FAST FLEET
We know the Comp is a great M-car, but is it better than the illustrious 1M?
Ian Eveleigh tries to decide between an M2 Competition and a 1M Coupe (it’d be easier if he could just keep both), Gallagher’s R8 and Towler’s Mustang take to the track, and Antony Ingram says sayonara to our very blue GT86 Club Series
NINE MONTHS AGO, DURING MY FIRST weekend with our M2 Competition, I returned to it in a car park to find a 1-series M Coupe right beside it. It probably wasn’t the owner’s intention, but my gut reaction was that the M2 was being one-upped; that the newcomer would always exist in the shadow of its venerated predecessor.
But as the months and miles with the M2 passed, I began to question whether I should have felt this way at all. Not only because the Competition was proving to be a damn fine M-car itself, but also because, well, could it be that the 1M benefits from being viewed through the rose-tinted spectacles of passing time? To find out, this month the M2’s older relative came to visit for a week-long side-by-side comparison.
Upon seeing the 1M again, my first impression was of just what an eye-catcher it is. The M2 doesn’t exactly struggle to get attention, with its pumped wheelarches looking like a superhero’s bodysuit that’s barely containing the muscle within, but the 1M appears even more ripped. Its wheelarches begin their outward flaring much closer to the alloys below, drawing more attention to the widened tracks, while the wheels themselves are tucked further up into the arches, adding to the sense of purposefulness.
There’s a marginally greater sense of purpose inside, too, the ambience-setting Alcantara extending beyond the doorcards and the gearlever gaiter – which is as far as it goes in the M2 – and onto the door pulls, the dash and the instrument binnacle hood. Sadly, the grippy material doesn’t make it onto the seats; like in the M2, they’re leather, but are also decently supportive thanks to prominent bolsters.
Once you’ve slotted the plastic key into the dash (embarrassingly easy to forget when you’ve spent months living with the keyless-go M2), a prod of the starter button brings the 3-litre twin-turbo straightsix to life. When it was launched back in 2011, the 1M was the second M-car to get a turbocharged engine – after the V8-powered X6M – and was actually quite a cunning way for BMW to get us used to the idea of turbocharged M-cars, for while that idea seemed anathema at the time, few could argue with 335bhp in a compact 1-series body.
The turbocharged M-cars that have come along since, however, only serve to emphasise that this is not a bespoke M unit. Its soundtrack lacks that gritty, sometimes raucous edge of the M3/m4sourced motor in the M2 Comp; instead, aside from some exhaust boominess at 3000-3500rpm, the note is rich and smooth all the way. You could easily imagine it humming along attached to an auto ’box, which, of course, in other applications it did. If I’m
completely honest, it’s a bit disappointing.
What’s not disappointing, though, is the engine’s performance. It doesn’t have the immediate punch of the M2’s unit, especially at lower revs, but work it beyond 3500rpm and the 1M really flies. It may be 69bhp down on the M2 Comp, but this is palliated by a 55kg lighter kerb weight, and while there is still a notable power-to-weight difference – 228bhp per ton for the 1M versus 265 for the M2 – most of the time that gap sounds far greater than it feels.
The 1M’s six-speed manual gearbox has an even stubbier lever than the M2’s, and while the shift action isn’t quite as crisp, there’s nothing to really complain about. The same can’t be said of the brakes, which were sourced from the contemporary M3 and emit that tell-tale grumble of being under-specced, even if their performance is adequate for road use.
And it is such a cracking road car, the 1M. From the driving seat it feels about ten per cent smaller than the M2 – itself a good fit for a B-road – and its boxier shape makes it even easier to judge exactly where its extremities are. The ride, meanwhile, although still firm, is more forgiving, making it less punishing over typical British tarmac. That said, a touch of crashiness over harsh surface changes reminds you of how adept the newest cars have become at managing a stiff set-up.
Also belying the 1M’s age is its slower steering rack, which makes you realise how infrequently you change the position of your hands on the wheel in the M2. Assistance is hydraulic rather than electric, but it’s still not exactly dripping with feedback. However, with 245/35 front and 265/35 rear rubber on 19-inch rims (identical to the M2) you’re rarely short of reassuring grip, and though you’ll need to make bigger inputs, the 1M’s agility is in the same ballpark as the M2’s.
Ultimately, the 1M Coupe is slightly less intense than the M2 Competition – it hasn’t got the more amped-up attitude of the newer car: the more urgent engine, the more immediate steering, the more uncompromising ride. But while the M2 will get your pulse racing a few beats per minute faster, I’m not sure this makes it any more satisfying to drive.
Which do I prefer? It’s a genuinely tough call, but put it this way: the 1M and M2 have now both returned to BMW (full end-of-term report on the latter next month), but if I could have just one more drive in either of them, I’d choose the 1M.
Date acquired October 2018 Total mileage 8058 Mileage this month 1113 Costs this month £0 mpg this month 24.0
‘Ultimately, the 1M Coupe is slightly less intense than the M2 Competition’