The BMW M135i (F20) Is the Underrated RWD BMW We Still Miss

I get why the F20 BMW M135i slips by means of the cracks. It by no means received the complete ///M mythology, it wasn’t offered all over the place, and on paper it appears like “simply” an M Efficiency automobile from the early 2010s. However the first time you drive a rear-wheel-drive M135i the way in which you’re purported to—actually decide to an entry, breathe off the throttle, let the rear take a slip—you notice BMW possibly by accident constructed one thing particular.

Not particular within the “future traditional” manner individuals toss round too simply. Particular within the extra significant manner: it looks like a BMW from the period when the corporate nonetheless obsessed over steadiness and adjustability, not simply traction and lap-time heroics.

Sure, there was an xDrive version later on, and I’m not going to fake that isn’t interesting when you stay someplace winter is half the calendar. However the RWD M135i is the one which stays closest to the “Final Driving Machine” concept. It’s the one the place the entrance axle is allowed to deal with steering, and the rear axle is allowed to have a character.

And it helps that the automobile appears proper even earlier than it strikes. The F20 has that traditional BMW stance: a protracted hood, brief overhangs, and a cabin that sits again on the wheelbase just like the engine really issues. In hatchback type it’s an unusually cool form—compact, usable, and nonetheless unmistakably BMW in its proportions. You get the practicality with out shedding the structure that makes a BMW really feel like a BMW.

The numbers nonetheless land

The M135i isn’t a “massive quantity” automobile by at present’s requirements, however the spec continues to be the type that makes fans nod: 320 hp, 450 Nm (332 lb-ft) from the three.0-liter N55 inline-six, paired with both a six-speed guide or an eight-speed computerized. In interval, BMW quoted 0–100 km/h in 5.1 seconds with the guide and 4.9 seconds with the automated. That was correctly fast when this automobile confirmed up—particularly wrapped in a compact hatchback physique.

Weight issues right here greater than individuals admit, and the M135i didn’t arrive bloated. Relying on the way you measure it (DIN/EU figures), it sits across the 1,400-1,500 kg vary. That doesn’t sound surprising till you drive it back-to-back with newer “sizzling” automobiles and notice how a lot lighter it feels in transitions. The M135i doesn’t have that fashionable sensation of carrying mass into each nook like a backpack you’ll be able to’t take off.

The N55 is the explanation the entire thing works

I’ve pushed the N55 in a bunch of locations—the 335i, 435i, and the M135i—and it’s a type of engines that retains proving itself. It has torque all over the place, nevertheless it doesn’t really feel like a torque-only equipment. It’s easy, it’s keen, and it rewards you for utilizing the highest half of the tach.

The perfect half is how linear it feels for a turbo motor. The facility doesn’t arrive like a light-weight swap. You roll into the throttle and it simply builds—cleanly, predictably, with sufficient urgency that you simply don’t have to “set it up” to make it quick. And once you preserve it pinned, it doesn’t go flat. It stays pleased all the way in which to the 7,000 rpm redline, which is precisely why individuals nonetheless fee this engine so extremely.

Then there’s the sound. The N55 doesn’t want faux noise to have character. It has that straight-six metallic edge, particularly once you’re arduous on it, and it makes the M135i really feel prefer it’s punching above its class.

Steering and chassis: it’s not a museum piece, it’s a device

The M135i runs electrical energy steering, and no, it’s not going to offer you E46-style hydraulic poetry. Nevertheless it’s fast, correct, and it helps you to place the automobile with out second-guessing. That’s what issues when you begin driving it arduous.

The place the M135i actually exhibits its character is the chassis steadiness. It doesn’t simply grip and go. It strikes. It reacts to weight switch. It’s going to rotate when you drive it such as you imply it.

We hung out tossing one round on monitor and it clicked virtually immediately. The automobile likes dedication. Flip in with some intent, settle it, and you’ll really feel the rear axle getting gentle in a manner that makes you smile as an alternative of sweat. You may steer it on a raise. You may tighten a line with a contact of path brake. And once you decide up throttle early, the M135i doesn’t at all times take the “protected” route—typically it would begin to come round, and you’ll catch it and maintain it. That’s the form of enjoyable quite a lot of fashionable automobiles are lacking.

It’s tail pleased, however not in a scary manner. It’s the form of tail pleased that comes from a compact chassis, an actual rear-drive structure, and sufficient energy to regulate the automobile mid-corner with out a lot effort.

The diff query, defined like an fanatic

From the manufacturing facility, the F20 M135i doesn’t get a mechanical limited-slip differential. It makes use of an open diff, and BMW depends on digital intervention—brake-based torque management—to handle wheelspin and assist the automobile put energy down. Individuals name it an “e-diff” impact, as a result of the system can brake an inside wheel and affect the place the torque finally ends up.

Once you’re arduous on throttle at nook exit, the electronics can create a second the place the automobile rotates greater than you anticipate. Typically it feels prefer it’s serving to you. Typically it feels prefer it’s nudging you into mischief.

A mechanical LSD does the same job in precept—biasing torque and bettering traction—nevertheless it does it extra instantly and extra shortly, with out counting on braking. That’s why BMW supplied a dealer-installed M Efficiency mechanical LSD as an adjunct for these automobiles. When you’re monitoring the automobile, tuning it, otherwise you simply need cleaner exits and extra constant throttle adjustability, it’s one of many upgrades that makes fast sense.

RWD vs xDrive: The purpose isn’t the spec, it’s the texture

The xDrive M135i exists for a cause. When you take care of snow, ice, or tough climate half the yr, it’s a wise choice. However the RWD automobile is the one which feels most like a conventional BMW compact efficiency machine. It’s additionally the model that makes you perceive what BMW was doing in that period: constructing a compact automobile that would do each day life with out sacrificing the driving really feel that made the model well-known.

Why it’s underrated

The M135i is underrated as a result of it’s simple to mislabel. It’s not a halo automobile, so individuals don’t speak about it like one. It’s an M Efficiency automobile, so some fans assume it’s simply an look and badge bundle. And for lots of readers, it’s additionally a “forbidden fruit” BMW—one they didn’t get of their market (like within the U.S.), so it by no means grew to become a part of the shared possession tradition the way in which an E82 135i or 1M did.

If BMW had introduced the RWD M135i to the U.S. in its prime, I’d have been first in line. Straight-six, guide choice, compact hatch practicality, and a chassis that’ll fortunately rotate once you push it—that is precisely the form of BMW that reminds you why we care within the first place.