It was clear, back at the end of 2012, that BMW was sure to have a smash hit on its hands with the F20-era M135i. It was surprisingly affordable, it was fantastically fast thanks to a turbo straight six, it was rear-wheel drive, it was… acceptable to look at. Let’s say that. But after trying and failing with a 3 Series Compact and the first generation of 1 Series, BMW finally had a straight six hatch that people really wanted to buy. Turns out all they needed to offer was 320hp for £30,000.
The Mk7 Golf R arrived not long after, and sales of both sometimes made it seem like no other hot hatches existed. Wherever you went, the BMW and the VW were there in droves, because both offered really nice interiors and loads of speed for not much money. And some good pop and bang maps, if that was your thing. Or a six-speed manual gearbox as standard, if that was more your thing.
Both M135i and M140i, though not perfect, were immensely likeable little cars, traditional BMW hot rods for the modern age. They weren’t the best hot hatches to drive (thanks to sub par steering and damping), they weren’t the most practical hatches ever (because of having to contain such a big engine) and BMW never made a truly handsome one, but it didn’t matter. With four-cylinder M Performance 1 Series really not hitting the mark and plentiful secondhand sixes, the M135i and M140i have become used cars heroes.
This is one of the best we’ve seen for a while. And we’re looking a lot more than is really advisable. It’s a Melboure Red three-door manual, for starters, far from the most popular spec and all the more interesting for it. The eight-speed auto is of course very good, and five doors are handy, but for full old school cool this must be the way to go.
There’s around 470hp as well, a useful uptick from the standard M140’s 340hp. But given seemingly no BMW B58 engine on the planet is unmodified, that’s not the big news here. Nope, the big news is the raft of chassis changes made to take full advantage. The seller notes in the advert that everything has been done to address ‘all the out-of-the-box handling inadequacies’, and it’s hard to imagine very much slop or slack left in this now. There are KW V3 coilovers, Yokohama R888R tyres, BMW’s M Performance limited slip diff, uprated bushes, more bracing, H&R anti-roll bars, braided lined, racier pads, a stronger clutch… you get the idea. It’s a pretty serious build, probably delivering something like an M1 experience never offered from the factory.
Certainly it looks the part, wheels tucked up right in the arches and ride height perfect. All the modifications have been carried out in the past year; the intention was for the BMW to stick around, but the arrival of another child has put paid to the seller’s plans somewhat. So it looks a great opportunity for someone else, with a rare spec and some nice upgrades. It’s not the cheapest way into an M140i, but £17,500 is a lot less than it would cost to create something like this from scratch. And all the new bits have only covered around 2,000 miles or so. It promises to be a mega little BMW for someone, and good ones are surely going to remain in demand for a while yet. After all, what else like it is there?
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