BMW M135i 2020 review: did they ruin it?

I'm Tom Baker, this is Chasing Cars, and to say that this vehicle next to me has big shoes to fill would be the understatement of 2019, and that's because this is the new BMW M135i, the model that sits at the top of the tree of the brand new generation of BMW 1 Series. Now, for the uninitiated, the 1 Series, the outgoing version, was the only hatch that you could buy with rear-wheel drive. That's been scrapped. This new version is a front-wheel drive vehicle. Yes, the top version, the M135i, has all-wheel drive, but the soul of this car is utterly different. Not necessarily worse, but certainly different. That's what we're going to be checking out in today's video. What is BMW's new hot hatch like from behind the wheel? But before we get to that point, we're going to do our usual thing. We'll check out the interior, have a look at how practical this vehicle is, especially because BMW's justification for ditching rear-wheel drive was to make this car more practical, and then we'll take this 225 kilowatt 2-litre turbo four-cylinder hot hatch out onto the roads here around Victoria's Yarra Valley and suss out exactly what the M135i is like to drive. But before we get started, if you haven't already subscribed, please do so below the video and hit that notification bell so you never miss any of our full-length Australian video car reviews. All right, let's jump inside. The main change to the interior of the 1 Series is that BMW have brought the new generation bang up to date with their current cabin design language, and that is basically a good thing, because even though you're buying, you know, the entry-level BMW performance car here, you are getting an interior that, for the most part, looks like it's come straight out of the more expensive 3 Series or even 5 Series. So that's pretty good for people who buy a 1 Series, and you're buying into sort of a bigger, more luxurious product here. Technology-wise, that means you've got twin 10.25-inch screens. This one's a touchscreen, but you still have a rotary iDrive controller with shortcuts down here. I still think BMW are the best in the biz for doing this in a really ergonomic way. But in terms of the screen in front of you, I loved the really intricate little analogue dials in the previous M140i. The new digital driver's display, you know, I think they got to do it in order to look modern, but it doesn't necessarily look or work that much better here. Nice steering wheel, but it's very chunky. Don't know who it is at BMW with such big hands, but my little paws apparently are not a match for theirs, but you have nice paddle shifters at least. But perhaps the crowning glory of this interior are these gorgeous seats. They're just like the ones that we liked and enjoyed together in the X2 M35i, which is basically just the SUV version of this car. It's a really sporty bucket design. We've got magma and black two-tone here, which I think looks just awesome. You can get more toned-down black seats or an Alcantara seat as well if you don't like leather, which is fair enough. The ergonomics are pretty good too. Driving position is nice, perhaps not as low as the old car, but still decent. Plus, you got decent storage, big cup holders, wireless smartphone charging, that's free. We've got a big centre box here with USB-C charging as well. But quickly, one point, we have wireless Apple CarPlay in this car. It's standard on even the base 1 Series, but only for a year. After a year, you have to cop up nearly $500 to get a three-year subscription, which I just think is really cheap for a luxury car company. BMW, don't do it. But what's this car like in the back? Now, when we all found out that this 1 Series was moving to a front-wheel drive platform, the proverbial monocle popped out of my eye and I spit out my cereal at the breakfast table. But BMW promised the justification was that you get a bigger back seat and a bigger boot, and they weren't telling porkies, you do. As you can see here, sitting behind my own driving position, behind this really cool tomb-like driver's seat, by the way, I've got more legroom for sure than I had in the old car. On the channel, you can find our review of the old M140i if you want to check out the difference for yourself. There's more legroom. Headroom is about the same. We've got the panoramic sunroof here, and I've got no issues as a six-foot-tall person. You could probably fit a third person in a little bit better than the old car, but it's still not great with a big hump in the floor down there. No center armrest either, which is a bit weird, but at least we have air vents in the back of the M135i. The 118i does not have those, but we also get the USB-C charge points that everybody in the car should have no problem with juicing up their devices. So, all in all, the back seat gets a thumbs up from me, especially because all those quality materials continue back here. As for the boot, it now measures a class-competitive 380 litres, though that is only up 20 litres on the old car. So, the new BMW M135i. Have they ruined it, or is this still a great hot hatch? Because we've got to talk through all of the parts of this vehicle that are radically different to the outgoing M140i that, at least here on Chasing Cars, we really loved. Because, as I mentioned up front, the 1 Series has been fundamentally changed from the last remaining rear-wheel-drive, longitudinally-engined hatch on the market, and it's now a more conventional transverse-engine, front-drive layout. Now, BMW have done what they can to preserve, like, some rear-wheel action on this top-end car, because the M135i can only be had with BMW's xDrive all-wheel-drive system, but there's no bones about it. This car starts life as front-wheel-drive, and then you can send some torque to the rear if or when it thinks it needs it. It is not a rear-drive car in any way, shape, or form. So, how does it drive? Very differently to the old car is the only way to put it. The engine is different, it's down two cylinders, and of course, the way it puts its torque to the ground is fundamentally changed. Does that necessarily mean it's worse? No, but it does mean it's a different car to drive. So, let's start with the engine. We've got BMW's most powerful four-cylinder yet, a two-litre unit, turbocharged, naturally producing 225 kilowatts of power and 450 newton-metres of torque. So, those outputs are down from the 250 kilowatts and 500 newton-metres that were being spat out by the previous 140i's three-litre inline six-cylinder engine. So, it was a real novelty to have such a small car with a six-pot engine up the front in this day and age, but that's now dead as a doornail. So, what does this four-cylinder feel like? Well, pretty good, actually. This is a standout four-cylinder engine. It's actually quite revvy, so it's a real joy to rev out, as we can do here. So, you know, it'll actually rev out past about six grand, so, you know, it's not sort of giving you everything just above idle, as some turbo engines do. There's a little bit of engagement to be had there. Sounds pretty good. There's a fair whack of artificial sound being pumped through, no doubt about it, but it's reasonably convincing. Gearbox-wise, there's a change as well. Still eight speeds. We've got a torque converter made by Aisin, so it's not a ZF, unlike most BMW torque converter autos, and it does a decent job. I'm not sure it's as crisp as the old ZF, but it's not anything to massively complain about. The shifts are snappy. We've got paddle shifters here on the wheel, so we can jump in and take control relatively easily. Now, in normal circumstances, like not going around this corner, in normal circumstances, the M135i is front drive. When it thinks you need torque to the rear, it'll send it there a little proactively, but it's still not, you know, permanent all-wheel drive or anything like that. That said, the corner I just went around before, if you really commit, like really commit on the throttle, there is a hint, a hint of oversteer available from the rear. That's nothing like the old car, which wanted to be sideways as much of the time as possible. It was a real lairy animal, the M140i. This one, it'll just give you a hint of rear wheel, of rear axle oversteer. Turn left here, see how we go. Second gear. Yeah, you get that characteristic snapback effect of torque being fed to the rear, but it's more subtle than before. That said, it's an engaging all-wheel drive system in sport mode. In comfort, it does seem very front biased, but in sport, it throws a bit more rearward, and it's actually quite fun to drive. It's just a lot more precise than the old 1 Series, and that will be great for most hot hatch buyers, because dynamics are more conventionally hot hatchy. So, turns in nicely. We've got less weight, considerably less weight over the nose than the old three litre. So, the turn-in is crisp, rolls onto its front outside tyre quite nicely. We've got fixed M Sport or M Performance suspension here. You can get adaptive dampers, but only if you step down to an 18-inch wheel. So, as standard, Australian delivered cars are on 19s, big wheel for a little car, and fixed dampers. The ride is actually a good well-judged mix of... Sorry, the ride is a well-judged mix of firm without being uncomfortable or crashy. Definitely, you know what's going on, but I actually think the M135i on 19s rides better than the 118i on 18s and fixed dampers, which is strange, but I'm guessing that they spend more money on those dampers and suspension components for the M Performance car. That's my guess. There's a bit of tyre noise. We're on Continental Premium Contact tyres here, not Sport Contact, which is an interesting detail, but there's a little tyre noise, but otherwise not much else. Everything's well screwed together. There's no sound of anything moving, and the cabin refinement is pretty impressive. Visibility's good. The way it steers has also been changed from the previous car, which had actually quite light and delicate steering. The new one, the steering is a lot more heavy and deliberate, even in comfort steering mode, so there's more effort required, definitely. It's still quite a quick rack, so as you turn in, you are getting quite a lot of steering for the money, but it is a lot heavier in my hands, and I actually quite liked the old lighter steering feel, but it's a personal preference thing, important to test drive. But yeah, the way it proceeds down a back road is quite nice. You know, you just fire out of corners. The four-cylinder comes on song pretty nicely. There's plenty of traction. You just get that hint of rear-wheel involvement. It's definitely traded away its competitive advantage. I make absolutely no bones about it. It's nothing like the old rear-wheel drive car. It's not to say it's worse, it's just different. You know, with the old car, if you wanted a rear-drive hot hatch, that was the only one you could buy. In this space, if you want a hot hatch with about 200 kilowatts of power, 10% more than that, front drive, you know, there's a ton of options. Golf R, S3, A35 Merc, Focus, the two Focuses, the i30 N. They've given themselves a lot more competition. It's actually harder for them. This car is definitely in that mix, but I look forward to comparing it back to back with some of the other great hot hatches out there. Now, a quick word on the safety stuff. They've given an impressive safety package. We've got adaptive cruise. We've got lane keep, which is a bit interventionist for my liking. And for the first time on a 1 Series, you've got blind spot monitoring and rear cross-traffic alert as well. Look, if you've been subscribed for a while, you know that I don't kill the lily and I tell you guys exactly how it is. And there's no avoiding that the new M135i is a really different car to the rear drive M140i that it replaces. However, it isn't worse. What BMW have done is they've made a hot hatch that's altogether more focused. The M140i was a real loose unit that made it very fun to drive, but it didn't necessarily make it a great hot hatch. The new M135i is faster down a great bit of road. It's more manageable to drive. It's got more tech inside and it's that little bit more practical. Now, if you're looking for something that was really balls out, BMW still have plenty of rear drive cars. There's still the M2. The 2 Series is going to remain rear drive for the coupe and convertible. So you've got your options. If not having a rear drive hot hatch is the thing that's going to put you off, sadly, the rest of the market has already disappeared, which is kind of sad. But what I can say is that new M135i is a high achieving hot hatch and it certainly deserves a test drive if you're looking at something like a Golf R, an S3 or a Mercedes-AMG A35. Now, if you haven't subscribed, please do so below the video. Hit that notification bell. You never miss one of our full-length Australian video car reviews. Leave me a comment. Let me know your opinion on the M135i. And as always, thanks for watching. Transcribed by https://otter.ai