BMW 1M Coupe – The Best BMW Car Ever Built?
The BMW 1M Coupe is one of the most limited models ever built by the wizards in Garching. It was born out of a secret project which was unknown to most of the company’s bosses. The legend says that some BMW M engineers decided to build the ultimate track car and used most of the E92 M3 parts for the 1M.
The result was a fantastic sports coupe which arrived in 2011 and it was sold out in most markets.
BMW was originally going to release the 1M as a limited production model of 2,700 units. Then due to overwhelming demand, the company lifted the cap and produced a total of 6309 cars until production ended in June 2012.
Nevertheless, production of the 1M Coup stopped in June 2012, with 740 units sold in the US and a further 220 sold in Canada. Total 6309 cars sold worldwide.
The development time of the engine was very short – engineers took only about a year to build it if not less, beginning in October 2009. In December 2009 the decision was made to build the 1M. Took around 1 year to develop and test the car. M cars utilize the Nurburgring circuit for extensive testing. All the testing needed to be completed in Spring and Summer before bad weather starts.
BMW 1M: All the info you need to know
The BMW 1M is powered by the N4 twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter I-6 engine. For the 1M, the turbocharger, exhaust system, and ECU have been revised to produce 335 horsepower and 332 pound-feet of torque, though up to 369 pound-feet are available temporarily in overboost mode. Redline is found at 7000 rpm.
The M button on steering wheel offers a more aggressive throttle response by changing engine mapping of N54B30TO engine.
In 2011, the nearest competitor was probably the Porsche Cayman S, however, BMW said at the time that no competitors were considered when building the car – the purpose was to build cars the customers would want to drive.
And that’s exactly what they did.
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