BMW

BMW M Boss Dr. Kay Seglar sat down with German publication Auto News for a lengthy talk on all things M. However the biggest news came when the discussion shifted towards everyone ‘s favorite 1 Series. Dr. Kay (as he was affectionally known at MINI before moving the the M Division) officially confirmed the 1 Series M will go on sale during the 2nd Quarter 2011. Hey also talked about the name of the new baby M. Apparently the name M1 is out of the question. As we expected the folks at M don ‘t like the idea of taking the M1 moniker for a small two door coupé so that ‘s out. Dr. Kay declined to say what (if anything) has been chosen but we have heard 1M, 135tii and 135M bandied about.

As we ‘ve previously reported M wants to make the 1M an affordable car for younger buyers. Because of that the M Division has kept the performance enhancements within a specific cost framework to make the vehicle cost effective for BMW. The trick differential will be borrowed from the M3 and the engine will be a massaged twin turbo version of the N55 inline six (of course with it ‘s own “S ” designation). We expect something north of 350 hp and 350 ft lbs torque.

Production should be inline with the Z4 M Coupé in that it ‘ll be produced without a finite quantity in mind but only for a limited time (perhaps as little as 12 months).