More muscle for BM’s small models

Extra oomph with arrival of new M140i and M240i models

BMW South Africa is to give its smaller models a power injection with the imminent launch of the M140i and M240i Coupé/Convertible.

It follows the recent upgrading of the 335i to the 340i with an up-powered version of the 3litre turbo six-cylinder petrol engine.

Due in local showrooms at the end of September, the current M235i’s outputs of 240kW/450Nm will be raised to 250kW and 500Nm in the new M240i, which matches the muscle of the 1 Series M Coupé that was built from 2011 to 2012.

The M240i Coupé and Convertible will be available with a choice of six-speed manual or eight-speed automatic transmissions.

The power injection improves the 0-100km/h sprint by 0.3 seconds (the 240i now does the deed in 4.8 seconds in manual and 4.6 seconds in auto), whilst fuel consumption and CO2 emissions are also said to be 7 percent improved.

Identical upgrades are being made to the five-door BMW M135i, which becomes the M140i.

Lower down the pecking order, the four-cylinder 2-litre turbo petrol engines also get a boost with the 120i /220i and 125i gaining an extra 5kW to produce 135kW and 165kW respectively.

The most powerful four-cylinder derivative, the 228i, will become the 230i with a power increase of 5kW to 185kW.

Also from July 2016 orders, three new features from BMW ConnectedDrive, which were previously only available for the BMW 7 Series and BMW 6 Series, will also find their way to the BMW 1 Series, 2 Series Coupé andConvertible, 3 Series and 4 Series. These include a new menu display and higher screen resolution for the info- tainment system, and optional wireless smartphone charging.

The speech recognition feature will also recognise