2020 BMW M140i Successor Chased by New A45 at the Nurburgring

The 1 Series was never shy about flaunting its big, powerful engines. It started with the early 135i and later blossomed into the M Performance rocket. However, despite the love shown by enthusiastic drivers, the 1er failed as an executive toy, and this became all the more apparent when the posh A-Class came out.

Mercedes also set in motion a chain of events that lead us to monster AWD toys with 2-liter engines. They are everywhere nowadays, and 2020 1 Series models will get in on the action as well.

Despite what the British media reported about 3-liter engines and an RWD 2 Series Gran Coupe, we are of the firm belief that all compact BMW models will ride on FWD platforms and max out at 2 liters of displacement. Also, the "M130iX M Performance" name seems unlikely, considering the X2 M35i has already come out.

So in all likelihood, the model in this latest Nurburgring spy video is to be called "M135i," and it should have standard xDrive channeling 300 horsepower or more from the 2-liter. We could be disappointed that the 3-liter will be gone. But if you want one of those, you can get it in the M340i sedan (and upcoming wagon). Also, the BMW alternative to the Golf R sounds fantastic and promises to look decent, but there are a couple of areas of concern.

First, VW is undoubtedly going to up the ante with the next Golf R. Secondly, the recently launched A35 from AMG, which is also a 300 horsepower AWD hot hatch with a 2-liter, costs way too much money, and BMW is sure to get greedy as well.