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2014 BMW M235i First Drive by Top Gear

Well folks, the day is finally here. The brand new BMW M235i is here and the test drives keep on pouring in. Thankfully, just as I expected, they are positive in their majority.
BMW M235i 1 photo
Photo: Top Gear
BMW held a press event on the Las Vegas Speedway to properly launch and introduce the first ever M Performance vehicle to make it to the US. Amongst the first people there to drive the M235i was the Top Gear crew.

Even though I expected a really harsh comparison with all sorts of other cars in its segment, and some punts aimed at the new naming scheme used by the Germans, I was completely surprised. Their review was actually honest and almost praised the little Coupe.

The car feels planted and, compared to the M135i, sports little to no roll whatsoever, has great body control and the steering is sharp all the time matching the impressive level of grip you get. The straight-six engine sounds brilliant and revs like a madman up to 7,000 RPM, allowing you to fully enjoy the 326 HP and 450 Nm (332 lb-ft) of torque.

The best thing about the driveline though is the gearbox choice. The engine is brilliant, we all knew that, the 8-speed auto is just as impressive but the crazy engineers from BMW decided to offer this car with a manual 6-speed, the same as the one used on the new M3 and that is simply unbelievably fun, at all times.

The interior is not very different from what you’re used to on a Bimmer but it’s up to date and extremely practical, even though it is a bit dated. Go for the adaptive dampers and you’ll be comfortable as well as planted inside this car at all times, depending on what you want.

Bottom line, despite having some area that could use improvements (the brakes and the steering feel) the M235i is even better than the M135i. That says it all.

Via: Top Gear
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