The BMW 1-Series began its life back in 2004 when the 3-Series was moving up in the world and BMW needed another small family car to serve as an entry model. It started off as a 5-door hatchback, but was introduced as a 2-door coupe, a 3-door hatchback, and a convertible in 2007.
The current engine selection consists of a 3.0L I-6 producing 230hp and 200 lb-ft of torque, and a 3.0L twin turbo I-6 producing 300hp and 300 lb-ft of torque. Both engines are mated to either a six-speed manual or a six-speed automatic transmission.
BMW’s hot little 1-Series M Coupe has been getting plenty of attention from a variety of tuners these days and the kits keep coming. Italian tuner, Romeo Ferraris, is next on the list and their new upgrade kit brings a bit more heat to the sports coupe at a seemingly reasonable price.
Romeo Ferraris has opted to remap the new twin-turbocharged, all-aluminum, 3.0-liter inline-6 engine’s ECU to get some extra push, as well as add a new 85 mm high-performance exhaust system that provides for the elimination of pre-catalysts and four output terminals. The result is an additional 52 HP and 59 lb-ft, bringing the 1-Series M Coupe’s power to a total of 392 HP at 5,900 rpm and a peak torque of 390 lb-ft between 1,500 and 4,500 rpm.
As of right now, Romeo Ferraris has not provided a price for their BMW 1-Series M Coupe tuning kit, but it is rumored to be the cheapest kit for the sports coupe on the market.
With all the tuning programs being added to the BMW 1-Series M Coupe, it seemed a little odd that AC Schnitzer - one of the best BMW tuners on the planet - still hadn’t come out with anything for the baby M. Turns out, they were just waiting for the 2011 Frankfurt Motor Show to introduce their first project for the 1-Series M Coupe.
Well, Frankfurt has come and we finally have an idea on the aftermarket work AC Schnitzer did on the 1-Series M Coupe. Their new package has a mix of just about everything you can look for in a tuning program. Aerodynamic additions offer plenty of stylized improvements while performance and handling modifications ratcheted up the car’s already impressive powertrain and suspension set-up.
There’s a lot to love about AC Schnitzer’s first take on the 1-Series M Coupe. Kind of makes us think long and hard on if it’s going to be worth our hard-earned money.
More on the BMW 1-Series M Coupe by AC Schnitzer after the jump.
If you happened to work at a BMW dealership and had to look at the beautiful 1-Series M Coupe hour upon hour every day, chances are you’d be extremely tempted to extract the keys from their little hook and take the new sports coupe out for a little test drive. Two employees from Pacific BMW in Glendale were unable to resist that temptation, not only taking the new M Coupe for a test drive, but pushing it to its twin-turbocharged 340 HP limit.
Now imagine if you were the excited customer that just purchased their brand new BMW and were then called by the dealership manager to hear the news of the employees’ debacle of a test drive. Pissed? Sure would be, especially because proof of the extreme test drive was delivered to YouTube by the employees who were too pumped up by the experience to realize it would not be a good idea to tape it and splatter it all over the internet. Idiots.
The BMW employees were obviously fired, but Pacific BMW has bigger problems; the BMW 1-Series M Coupe comes with a warning letter from the factory advising against excessive revving and speeding prior to 1,200 miles. Now the customer who purchased the famous 1-Series M Coupe is demanding that $10,000 be refunded to him for the high-speed hijinks, which is the same amount paid over the base price of the 1M. According to the disgruntled customer, the dealership claims that no damage was done to the vehicle and that they would only refund him $2,000. This is the part where lawyers were called to solve the issue. No compromise has been achieved as of yet.
We’re not taking any sides because there’s always multiple sides to every story, but we’d be pretty angry if we found out our $50,000 sports car was pushed to its limits 10 days before we even walked into the dealership to purchase it. Let us know what you guys think in the comments section below. Is a $10,000 refund a fair price for the dealership to pay?
By the way, this video of the test drive contains excessive cursing, so make sure you are old enough to watch it.
One of the most impressive models at BMW’s stand at the Frankfurt Motor Show was a BMW Performance Studie based on the new 1-Series. The new equipment improves the dynamic appearance and sporty driving characteristics of the 1-Series and will include a motorsport-inspired suspension and brake system, an aerodynamics package, and a completely restyled interior.
The list of accessories include a BMW Performance aerodynamics package, a BMW Performance suspension, and a new BMW Performance 18-inch brake system that will improve both weight and high thermal resistance. The new brake system will be combined with a new set of 19-inch BMW Performance light alloy wheels, while the interior gets a BMW Performance steering wheel.
Now, on to power, the BMW Performance components always include updates for the power train, suspension, aerodynamics, and cockpit, so BMW is offering an upgrade package for the 135i versions. The BMW Performance power kit includes a modified engine management system that will increase the 3.0-liter unit’s output by 20 HP, up to a total of 326 hp.
The long wait endured for the release of the 1-Series M Coupe was far too much to bear, but the array of tuning packages released shortly thereafter have lead to a case of amnesia towards BMW’s procrastination. No matter how grandiose the sports coupe was at inception, tuning companies are always game to raise the bar. One such company is APP Europe. The German tuner has updated both the exterior and the interior of the 1-Series M Coupe, as well as provided an extra 70 HP to satiate our rubber burning desires.
The BMW’s 340 HP twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter inline-six engine was given the added boost with larger intercoolers and a lightweight titanium exhaust system with a new muffler inlet pipe, Metallkats with larger diameter. These features bring the output up to 410 HP. The added snarl gets tamed using a new braking system with 6 piston calipers on the front axle and 4 piston calipers on the rear axle. Weight reduction and traction are added with ATS super light wheel rims and a set of P Zero tires by Pirelli.
The look of the car is altered with a cool white exterior paint job combined with black and orange stripes. THe interio is also modified with the use of lightweight seats covered in BMW-Performance artificial leather and a BMW-Performance steering wheel with display.
The full conversion is priced out at €14,000 or about $20,000 at the current exchange rates.
