So as the title reads, we finally got our hands on the much awaited BMW 1 Series M135i (F40). I will be the first to admit that when BMW first announced the release of this car, I along with many others was not sold on the new look BMW had to replace the previous F20/F21 1 series. From a personal point of view it looked as if BMW was trying to compete with Mercedes-Benz A-Class and the popular Audi A1  in terms of design, forgetting completely that the F40 has in-fact retraced its steps as small, fun, easy to drive hot hatchback. And that is exactly what this car is. I had the brief opportunity to see what this car was about when I took it out for some photos.

First initial thoughts are, there is plenty going on in the cabin but there isn't so much that you can get distracted. All the information is fed back to the driver in a well rounded and informative way. The infotainment system otherwise known as Idrive has really taken a huge leap compared to the older generations. Its easy to use and whilst there are systems out there that can be quite complex, especially when trying to operate whilst driving. The quality of the materials used in the interior really is second to none. You can tell that this car is built to last and stand up to everything that could be thrown at it.

How does the car drive? Ill be honest, as we had literally just taken delivery of the car it has less than 10 miles on the clock. I was careful not to push the car too much, just in fear of the worst. Yes It did enter sport mode and yes it is as fun as you can imagine. Throttle response is instantly noticeable as there is no lag what-so-ever. The box is snappy and responds really well. The car feels balanced through the bends and really does give you the confidence to push it that little bit further.  The only gripe I have and Im not even sure this is a major issue, I found that the car really does tend to follow the camber in the road. I've driven a fair few cars and this was definitely the most noticeable for doing this. Could be down to the fact its AWD or just quite frankly the road. More driving time needed to form a proper opinion.

So, whats on the cards for the little F40? What are our plans for the car? We intend to lower the car with Eibach springs, 30mm all around as well as add some spacers so the car tracks slightly wider. The width of the spacers is yet to be decided but I can presume it will be somewhere between 12/15mm front and back. Looks wise, we have ordered some Maxton design parts to fit. Naturally the more aggressive kit which I believe is the V2. In terms of sound we will be fitting a Remus race exhaust. We did consider the sport option but as this is a demo car we chose the louder version for the customers, because we all know they come first and their needs are greater than ours.

There is another part we have left out of the above but its no fun if we give everything away at once. f40-(5-of-16) f40-(9-of-16) f40-(7-of-16) f40-(6-of-16) f40-(4-of-16)f40-(2-of-16)f40-(13-of-16) f40-(16-of-16)