BMW M135i xDrive Review

BMW has built what may seem as a complicated frame around the M135i. This is not an actual M car, but it goes as fast as one. In reality, things are much simpler - this is one of the best BMWs we’ve ever driven.

Its level of performance pushes the limits of the hot hatch segment, redefining this. While the more affordable hot hatches use all sorts of shortcuts to trick you into feeling the performance, here everything is natural. There’s no short gearing or slim soundproofing for artificially inducing sensations.

This allows the car to offer a balanced character. When you just want to travel, this is a premium compact that delivers good comfort. Only the driver will get a few hints that he could burst hell’s gates open with a kick down maneuver. 320 HP on roughly 1.5 tons (3,400 lbs) sounds like a quick story, but in reality the car is even faster than you’d imagine. When you whip it, this little car goes berserk and lets you have all the fun in the process.

Sure, the BMW M135i isn’t the only hyper-powered hatchback coming from Germany. There’s also the Mercedes A45 AMG and the Audi RS3. However, the sheer fact that three are comparable is funny. That’s because while the BMW is a “semi-M” car, the other two take themselves extremely serious as full performance models. If we had to live with one everyday, and one usually does, we’d go for the BMW. This usability we keep bragging about is the best part of the car. It even runs on 95 Octane gas for crying out loud!

Alas, the practical nature of the BMW M135i xDrive also what generates the worst part of the vehicle - at the limit, the car loses some of the accuracy. It’s understood that they’ve left some room for the proper M models and since you don’t get to drive at the limit very often, this didn’t bother us too much.

While you can’t acquire certain cars until you’ve received special driving courses, you can’t buy an M135i unless you’ve reached maturity. Otherwise, you wouldn’t understand why you should pay at least EUR39,850 price for what could be seen as a supped-up incarnation of the smallest BMW on sale.

Adding that brilliant 8-speed automatic boosts the price to EUR42,100, while the also-required adaptive suspension will set you back an extra EUR750. And if you want to transform the M135i into a sweet all-rounder, you’ll need to fetch the xDrive version, which starts at EUR44,000 - the all-wheel drive is only offered with the auto tranny. However, for this asset of the car to be entirely true, you’ll have to add an extra EUR750 for the five-door version.

Speaking of things you can't purchase, BMW denies you the M135i if you’re American, at least for the moment.

BMW’s M135i is also more affordable than the Audi RS3 and the Mercedes A45 AMG and you can look at this car in two ways.

Either go for the base model and get an astonishing performance for the money, or spec it up nicely and have an extremely capable vehicle that will please you in a wider variety of scenarios. Be careful though - diving deeper into the list of optional extras will push the car into a dangerous pricing league. Here is where your expectations, other than the dynamic ones, may not be entirely met.

Of course, one could always argue that when you pay this kind of money, you’d be better off with a sports car that also adds soul to the speed. But when you go there, you lose the usability of the M135i. It’s all a matter of choice.