Article Summary
- BMW built 135 units of the E82 135i Sauber F1 Team Edition, one for every point BMW Sauber scored in the 2008 F1 season.
- The package added only cosmetic upgrades, no performance changes, yet still cost nearly double a standard 135i at 79,700 Swiss francs.
- MotoGP champion Casey Stoner won one as a prize in 2009, then won an E82 1 Series M from BMW two years later.
BMW has built more limited-run special editions than most owners will ever track down, and the E82 135i Sauber F1 Team Edition is one of the more obscure entries on that list. The number 135 in the name isn’t a nod to the 135i badge. It’s the exact points total BMW’s Sauber F1 team scored during the 2008 season, and BMW built one commemorative 1 Series coupe for every point.
North America, predictably, didn’t get one. Add it to a growing pile of special editions the US market missed out on, alongside the E36 M3 GT, the E46 M3 CSL, the E61 M5 Wagon, the E92 M3 GTS, and the E90 M3 CRT. Sauber is a Swiss outfit, so it makes sense that the bulk of the 135 cars stayed in Switzerland. BMW sent a smaller number to Brazil, the UAE, and Germany, and that was it.
The car pictured here is one of those Brazilian-market cars. Its roof-liner plaque reads “BMW Sauber F1 Team Edicao Brasil 02 de 12,” which puts a hard number on just how small that market’s allocation was: 12 cars, out of the 135 built worldwide. It’s currently listed for sale through GTO Car Specialists, a dealer that trades in exactly this kind of low-volume, easy-to-overlook special edition.
A Tribute To A Season The Team Had Already Moved Past
The timing is what makes this car a little bittersweet. It went on sale honoring a 2008 campaign in which Robert Kubica won the Canadian Grand Prix, briefly led the drivers’ championship, and helped BMW Sauber finish third in the constructors’ standings with those 135 points. By the time customers were actually taking delivery in 2009, the team Kubica and teammate Nick Heidfeld were driving for had nothing left in common with that form. New aerodynamic rules and the switch to slick tires caught BMW Sauber flat-footed, and the F1.09 chassis never found real pace. Podiums at Malaysia and Brazil were the highlights of an otherwise rough year that ended with the team sixth in the constructors’ championship. BMW announced its withdrawal from Formula 1 before the season was even over, and by November the team was sold back to its founder, Peter Sauber, reverting to the Sauber name for 2010. So the 135i rolling off dealer lots with Sauber F1 decals was, in effect, a commemorative edition for a program that was already being wound down.
A sticker Package With A Five-Figure Price Tag
Here’s where the Sauber edition separates itself from the CSLs and GTSes of the world: there’s no engine work here, no chassis changes, nothing under the skin that a regular 135i doesn’t already have. What buyers got was an M Performance carbon trunk spoiler, black Performance kidney grilles, Style 261 M wheels finished in a shade BMW called Celeston, M Performance carbon mirror caps, an M Performance steering wheel, carbon interior trim, Sauber F1 exterior decals, and alcantara-wrapped, limited-edition badging built into the roof liner. It’s a visual and interior package, full stop.
BMW still asked 79,700 Swiss francs for it in late 2008, somewhere around $70,000 to $77,000 at the time. A base 2008 135i in the US started at $34,900. The Sauber edition cost almost exactly double, for parts you could largely buy separately through BMW’s own accessories catalog. But those were the times…
Casey Stoner Has Two Of These Stories
The car has one genuinely good piece of trivia attached to it. MotoGP champion Casey Stoner won one of the 135 Sauber edition cars after posting the fastest lap in a 2009 shootout at the Jerez circuit in Spain. That wasn’t a one-off, either. Two years later, Stoner won an E82 1 Series M for finishing as the top qualifier in the 2011 MotoGP season. Two limited-run BMWs, two years apart, both handed to the same rider for being fast on two wheels rather than four.
It’s a strange footnote for a car that otherwise did nothing to earn a place next to the actual performance specials on BMW’s résumé. The 1 Series M, built two years later, delivered the widened fenders, the N54 tune, and the manual gearbox that enthusiasts actually wanted from a hot 1 Series. The Sauber edition delivered decals and a wheel design. Both are rare. Only one of them is worth chasing for how it drives. Yet, the 135i Coupe remains one of the most fun and engaging cars BMW has ever made, so don’t be shy to chase one down if you’re looking for that old school Ultimate Driving Machine.
[Photos provided by Matheus Guerra – @gtocarspecialists]
