2020 BMW M135i: Not what we're used to from BMW, but that's no bad thing

[MUSIC] Welcome to confections brand new long term BMW M135i. Now I ran a BMW M135i A couple of years ago is a long time, but that was rear wheel drive and then had a six cylinder engine under the bonnet up front. This has a turbocharged four cylinder engine under the bonnet. And, well power is going to all four wheels, more of that in a bed. That turbocharged four cylinder is BMW V48 engine, which was also in the mini GP that we featured recently. It puts out 302 brake horsepower and 332 pounds for the talk, which are decent numbers, but around 10% down on the old M146 cylinder. However, BMW claims that the four cylinder weighs over 30 kilos less, which should be good for the handling. As for the sound, well on startup, it's quite raucous and actually not unlike the old engine, but after that It's a little less inspiring. Like so many cars these days, it's a soft sound. There's never a sound that kind of has a raw edge to it, because of the turbo chargers and the particular filters. [BLANK_AUDIO] Nonetheless, He's gonna control unpleasant. [BLANK_AUDIO] Performance wise but not 60 in 4.8 seconds and flat out 155 miles an hour. I'd say 4.8 actually feels quite a conservative claim. It really is quick. There's no manual option boo. But the speed also near does a decent job of snapping up and down through the shifts. the right height of the M 135 has been lowered by 10 millimeters compared to the standard one series and there is some extra bracing both front and rear as well as larger anti roll bars. But given that this has got a firmer suspension, actually and rides really nicely, is a decent plan to do. We've got the adaptable suspension on there. So we've got two suspension modes. But you can also choose the individual mode to tailor it. So generally for sports, I've been leaving. In the softer suspension mode because that feels just better basically for certainly these bumpy roads around today. If you do pin sport is not unpleasant is Japanese just a bit firmer and more resolute over the bumps. But obviously then you get a bit more control in the corners as well. You don't have to wait for the car to settle into suspension quite so much so you just get a bit more accurate Talking of which this is actually got quicker steering. So standard one series is 15 to one this is 40 to 1000 steering rack. Now is saying this is got x driver power again to all four wheels, but unlike some of the x drives, this is very much Front lead, so it's front wheel drive until it needs to send torque to the rear wheels. And even when it can send torque to the rear wheels, it only does so up to a 5050 split front rear. So this is very much because it's being pulled from the front, not pushed from the rear. Unlike the old And 135 iWeb 140 is it became [BLANK_AUDIO] so what's it like in the corners given that it's obviously not rear wheel drive it's pretty much front wheel drive. Well, you won't be surprised to hear that. It drives like a front wheel drive cars. He's nice and accurate and again sits into a suspension nicely. You can get quite mobile that rear end is a multilink set up at the rear, but it's all off throttle. So you turn in, lift off the throttle and you can feel it come round. It seems you get on the throttle everything straightens out and it's just maximum traction out of the corner. It's very strange he's you do come into it expecting probably rear biased x drive, but you can definitely feel a bit of torque so we've got an awesome diff on the front axle and get on the power you can feel just the front just something slightly one way and then the other on a bumpy road. Which is not something you expect in a BMW. [LAUGH] [BLANK_AUDIO] What else to mention about this car? Well, it's actually slightly shorter than the old 1 Series, but only by about five millimeters. But there's definitely, there is more room in here and it feels like there's more room in here. So a bit of extra leg room, a slightly bigger boot as well. And yeah it feels like a more grown up car without feeling much bigger on the road which is good because sometimes when you get a car that feels more areas side sometimes it can feel like a wider car on the road but this is doesn't just nice. The base price for an M 135 is 34,995 pounds. But as you would expect, ours has come with a few options including the storm Bay metallic paint, which adds 560 pounds. Then there is the one and a half thousand pounds for the comfort to pack which gives you things like a heated steering wheel, a powered bootlid and electrically adjustable front seats. Meanwhile, the 1500 pound technology pack and such niceties as adaptive LED headlights, parking assistant and a head up display, which I'm definitely a fan of. The aforementioned adaptive suspension is 500 pounds and the panoramic sunroof is 1000 pounds as as the driving assistant safety package. Finally, the Harman Kardon surround sound system cost 750 pounds, bringing the total price for this car to 42,405 pounds. [MUSIC] The other M highlights in here, well, obviously you've got this stripes that [UNKNOWN] on Seat belts here and these high one piece back seats in here which are fine. They're not amazing but seem to hold you reasonably well. And yeah, feel pretty comfortable driving position itself is an odd one. I think it feels pretty good. It feels pretty low. Just occasionally the view out makes you think you're sitting high but then every time you get back in again you think No, this this right in the wheel comes out a decent amount of way and so as adjustable as you want and you think you can find a really good driving position then just at times you feel like you're sitting a bit high, but then a lot of times you feel like you're sitting nicely down in the car. Is that Curious while I'm not quite sure about that, have spent a bit more time with it. And obviously, we will be as this is a long term, I will come to other things where we deal with the entertainment system and what it's like to live with on a daily basis. Is in another video. For now though, first impressions after damage are really pretty good. It's not what we're used to from BMW and it might not stand out from the crowd quite like the old one, but I enjoy driving it. So it's a corner and it's a really keen front end How you just feel it is, is nicely adjustable front and rear. It's all of a piece. [SOUND] This is a good hot hatch for all those people who will bemoan the fact that it's not rear wheel drive and doesn't have a six cylinder. Me absolutely amongst those people cuz I bet that was a wonderful thing to have the option to have. But On his own merits, this is a good Hodge. [BLANK_AUDIO]