BMW has finally unveiled its latest M car: the 1-Series M Coupe. With 335bhp, a 0-62mph time of less than five seconds, and a £39,990 list price, BMW has gone straight for the recently-announced Audi RS3’s jugular.

The baby M’s 3.0-litre twin-turbo straight six - as seen in the Z4 35is - produces peak power at 5900rpm. There’s 332lb ft of twist between 1500 and 4500rpm, but an overboost facility increases this to 369lb ft under full throttle (the V8-engined M3 generates 414bhp and 295lb ft).

That power and torque equates to a 0-62mph time of 4.9secs (we often find that BMW’s outperform their claims, though and would expect the M Coupe to rival the RS3’s 4.6secs claim), 0-124mph in 17.3secs, and on to a limited 155mph top speed.

Read our drive and see Chris Harris' video review of the 1-Series M development car

Gearbox purists will rejoice that it is only available with a six-speed manual ‘box, which is hooked up to BMW’s Variable M differential. Pressing the M button on the steering wheel puts the car in M Dynamic Mode, giving the driver access to the highest power levels.

Aluminium suspension components are borrowed from the M3, as are the cast iron discs - 360mm at the front and 350mm at the back.

BMW have said the M Coupe will lap the Nurburgring quicker than an E46 M3. That’s perfectly plausible – we wouldn’t be surprised if it gave the current M3 a fair fight round the ‘Ring either.

Read our early 'M1' news story

Compared to the standard 1-series, the M coupe has a 71mm wider track at the front and 46mm at the rear, and it has been lowered by 20mm. It weighs 1495kg, which is a bit porkier than we were hoping.

For those with less talent than money the car comes fitted with a wealth of safety tech that includes: Dynamic Stability Control (DSC), anti-slip control (ASC), Dynamic Brake Control (DBC), Cornering Brake Control (CBC), an anti-fading function and a dry brake function. 

2011 Detroit motor show round-up here