Gabriel at bimmerfile.com has posted an interesting review on the upcoming BMW 135i. In the past few days, many new reviews have come out, including some video footage from MSN Auto and Fifth Gear. 

Since the March 22nd launch date is very close, you should expect a lot of new reviews and articles on this amazing car that BMW has designed.

But here is Gabriel's review:

Based on all the hype over the last few months, you’d expect the BMW 135i to be able to walk on water. European journalists have raved about the car and customers have already begun forming lines at dealerships here in the US. Praise flowing from computer keyboards around the world is enough to make almost any automotive enthusiast take notice.

Even BMW has gotten in the act trotting an early 70’s era 2002tii at every marketing opportunity they can. And why not, all the right ingredients are there; short overhangs, 50/50 weight distribution, rear-wheel drive, 300hp all wrapped in small coupe packaging. It’s almost enough to forget about the one glaring issue - all 3373 lbs of it. That’s over 1000 lbs heavier than the 2002tii that the 1 Series was clearly inspired by.

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We're continuing our journey together with Brian from Mwerks.com who initiated an interesting project: a small driving tour in his new BMW 135i from Monterey, CA to Chicago. 

So, Brian you have the floor. 

P.S We're still jealous that you got it before us.

The fellows at Fifth Gear have decided to make everyone happy and finally put the upcoming and highly acclaimed BMW 135i vs the Porsche Cayman. I remember writing the first articles on the 1-series coupe and especially the 135i and I was having lots of our readers email us and ask if we think that the 135i coupe stands a chance in front of the Porsche Cayman.

Unfortunately, at that time, I did not have the answer. But now, with the help of the guys at Fifth Gear, I can finally answer that question: YES, the 135i coupe is a fine car and it performs extremely well on track.

I will let you watch these wonderful videos, courtesy of Fifth Gear via 1addicts.com.

For higher quality videos, you can use this link from stage6, but you will have to install a small player(well worth it in my opinion).

At the U.S launch of the BMW 1-series coupes, the people at Autospsie managed to snap some cool photos. BMW decided to show everyone some different colors on the 1-series and I'm glad they did.

I was wondering how the 135i would look in a Montego Blue color under the sunlight. And….not a big fan, even though my 335i I have picked up recently, came with the same paint and I love it. Maybe I'm just not used to it or maybe it's because I saw the Alpine White 135i, which I thought it looked phenomenal.

In this post, I am only going to show you the Montego Blue, but I will have a separate topic on the Alpine White.

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Our friend Brian at Mwerks.com has an interesting project going on. A few weeks ago, they have ordered a brand new, not even on the U.S Market yet, BMW 135i coupe in the beautiful Alpine White color. They were scheduled to pick up their car yesterday in Monterey, CA and then take it for a long ride on the way home to Chicago. Total miles scheduled to be covered: 2500.

If you would like to follow their itinerary, feel free to visit his topic on mwerks.com 

We also have a video available where Brian takes us for a nice ride to L.A.

If you're wondering how Brian managed to get the car before anybody else, well..we have no idea yet, but we would like to find out as well.

This is the first time that I see this combo on the 1-series. We were pretty much used to the same Sedona Red and it's pretty cool to see other colors as well. This week, we showed you the latest official photos of the 135i coupe in a cashmere silver exterior and today, we're going to post some new photos from the Toronto Auto Show. It seems that BMW decided to drop the red colors and actually show us a different approach. 

The 135i looks pretty good in Alpine White and it will definitely be a popular choice. Now, I'm not so sure that I actually like the Red Coral interior. If you remember, back in 2007, we had an article about the "Superman" car. Basically, a 335i coupe, Montego Blue with a Red Coral interior. I kinda dug that car and I know many people did as well, but this one….hmm..not really sure. 

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New BMW 135i coupe photos have been released today. Even though they are not posted on the BMW official website yet, one of our admirers aka BMW employee has decided to surprise us and sent edBMW a full set of photos showing the BMW 135i coupe. Before I even opened the files, I was worried that we will see the same Sedona Red color that we have been seeing for the past 6 months.

And guess what: finally, let me say it again, finally, BMW decided to be kind with all the 1-series enthusiasts and they gave us the Cashmere Silver exterior. The car looks amazing in these new official photos and I love it even more, not that I haven't loved it before, but these new photos brings out the best in the 135i coupe. 

In about a month, all this hype will be all over and we will be seeing a lot of them on the U.S roads, but in the mean time enjoy the photos.

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The guys at msn.com decided to test drive the upcoming BMW 135i. We won't get into details since we have covered the 1-series subject many times but in case you missed it, the 135i is powered by a twin-turbocharged 3.0 liter inline 6-cylinder engine that produces 300 horsepower and a peak torque of 300 lb-ft. That gives the 135i the ability to do 0-62 mph in 5.3 seconds with a top speed of 155mph.

For more details, you can always go back and read our 1-section series. 

Hello everyone! We're back with our regular car comparisons. This time, we won't get into photo comparisons but instead, we'll show you some video footage from the german tv show Auto Mobil.

The guys there have put the BMW 135i against the Mazda RX8. Even though it's all in german, it is still interesting to see some of the data displayed and also see how the two cars compete against each other. For those of you that speak german, hats off and lucky you

If you are one of our loyal readers, you might know by know that my favorite color on the BMW 135i is the LeMans blue. Since, here in the U.S, BMWNA decided to skip that wonderful color, we received instead the Montego Blue, which is still a great color, but in my opinion, not even close to the LeMans. 

The following photos were taken by "md80", a member of 1addicts.com. Another interesting thing can be found in these photos: the fabric leather Pearlpoint Beige.

I have never seen this fabric before and judging by these pictures, I kinda dig it. I have never been a fan of cloth, maybe just because I have been spoiled with leather interior cars, but I wouldn't mind trying it for once. It's a shame though that BMW decided again not to offer this option for its U.S buyers.

One more thing: after looking at these photos again, I kinda feel sorry that I haven't ordered my 335i with a light color interior. I think it would have matched perfectly the Montego Blue paint. 

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Thanks to Jack Reagan, a member of 1addicts.com, we have another personal take on the upcoming BMW 135i coupe. Mr. Reagan lives in London so he has the opportunity to buy the car before us in the United States. Here is his short review:

my first impressions are that the 135 feels like a very hot hot hatch, not a coupe. the reason i dumped my 335i was because it felt so big on the road and you never really wanted to throw it around through the corners. it was a high speed cruiser and massively uninvolving and apart from the engine I wouldn't recommend one. before that i had an R32 Golf which I loved to bits and this is much closer to the R32 than it is to a 3. you just want to abuse it to be honest and i think a lot of people will lose their licenses in it!!!

it is tight inside too, but i'm pretty big, and it's not uncomfortable; it just feels small and compact - the way a sports car should. can't get the seat adjusted for height very well though yet. it'll come though.

quality inside is usual BMW, although the Pro Sat Nav that pops up isn't as nice as the 3's in-dash version. seats are better, stubby M Sport gear shift is too, although obviously it's pretty stuff at the moment. the upgraded speaker system sounds ok but not great. not really worth the money if i am being honest.

footwell is tight compared to the 3. going to take some getting used to as the space between the pedals is proper sports car, not executive car.

seats in the back are great but your passengers will have to leave their legs at home. no room at all behind my seat and i'm 6 foot. but i didn't buy it for my friends!!

too early to tell on the road really. again the engine is so new it's not fair to boot it yet, but like the 335 it is very very rapid in any gear and in any rev range. the suspension is definitely more sorted than the 335 and inspires so much more confidence. the wheelbase seems so much shorter and the whole car feels so much more planted and grippier.

brakes are amazing, but harsh. again I guess that's because it's new.
 

How cool is this? "Advevo", a member of germancarzone.com, had the opportunity to test drive one of the new released BMW 135i. He has shared with us his opinions on the car and his conclusion was that 

For me it s a nicer car to drive than an E92 M3 it only need some tweaks that s a shorter rear diff and mechanical LSD. And some weight loss. Than it s an awesome machine for daily and some track/driftwork. 

Bu here is the video and his full review. Look at the car drifting.

Review:

"Today was the day. I could drive the car all day. It sit s now in my garage. Tommorow i bring the 135i back to my dealer.

The ediff. The ediff works perfect if youre used to a complete opendiff then it wil be a nice gadget. I did 3rd gear slides today at 100km an hour. I did a doughnut with the car. I really wanted to know if it can do that. Not that i do doughnuts everyday. But i just wanted to see if the ediff does it work properly. It can do a doughnut. Second gear drifts are easy. So will it be replacement for a real mechanical diff. No. My 130i has a mechanical diff than is soo much smoother and nicer. You can feel the 135i rear brakes doing its work. Just keep on flooring the throttle and the ediff does it work. Lets just say its 70 procent the fun of a real mechanical diff. If you can live with 70procent. you can t go wrong with it. For me i am used to a mechanical one it s sure is no replacement for a mechanical one for me. 

Bmw has fooled us again.

For me it s a nicer car to drive than an E92 M3 it only need some tweaks that s a shorter rear diff and mechanical LSD. And some weight loss. Than it s an awesome machine for daily and some track/driftwork.

In case you were wondering, no, it's not code name for any spy mission or a BMW super secret car, it's just the latest release by the AC Schnitzer BMW tuner. The ACS1 3.5 i is actually the 135i coupe version on the heels of their E92M3 kit.

Beside some cosmetic interior and exterior changes, such as a new AC Schnitzer 3-spoke sports airbag steering wheel or rear wing and rear roof spoiler, the AC Schnitzer has also boosted the engine power to 360 instead of 306 HP (265 instead of 225 kW) and accelerates the fiery 1-series Coupe to 100 km/h in less than five seconds. At the same time, the maximum torque rises from 400 to 450 Nm and the top speed from 250 to an impressive 300 km/h.

But here is their full press release:

Press release by AC Schnitzer: Not only in proportions is the new 1-series Coupé a worthy successor to the BMW 2002, but also technically: As in the 70s, the current most powerful standard version is powered by a "charged" engine. Daringly, the overtaking prestige was then enhanced further by the mirror-image Turbo logo on the front spoiler. In the 1-series Coupé, the possibilities are more refined, not least thanks to AC Schnitzer from Aachen. And naturally the company founded in Aachen in 1987 has made more than its logo available in its refinement package.

Particularly impressive is the extensive AC Schnitzer bodykit including front grille, which is far more than mere decoration, but also effectively harmonised into the entire concept. The front spoiler elements and the rear skirt insert, together with the rear wing and rear roof spoiler, increase downforce and ensure better ground adhesion. For the front spoiler elements, AC Schnitzer supplies optional aluminium struts as used in motorsport - after all, the BMW 2002 was renowned for its track speed at the time.

And it is on one particularly legendary circuit, the Nürburgring North Loop, that Manfred Wollgarten, Technical Director at AC Schnitzer, set up the sports suspension for the ACS1 3.5i. As a Touring Car driver, he knows what he's doing. He also sent the Coupé on its way with another strut brace for the front, to further reduce the torsion of a body already very stiff as standard. So at every point on the course, the driver has total control over the vehicle to centimetre precision when he turns the neat AC Schnitzer 3-spoke sports airbag steering wheel. And that's good, because finally the unrestrained power of the biturbo engine is applied on the right track.

Especially since AC Schnitzer has not only improved the downforce of the vehicle, but also its thrust. Its heart now beats at 360 instead of 306 HP (265 instead of 225 kW) and accelerates the fiery 1-series Coupé to 100 km/h in less than five seconds. At the same time, the maximum torque rises from 400 to 450 Nm and the top speed from 250 to an impressive 300 km/h. Values which you can not only see but also hear because the AC Schnitzer sports rear silencer with its refined "Racing“ tailpipe sounds its baritone. It goes almost without saying that AC Schnitzer also offers a range of sporting alloy wheels for the ACS1 3.5i.

The perfect complement with their sleek and refined design are the Type IV "BiColor" rims in size 8.5Jx19" and tyres 225/35R19. The stuff of dreams for drivers of the BMW 2002, just like the countless attractive interior components from AC Schnitzer in the form of controls and decor elements of aluminium and carbon.

Our honest opinion? HOT!! Enough said.

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Last week, our comparison between the 335i and the Audi S5 and Infiniti G37 has had a lot of visitors who voted on their favorite model, look-wise. In the same time, we have received emails stating that the comparison might not be fair since the S5 is in a different class, but bottom line is, that the we just wanted to get a feedback on what the consumers want in terms of style and shape. With this being said, we are going to show you another interesting and probably "not fair" comparison. 

This time, the people at www.autocar.co.uk came up with an article on how the new BMW 135i stands against the upcoming Porsche Cayman and the re-designed Nissan 350Z. 

Because this article was in the printed issue, due to copywriting issues, we can not post the full review on here, but for more information and scanned images, you can visit the 1addicts forums and you will see an interesting topic.

We have the tendency to post a lot of pictures so today we're going to show you some new photos illustrating the BMW 135i coupe. They were taken at the BMW Welt Delivery Center in Munich. The interesting part about these new shots is that we don't get to see the Sedona Red color anymore. BMW made an habit of showing us each time the same color over and over. Today, the new 135i will shine in a Black and Sparkling Graphite exterior. 

Once again, the car looks amazing, every time I see new photos of it, I realize that the BMW 135i coupe will be a huge hit for the german automaker. 

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