FINAL SETTINGS.

The proving ground in Miramas, southern France, and Arjeplog, northern Sweden, offers BMW Group engineers the ideal conditions to extract every last bit of performance from the new M135i xDrive. Its various handling tracks cover almost all driving scenarios, from everyday life on public roads to ambitious race track use.

The aim of the BMW test drivers and engineers is, above all, to preserve the typical BMW DNA, despite the new front-wheel drive architecture with transverse engines and a low centre tunnel. Over the course of the extensive test drives, the focus is above all on agility and dynamism, the core competencies and hallmarks the BMW 1 Series has always displayed.

The top model of the new BMW 1 Series is the BMW M135i xDrive. Maximum propulsion is provided by the most powerful 4-cylinder engine in the BMW Group’s portfolio. It shines in the BMW M135i xDrive, sporting numerous innovative and tailor-made solutions, such as newly-developed pistons and cod rods, optimised fuel injection valves, a reinforced crank drive and a larger exhaust turbocharger.


The BMW 1 Series in general and the BMW M135i xDrive in particular are setting new standards in terms of driving dynamics in the premium compact class. A cutting edge suspension set-up, innovative technologies and the integration of all driving dynamics-related components and control systems, the BMW 1 Series achieves greater agility both with the new front-wheel drive and BMW xDrive intelligent four-wheel drive.

A crucial element for the car’s exceptionally high agility is ARB technology (actuator contiguous wheel slip limitation) known from the BMW i3s, which is now celebrating its debut in a vehicle with a combustion engine. On the new BMW 1 Series, BMW has also utilised all of the experience gained over recent years with BMW Group front-wheel drive models.


This transfer of technology from the BMW i brand to the core brand BMW improves traction decisively, while facilitating significantly more sensitive and faster control. For example, slip control is now integrated directly in the engine control unit instead of in the control unit for the DSC function (Dynamic Stability Control). Without long signal paths, information is passed on three times faster, with the regulation speed perceived by the driver actually being up to ten times faster.

Significant progress has once again been achieved, particularly in the significant reduction of power understeer usually experienced with front-wheel drive vehicles. A further increase in agility is achieved by the dynamic brake interventions of the BMW Performance Control (yaw moment distribution), which comes as standard. The torsional stiffness of the body structure – one of the most important characteristics of high performance vehicles – has been further enhanced by the targeted use of additional struts. A standard rear-end ‘boomerang strut’ makes a significant contribution here.