Written by Luke Wilkinson Updated: 11 December 2024

After a brief period of automotive nomadism, our Deputy Editor, Luke Wilkinson, has a new long-termer. It sounds like it’s right up his street, too – at least on paper. It’s small, it’s powerful and sporty. But does it live up to expectations, or will it leave Luke completely cold? Scroll down to find out.

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Update one: Welcome

As a devout Italian car tragic, it pains me to admit how much I like the second-generation M140i. I find it hilarious how brazenly BMW flew in the face of convention. Back in 2011, its rival brands were downsizing and dropping turbocharged 2.0-litre petrol engines into their front-wheel drive hatchbacks, but BMW was busying itself cramming a detuned M3 straight-six under the bonnet of its rear-wheel drive 1 Series to create the only hot hatch for serious drivers.

Sadly, BMW has changed the formula for its current fast 1 Series, the M135. Now, the car is following the crowds. It’s based on the same platform as the MINI Cooper and powered by a hopped-up version of the Cooper S’s 2.0-litre petrol engine. Plus, the engine has been yoked to a far less tail-happy front-biased four-wheel drive system. These changes make the M135 a more natural rival for the Volkswagen Golf R, but they’ve also killed the car’s unique selling point.

Don’t just take my word for it, though. Just look at the reaction from the company’s fans. When the current-generation M135 was launched back in 2019, these simple dynamic adjustments over the outgoing M140i made BMW’s most loyal enthusiasts storm their internet forums to hurl vitriol at the company’s engineers.

I haven’t really got a horse in this race, so I’m not about to spend the next 1,000 words lamenting the death of BMW’s commitment to rear-wheel drive. However, I am interested in learning whether BMW has managed to defend its position as the driver’s hot hatchback.

To find out, I’ll be looking after this M135 for the next four months. And, having recently spent some time with the Honda Civic Type R, facelifted Volkswagen Golf R and Toyota GR Yaris, I reckon Munich is facing its toughest challenge yet. Scroll down to find out why.

Tell us more about your M135

I’m looking after a facelifted M135 (not to be confused with the pre-facelift M135i – ‘i’ is now reserved for electric cars in BMW parlance), which means its performance specs are less impressive than they were. When the car broke cover in 2019, its engine developed 306hp and 450Nm of torque. But my revised car lost 6hp and 50Nm as part of its update. I understand the power deficit is to help squeak the car through ever-tightening emissions tests, but it’s disappointing when the Volkswagen Golf R received a 13hp boost when it was facelifted.

Despite the detune, my M135 can still get from 0–62mph in 4.9 seconds and hit a top speed of 155mph. It’s got a decent amount of punch in the mid-range, too, although I reckon it lacks the outright urgency of the Golf R. I’m finding the engine to be noticeably lazier – and I’m having to spend more time planning my overtakes on the motorway. With the Golf, you can just mash the throttle and ride the wave of torque.

I’m not exactly smitten with my car’s spec, either. Its bodywork is finished in BMW’s ‘Individual Frozen Pure Grey’ matte paint while its cabin is trimmed in red leather upholstery. If it was my own car, I’d have probably painted it blue and trimmed the cabin in black leather. The black interior finish is a lot classier, while metallic paint is far easier to maintain.

What do you like about it so far?

I’ve only had it a couple of weeks so I’m still learning all its quirks. However, I’m impressed by how comfortable it is. Granted, that’s not something I’d normally focus on in a hot hatch review, but the M135 has great seats and fantastic door seals that cancel out almost all the noise whipping around the windscreen pillars.

The infotainment system is good, too. I miss the iDrive rotary controller you’ll find in larger BMWs, but the M135’s setup is logical enough. I like how BMW had the common sense to fix the climate control menu at the bottom of the screen and I adore the physical hotkeys on the centre console that allow you to jump directly to the driver assist menu and disengage lane assist with a single prod.

BMW did a decent job on the sound system, too. Every M135 comes with a Harman/Kardon stereo and it’s great. I’d like a little more bass, (Steve Harris’ thunderous bass lines are being smothered by the treble) but there’s plenty of depth in the mid-range and the higher frequencies aren’t too tinny.

What’s annoying you?

How conformist it is. Hot hatchbacks should be a little antisocial, but the M135 is about as rowdy as your local parish book club. The noise it makes it particularly disappointing. All car manufacturers are now hamstrung by EU noise regulations that state car exhausts can’t be louder than 70dB. To put that figure into perspective, that’s about the same amount of noise generated by your vacuum cleaner.

For an average urban runabout, that’s probably fair enough. But it feels criminal for a hot hatchback to be that quiet – and I’m sure I’m not alone when I say that I’d be willing to sacrifice some refinement for a snarlier exhaust and a noisier intake.

BMW has tried to compensate for this with a synthetic noise generator. It pipes a bassier exhaust tone and some artificial pops and bangs into the rear of the cabin to give the illusion of a louder exhaust, but it isn’t very convincing. I hunted out the off switch in the infotainment system within 15 minutes of getting the keys and I haven’t turned it back on since.

I’m also not in love with the way it drives. It’s quite… sterile. The controls are rather numb and the steering doesn’t offer much feedback, which means I’m finding it challenging to put my trust in the chassis. I’m sure I’ll get used to it eventually, but it feels alien for now.

A mixed start to M135 ‘ownership,’ then. Check back in a few weeks to find out whether I’ve changed my tune.

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Update two: Battle scars

I don’t really understand why matte paint is so popular. You’re paying a huge chunk of extra money for a load of extra hassle. Matte paint isn’t as hard-wearing as gloss or metallic paint as it doesn’t have any lacquer to protect the base colour from the elements. That means it’s easy to damage and expensive to fix – as I recently found out.

My M135 has suffered some collateral damage. My house was built beneath a fiercely contested region of airspace in which Northamptonshire’s red kites and pigeons are locked in an endless dogfight. It’s a bit one-sided, though. The kites are talented predators and the pigeons are thicker than mince, which means I often find a deconstructed ball of feathers and bones on my doorstep.

Their latest tussle dragged my long termer into the crosshairs. The pigeons have recently started sitting on the roof of my car to bask in the sun. The kites quickly realised this and started hovering above my house to wait for an easy lunch, staying hidden from their hapless prey by circling in the sun like Spitfire pilots.

When the hunter finally pounced, the M135’s thin paint couldn’t defend itself from the scuffle. The kite’s talons clawed right through the pigeon, carving chunks out my car’s topcoat in the process – and the ensuing struggle between the two parties spread the area of impact across more than foot of the roof rails. As the image above illustrates.

If my M135 had normal paint, I could just break out the polish out and buff through the scratches to repair the damage. But matte paint isn’t anywhere near as forgiving. Trying to buff the scars out would only make them worse, meaning this panel will need to be repainted.

I called all my local panel shops for quotes but most weren’t even prepared to touch the car because of how unforgiving matte paint is to work with. You can’t blend it and you can’t touch it up, which means repainting the entire roof rail. That means plenty of masking, a lot of sanding and a loads of faff.

After a full afternoon of chasing quotes, I managed to find one for around £300. That’s almost 15% the cost of the paint from the factory for a repair to less than 5% of the car’s metalwork. Feel free to form your own opinions, but I think far that’s too steep a price to pay for the simple benefit of looking a bit like Batman.

My advice? Don’t get dragged into the hype. Save your cash and stick with normal paint.

Current mileage	4,028
Real-world average fuel economy	29.5mpg
Official combined fuel economy (WLTP figures)	34.0–37.2mpg
Car joined Parkers fleet	April 2025