fuel in a RWD shopping trolley. No LSD in sight.
For me hot hatches work best when they are simple and involving, not ballistic and detached. Everytime I've gotten out of it and in to my little Fiesta Zetec-S and had FAR more fun in that - the BMW is a better car in pretty much every regard, but it is too crushingly competent to really be fun on the road.
First, if you're having a traction issue, then you might want to consider softening the rear suspension, and fitting wider and stickier rear tyres. Or a remap to limit the torque in lower gears. But this is endemic to the big powerful front engine/rear wheel drive coupes: I once had a go in a C63 Black Edition, which was crap over a bumpy road as the rears just kept spinning up and destabilising the car ... not really my idea of fun when you keep having to feather the throttle.
Second, why does BMW persist with a naming strategy that no longer reflects the size of the engine, but still insists that the engine is fuel injected? I remember when the first i's came out and it was a big deal. Shouldn't we be talking about a BMW M130T or M230T here? They could follow VAG and change the colour of the t or T depending on how powerful it was, maybe silver 't', black 'T', red 'T' etc.
- new ZF 8HP Gen 2 gearbox (120i and 125i will also get this one)
- new Navigation layout (tiles, similar to the new 7 series nav)
- possibly Apple CarPlay (unconfirmed)
- built in WiFi LTE hotspot
- new iDrive touch controller
- new voice recognition
- wireless phone charging
To be honest the M140i xDrive looks like very good value for money, I just don't think I'd ever use all this power on the road. Also a bit odd of them to hold these changes back for a new model just one year after the facelift. A completely new engine, new gearbox and new nav is almost more a facelift on its own.
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