What is it?
Ignore the ‘disguise’, this is pretty much the finished BMW 1-series M Coupe, although we hope they find a less irritating name by the time it reaches production early next year (priced at around £40,000). It is, in the most part, the M-car we’ve all been waiting for.
 
Technical highlights?
It looks the bizzo in the flesh – it has that inimitable M-car stance down-to-a-tee. The entire rear suspension has been lifted from the E92 M3, so the car is now 80mm wider out back. The front track has been increased too, and wider rubber has been fitted all round.
There is no high-revving straight-six here, though. Instead it’s a modified version of the twin-turbo 3-litre six that sits in the Z4 35i. There are no official numbers yet, but think of around 340bhp and a bit more torque than said Z4 and you’ll be close to the mark. The car weighs around 1500kg.
 
What’s it like to drive?
A proper M-car. And that’s despite the pathetic 6500rpm red line. The first time that engine sweeps through 6000rpm and then doesn’t want to spin much further you feel pretty disappointed, but that’s because you didn’t concentrate on the sheer speed with which it zinged from 1500rpm to that point. This is a different kind of M-performance – surging, useable and very, very effective.
The chassis is pure, proper M-car, too: firm but well damped and dominated by that rear axle and locking differential. And it’s very, very agile. The steering rack is standard 135i, but the altered kinematics seem to make it feel faster between turns, but not unnecessarily quick like the current M3.
 
How does it compare?
In everyday driving, this thing might have the legs on a BMW M3 – its roll-on acceleration is exceptional.
 
Anything else I need to know?
Cosmetically, it’s pretty hard to judge any of the details from this ratty test hack, but early indications are that only the main M-car details will be covered: illuminated gearknob, steering wheel stitching, new clock faces.