So, It was reviews like yours which made me confident that the M140i was the right car for me. I managed to pick up a low mileage, 1 owner, 2017 M140i auto with adaptive suspension, a few months ago, for £20,000 exactly. I wanted something which wouldn't ruin me financially, and could be a reasonable daily driver, practical, and not too 'shouty'. I have owned several BMW's and previously had an E91 320d m-sport touring, which was reliable (M47 engine), economical, and actually quite a brilliant do-it-all car, just slow, heavy, and absolutely no fun at all. Having owned 'quick' cars (many BMW's) previously, I looked at the various options and drove as many of them as I could. The obvious Golf R, quick and also discreet. I found it very 'meh', it was fast, but didn't feel fast, it was just a bit uninspiring, clinical, and actually a bit boring. The Audi S3 (the RS3 was out of my price range), was not a bad looking car, but the driving position was not as good for me as the BMW's, and actually pushing on a bit in one was a disappointment. The understeery reputation is very justified, and it just did not have any fun factor on a twisty road. The Mercedes A35 were a bit pricey. but I could stretch to a higher mileage one. They are fast enough, but my god, the interior I found to be very gash, way too blingy for me, and although they are quick, it just didn't make me smile. So, the M140i. Smiles-per-miles thing thing is on another level to anything in the same class. It's not perfect, it's a 1 series, and the doors creak a bit, the trim has some small rattles from everywhere, the leather seats (or *Pleather* as I call them), are not the best quality, although the shape is just perfect and driving position spot on. The Engine is just brilliant. Compared to the earlier M135i yes it's not as revvy as you say, and peak power comes in earlier and slightly drops off right at the top of the rev limit, but the torque from 2k is much better and makes it much faster in real-world driving. The auto gearbox is outstanding. Yes, every now and again it does hold on to gears while driving slowly when it really should change up, and it might not be quite as millisecond fast as the best DCT's .... but ...... for a torque converter it is just bloody brilliant. The car is fast enough stock, but I couldn't resist a cheeky remap to 'cough cough' well over 400bhp and almost 600nm torque, and now it is just a missile, although I need a limited slip diff even more now that I did before. So, I shall be getting a LSD and underbody brace fitted, which should not really affect it's daily driver feel, but turn it into a real RS3 / A45s competitor for about half the price. Yet, I can still park it anywhere, and unless somebody is a petrolhead and knows what the twin exhausts, silver mirrors, and front vent mean, everyone else just sees it as a 118d m sport, which is something I absolutely love. Is it my perfect car ? Yes it is.

Glad you are back, usual high quality review of a 'normalish' car with your opinion but none of the outlandish BS or pointless brashness. Appreciate your high quality and highly watchable video, looking forward to the update regarding the 964

Excellent review I like the detail you have gone into.

I do love the M140 look and engine, a real gem, when I could drive it , that is, rather that going for my weekly shopping because of covid19. I am also happy that you spared the life of that pheasant at 09:55, that was a close shave, this is also a beautiful animal, in a very different way than the M140 ;-) Great review with a lot of context info. Thanks

Lovely Jubbly, a honest review of a car, they're not all perfect like some other vlogs you watch.

picking my 2013 m135i up this week! thanks for the review, helped with my decision.... as well as the test drive! :')

Good honest review bro 👍🏻

Lol 😂 👍 I love your out takes!! Keep up the good work

Wonderful video. Thanks for posting this.

Very good review. I have a pre LCI 3 door manual with non adaptive suspension. Another great aspect of these cars is that they are very easy to tune and modify. Mine has the Motec performance upgrades (Springs, spacers, air filter and Remus Power Riser black box). Allows the car to move slightly closer to M2 dynamics at a fraction of the cost of an actual M2.

Great review as always Jack ! You are a BBC grade car aficionado and I hope to see you one day on TV :) Cheers

Great honest opinions 👍🏻

Great review

Sounds amazing

Excellent review!!

Love an N55! I have M135i ewg 2014 447hp on 19s and h&r springs, once above 400hp these are pretty much supercar catchers.. decat only is needed to really here that beautiful 6 pot BMW engine sing! Without doubt one of best BMW engines made 👌

These cars are awesome. I love mine.

The only hatchbacks I would ever consider, RWD is a must. I do much prefer the old N54 135i though

Great little review, cheers ;-)

Sounds amazing 👍

Ha ha love the bloopers Jack 🤣 that 140 is lovely a customer of mine has got a M2 in a lovely blue/green colour it's amazing car, The good old Germans know how to make some top drawer cars 😃

Awesome review

Absolutely brilliant little cars

I have a 68 plate M140i Shadow which is a brilliant piece of kit. I miss the space in my previous 64 plate 535d Touring but for sheer fun and grunt the little 1er is hard to top. Quite practical aswell, my wife and 2 little ones fit in without much trouble and it has taken a massive IKEA desk + chair boxed up, never thought I'd squeeze it all in that day but I did. Can't see me leaving BMW now. My next car is likely to be something like a 530e Touring in a couple of years time. We shall see, gutted that the state is forcing everyone down the electric route but I can't fix it on my own. Thanks for the content 27

Love your work Jack, I missed your vids on your recent sabbatical, so hope you're back for a little while at least. My only critique was that you never gave us an explanation as to why you didn't like the E46 (don't be too harsh, I have one), but I guess that was early #27 days. I like what you've done to your 964, losing the 4 wheel drive too. Your outakes had me actually laughing, 'not easy that . .

The LSD was never a factory option. You could ask the dealer to fit it after delivery however.

Great video

BMW were cheap with the chassis probably because of cost. Strut bar, lower front and rear bracing + rear subframe bushing upgrades (inserts or full replacements) make a massive difference. After doing the upgrades, it is so fun to throw it around corners (as one would expect from a hot hatch!).

Loved my 2013 car. Sold it two years ago for a Giulia QV. Mine had Birds Anti roll bars and a Quaife diff, Auto, Pro Nav, HK sound and plenty of other options. Great cars, great value.

"mini GT car more than out and out track car" - "big engine that goes against the grain of other hot hatches" - it's a Focus ST225 for the 2010s! Loads of character, potential future classic.

Great helpful video thank you. I see you have a booster seat and baby seat in the back, have you got any pictures of them in situ? Thanks Mike.

Great review and I think it touches on a lot of key things which most reviews don't understand / put forward... I will say however that some key parts were not mentioned, primarily the fact its an extremely practical car. It doesn't have the pedigree of 2 series variants, and for the cost the e90 M3 is more of a drivers car... But the m135i is a 'civilised hooligan' which is 'dad spec'... I see it as a tight micro estate with plenty of grins and the potential to turn into some mean e.g. Springs, lsd, short shift, remaps etc.

Very interesting, looking to get one of these next year. By the way some old fella stole your car, luckily he was caught on camera.

My gf has the 120d with sport pack and it has to be said its a lot nicer to drive than her old audi a3 tdi quattro, this thing feels like it has its full power whereas the audi felt 30 hp down, it doesnt understeer like the audi and it goes around corners balanced on throttle nicely. I wish id got the 135i/140i before my c63 - perhaps ill take a job that requires more milage and ill get one as a second car. I see their prices rising a fair bit now the shoddy xdrive 135i is here.

Im planning on selling mine soon, instead of an LSD I upgraded to wider wheels (9.5j rear with 265 tires) and it handles the power fantastically (370bhp now).

Good video

Hi. great review. I still have my 2012. It’s a great all rounder. Can fang it down the back roads or drive for hours on motorway. Like you said, a mini GT car.

Is your car on run flats? If it is I would strongly recommemd changing, it transformed my Z4.

how is the adaptive suspension working in the system? you select by selecting drive mode and it adjust itself automatically?

Bought my manual 140 after really wanting a 718 but worried I would regret the noise. The 140 was a no brainer not laggy like the 718 and 35 horses more for 20 k less with a pleasant sounding engine . Ok so. It doesn't handle like the 718 but for 20 k less I can live with that. I went with adaptive ,heated seats estoril Blue and kept the rest standard . The nav and stero are fine for my use. Great fun to drive. Steering better in sport than comfort . And great fun in the wet even without the slippy diff

The biggest questions is xdrive or rwd? I heard about some issues with the xdrive (can’t drive tires with more than 1.5mm wear, ...)

Great video. The main reason I owned a M135i was for the straight 6 turbo and RWD. It’s a box a really wanted to tick in a market full of 4pots with fwd/AWD. I over saw the subjective looks and the dull dull interior for those reasons. I’m just wondering how the new M135i will appeal now with fwd and a 4 pot? BMW have taken away the only aspects of why most people bought one in a saturated market of sameness.

"Think of it as a mini GT", I couldn't have said it better!

Nice video, what should I rather get m140i or m140i? What car would be more reliable for everyday use?

Any idea how you can tell how they have an LSD?

So the N55 and the B58 are similar? I disagree, the B58 as a lot of more low end grunt. The torque difference is very noticeable. Also i think the sound is pretty great - that's why i opted for the useless audio system - i don't need it. Also yes you can blame the ZF8spd, because it becomes terribly slow when you want to downshift 3+ gears in manual mode.

I'm thinking to get one this summer. I'm busy until June but then I'll start hunting for one

As someone who sells a lot of cars in the UK, how do you go about it? Do you sell private and if so what websites do you find the best? Looking to sell my 1M and dealers are offering poor money on them

M135i and a 964, not a bad shout at all sir. The LCI 135 is the sweet spot imo, prefer the N55 to the B58. Had a late model pre LCI one and loved it. Needs an LSD, and fatter rear tires, they look excellent with meatier rubber on the back. The underbody brace is easy to fit and very noticeable, can also sort out M4 lower control arms for better front end. Better dampers make a big difference. Obviously an exhaust is excellent on these cars. I have a ton of time for these, modern classic in my eyes and shockingly underappreciated for a long time. You actually see a lot of 140s about now but a few years ago the 135s were a rare sight. I will own another one some day, the perfect perfect daily for me but I don't have need for one atm.

Next gen 4Pot Turbo and AWD?? So just like any other hot hatch these days.. Will be really interesting to see how the prices of these cars evolve in the future. Could be anything from searched for gem to no interest at all.

I have an M135i (October 2013) and I get around 30mpg on the motorway and around 20mpg in the city. The best and worst I've seen is 35mpg and 15mpg. so in the real world, I would say the average mpg is 25.

I’m surprised you think a manual will make the car harder to sell. Personally I always filter by manual and 3 door when looking at hot hatches.

What is he talking about ? You don’t need more power in the 140i?

Or just buy the Shadow edition 👍🏻

Such a shame there is no feel from the steering wheel

I ran a new M135i LCI for a year and hated it. Changed to a manual Golf GTI and never looked back.

Not very good with cars, but could anyone tell me what the difference is between an M sport 1 series and a M135i?

Bought a m135i LCI auto. Best decision ever!

Ended up with 2 german cars....plus the sprite ?

M135i or Audi S3? I can’t make my mind up

That’s a future classic, now BMW 1 series will be 4 cyl non rear wheel drive, the 6 pot RWD will be the cars to own, all other series BMs are simply to lardy nowadays

torque Converter, NO steering feel, Open diff. the Post 2009 hot bmws serve only one purpose: keep e46s desireable.

buyers in France puted rubbish options like sono Harman k, lights, auto gear box but not the dif. F**k. It s the most important option

Enjoying all the new vids. Wondered if you looked at the 228i? The Road and Track review reckons it's more nimble and chuckable www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/a29245/bmw-2-series-comparison-test/

BMW inline6 counts among the finest engines ever. Though sound was better then, when still naturally aspirated , same with 911.

A little gt not a hot hatch. Lasts good hot hatches clio 3 rs, 208 gti BPS, fiesta st mk6, mini jcw gp, audi s1

I absolutely disagree that you need the LSD, had mine for 2 years and never had a single issue.

Can’t fault the engine but just don’t like the look of the 1 series.

These are good road cars, and fast, but it's no M Car. I had one on track for the day and is was pretty disappointing if I am honest.

Ive a 330d amongst other motor's. I had a couple of drives of my pals m140i and can honestly say that it was so underwhelmed . Maybe because or the missing turbo and low torque but all because of the buid up from my pal. I was just like meh.. It feels slower than my e46 330d

b58 is a better engine. all round.

b58 is 10% more efficient

Imo a hot hatch cant be automatic.

so the steerings iffy , and the auto box removes the involvement , no lsd , long story short ,,, you bought the wrong car, or your expecting the wrong things from the right car. either way , its just wrong. that aside ,,, nice car.

Test drove a M140i. Was SO disappointed. SO wanted to like the car. It was a manual car. Found it very cramped inside and wel,l just boring to drive, unless in a straight line. Just boring.

The Golf R is the answer in this segment.

Sound is terrible, cannot hear the words clearly

CLIO 172 AND 182...are the best THE 🔚

The idea of a Hot hatch is something small ,quick and most importantly cheapish. This car is not cheap people. I work at BMW in England and work on these all the time. and for the money there are better cars that dont have issues . Dont get me started on faults and issues that this car is born with.

+++++

I have a feeling you won’t keep this car for long,Miss most of the ones you got rid of 😢

Can’t believe Bmw 😔 i’m unsubscribe you😉 Hopefully your passengers are going to have lots of fun !!!

Not even a manual. Double the size of a hot hatch. And heavy as fuck. Yeh the B58 is a beast but even in the "smaller" 1 series its no hot hatch. Far from it. Hot hatches are few and far between these days. Clio, suzuki swift would be a better place to start. Golf's are huge, as are fiesta's now

Truthfully mate you can't fuck with Vw Golf r Audi rs3 and even a A class amg

Massively ugly car.