Over the last few months it ‘s become clear that the ///M Division intends to build an ///M car below the current ///M3. Through our sources we ‘ve been able to piece together most of what that car will feature; 350 bhp, reduced weight and a revised suspension will be the most important changes (you can read our entire report here). It now appears that Autocar is jumping on the band-wagon with some information of their own. While it mirrors what we have reported, they directly quote ///M boss Dr. Kay Segler and another unnamed high ranking BMW executive. Here ‘s an excerpt:

>The decision to put the car into production has been attributed to an “overwhelmingly positive reaction” to recent customer clinics, according to at least one high-ranking BMW official. Aimed at attracting younger customers to BMW’s performance cars, the new coupé is set to become the M division’s most affordable model.

>Revealing the plans for the new 1-series-based model, ///M division boss Kay Segler said, “I want to set a clear signal that our products are financially accessible.

>“With the modular production processes in place at BMW, it is possible to create performance cars that customers can not only dream about owning but also realistically afford.”

>BMW is still deciding whether or not to call the car ///M1, a name originally used on the firm’s legendary road racer supercar in 1978. Inspiration for the new car comes from BMW’s tii concept, a sporting version of the 1-series coupé that was revealed at the 2007 Tokyo motor show.

Autocar also reports that the ///M powerplant that will motivate the new car is based not on the N54 but the new N55 twin scroll turbo engine. However ///M plans on fully reconfiguring the engine and will re-adopt the twin turbo set-up to create additional power and (just as important) torque. To us this makes perfect sense since ///M has already made a huge impression with the use of dual scroll turbos in the X5/X6 models and is essentially developing a motor that can be used well into the future.

BMW to unleash 350bhp M1 / Autocar