The BMW 1M is one of the greats of all time. You don’t have to take our word for it – while it may be an open secret that the BMWBLOG garage is home to one of these pocket rockets, you can find praise for the car on the Internet and throughout the nearly fifteen years the car has been around. But what happens when one of the most iconic modern BMWs meets Throttle House’s powerful testing team? Well, it gets a little weird, but we think it’s worth watching to find out.
The BMW 1M: forefather of the modern M
In case you forgot, the N54-powered BMW 1M was the first BMW with an M badge and a turbocharged engine. The car was also a little happy surprise. The story goes that a small team secretly worked on the 1M until it was almost ready for production, then was presented to management and given the green light. During this time, the car took a lot of heat for just about everything. Thankfully, Throttle House’s review highlights some of critics’ many gripes, such as the lack of an oil gauge and cries about the N54 engine being “not a true M engine.” Perhaps the funniest thing in retrospect are the complaints about the price. But to be fair, who could have imagined that a $50,000 1 Series would one day be worth a lot more if kept in good condition. We answer our own question: Who drove it?
While there were plenty of reasons given for keeping the car low, there were few reviews that had much negative to say from a driving perspective. This trend continues with Throttle House’s review, now fourteen years after the car’s original debut. The 1M has inherited suspension elements from the powerful V8-powered E92 M3, and although it has comparatively less power, it still does a very good job of channeling what has always made BMW M cars great. The main virtues include communicative and precise steering, relative agility and a pleasant, if not overly exotic, soundtrack.
The 1M retains the crown…again
Of course, we don’t want to spoil anything for you when we say that the guys at Throttle House liked the BMW 1M just as much as they were led to believe. In fact, they came to pretty much the same conclusion I came to half a decade ago. Because in the BMW 1M and M2 comparison, number one is number one for a reason. The delightful old-school charm and “skunkworks” origin story make for a car that offers a truly unique driving experience. Of course, there are compromises, especially with the former.
As if to reinforce a negative stereotype, the 1M’s charging line failed on the original day of filming Throttle House – less than a hundred meters from where the team picked up the car. If you’re as familiar with these cars as I am, you might have laughed out loud. Whatever the case, the car was sorted out and apparently nothing else stopped them from putting the car through its paces. Watch and enjoy!
