BMW M135i xDrive Review

The “M135i” entry sills greet you as you open the door, but this is probably the boldest part of the car’s cabin. Compared to the standard 1 Series, the M135i does come with a reasonable number of changes, but these are so well integrated that they could just as well be offered on any model.

The seats, we have to start with the seats. The first thing you see is the dedicated upholstery, which is as sporty as they get, mixing Alcantara with a sporting apparel-like textile material called Hexagon.

When we climbed in, panic kind of installed, as we felt the side bolsters hugging us like a constrictor snake. After only a few minutes of driving though, you start realizing that this is in fact the kind of ergonomic support you want and has nothing to do with the type of tight setup that becomes bothering.

As you step on the throttle, those six pistons up front push you back into the seat and you can feel its softness. What’s more, if you suddenly step off the gas and are no longer in full contact with your seat, you even miss the feeling. Upon figuring this out, we were a bit ashamed of ourselves as these have to be the most comfortable go-fast car seats to ever have accommodated us.

The seating position actually tells you all about the way in which the car was set up. You feel you’ve got the perfect placement for all the parts of your body and that you’re always ready to run fast. However, you’ve got a ton of adjustments, so you’re always in comfort, with the good visibility adding to this.

In front of you sits a thick leather steering wheel, whose paddles are perfectly positioned and feel nice to touch. In addition, your knee will appreciate the padding on the center console. You’ll find the M blazon in a few places across the cabin, such as on the aforementioned steering wheel and on the seats.

The dash is adorned with M Performance specific trim - in the case of our test car, this meant that the Estoril Blue of the body was also present inside the car. And while the center console takes itself very seriously with that massive display, but the instrument cluster is amusing. It looks up at you like a small dog that just can’t wait for you to wag the speedometer’s tail - we may try to use this as an excuse for the police one day.

There’ are also negative sides to the interior of the BMW M135i, other than the dark tone of the interior. First of all, the overall combination of lines is a bit confused, as if it were a mix of chemicals that not’ quite stable. In addition, there are a few plastics that could be nicer to touch. Yes, we’re being a bit picky and this is a side effect for the fact that the extra muscle has pushed the 1 Series into a price category that demands us to be so.

Nevertheless, this is a second-gen 1 Series, so the cabin is now roomy enough and we liked the fact that it is sprinkled with practicality tricks. For example, the rear headrests can be turned 90 degrees to benefit visibility and the cubic inch 360-liter luggage compartment includes hooks for little shopping bags.

BMW will even offer a vertical luggage net that allows you to match the 320 HP of the engine with 732 cubic inches (1,200 liters) of flat storage space. We wouldn’t mind delivering some pizza for the rest of the month...