BMW, the company that for decades touted themselves as producers of “The Ultimate Driving Machine” produced some of the best driving, money no object cars and even today sneaks through several offerings that are truly best in class. In the late 2010s though, BMW was going through some serious changes that endangered forever that title and their claims of being that ultimate driving machine. 6 cylinder naturally aspirated engines were being axed in favor of direct injected turbocharged 4 cylinders in base vehicles, BMW slated introduction of its first ever front wheel drive based platform, and automatic transmissions have all but killed the venerable 6 speed box on dealer lots, relegating the true enthusiast to a check box on an order form for a small hand full of models that remain offering the manual cog-swapper. Electric steering is now completely commonplace across the industry, garnering various degrees of hatred and praise between makes and models.

Internet forums full of loud talkers with no money keep fanning the flames, condemning BMW for ditching hydraulic steering, mechanical engine water pumps, port injection, natural aspiration and the widespread use of their rightfully loved 6 cylinder inline engines.

Truth be told though, these changes allow the company to let slip some truly special beasts, and in the 2011 model year, BMW did just that once again with the 1 series M. This car is truly a ‘greatest hits’ vehicle showcasing what BMW has achieved the prior 10 years.

The E82 chassis 1 series had been around for 7 years at this point, and its ancestry much longer still based closely on the E46 BMW 3 series that debuted in 1999. 1M borrowed the rear axle and differential from the E46 M3 due to similar hard points, rear brakes and wheels from the E90 competition package M3, and the entire front axle assembly with brakes and wheels from the E90 ZCP M3. widely flared bodywork was needed to accommodate the increased track widths front and rear, changing nearly all of the bodywork from a standard 135i which shares most of the driveline mechanicals with the 1M. larger front intakes for brake cooling, additional oil and intercooling were added in lieu of fog lamps and were sculpted in to the now distinctive front bumper. BMW’s powerful N54 twin turbo straight 6 engine was borrowed straight from the 740i in high output guise, bolted to a standard 135i gearbox and out through the fore-mentioned E46 M3 limited slip 210mm differential.

Turbocharging and BMW’s M division?! That’s right. This was one of BMW M’s first turbo engine applications, foreshadowing the F8x M3/4 and rolling out alongside the tweaked N63 found under the hood of the M5, X5M and X6M as the S63. The N54 also did not carry an ‘S’ designation which truly does mean this was a factory built engine that could have just as easily ended up in a 740i, a Z4 or a 335iS. Ignoring whether or not the N54 is special enough to be under the hood of such a special one hit wonder like the 1M is a moot point when you get behind the wheel though and hit that ubiquitous BMW start stop button and you’re greeted by a friendly and familiar straight 6 growl, lightly enhanced by a low restriction exhaust system. revving the engine cold, you hear those two tiny mitusbishi turbochargers spool effortlessly and also the problematic and short living electric water pump mimic the engine RPM. Pushing in the familiar and beautifully linear clutch pedal, engaging the smooth 6 speed box through that well loved ZHP shift knob, smacking the ‘M’ dynamic mode butt on the steering wheel which was taken directly from the ZCP E90 M3 as well and seems oddly out of place next to the copious amounts of black alcantara with orange accent stitching all over the cabin and floor of the 1M cockpit.

Driving the 1 series M really does feel like driving a tightened 135i while you warm up the oil, which mind you takes a solid 20 minutes with the 1M. Once that oil is warm though and you start tossing the car around you really do notice that the mannerism similarities between the 135i and the 1M stop abruptly and the true M DNA comes out of this short wheelbase bulldog bruiser. the engine’s mountain of slightly turbo laggy torque is thrilling to the level of true addiction. Brakes, well, they’re straight out of a much heavier and bigger performance car so all of the performance you’d expect and then some. Pedal bite is very mild mannered but the more force on the pedal, the warmer and deeper the hug from your seat belt. Michelin supplied the rubber on this car for BMW with the Pilot Sport 2. A great hard side wall, progressive and communicative breakaway near the limit and excellent traction to keep those 265 section tires at least somewhat adhered to the road when the 370lb/ft of torque hits from that lovely straight 6.

MPG through the overboosted N54 is quite poor at around 17, exacerbated further by the turkey baster installed by BMW as a fuel tank leading the 1M through 200 of the most fun miles possibly attainable by such a modern car. Getting such poor fuel economy, even with an environmentally conscious mind like my own is just not a problem with the 1 series M, because all the miles covered are done so at full grin, and this car is the best quality of life booster I have driven to date. Yes, you heard that right — this car is more smile inducing than an E30 M3 with an S54 under the hood and a Ferrari F355.

Moving right back to that E30 M3 of mine, and how it relates to this 1 series M in the family of BMW. I do see a lot of similarities between the cars. BMW took a run of the mill but excellent and well loved car, and then they injected it all over the place with bulbus fender flares, more aggressive body work, slight but effective interior tweaks, better brakes, completely different suspension geometry and more power. the 1 series M almost has a more pure BMW forumula than the E30 M3 did with its 4 cylinder engine, but even with the addition of BMW’s best ever 6 cylinder engine in their best loved chassis (yes, that’s the S54B32 and the E30 M3), the mix is somehow more usable and cohesive in the 1M. That is not to say at all that the 1M is the better car, because it isn’t. There’s nothing quite as frightening and tantalizing as a 550lb lighter and more powerful car, narrower tire section with better road manners, better feedback and more electric man and machine communication. What the 1M does so well though, and where it captures the essence of the E30 is being so usable and so capable with so little drawback. Both the E30 M3 and the E82 1M are or were cars you could load the family in to and take a trip, but also take them to a track day and run down cars costing 2-3x as much that come and go on trailers.

Having such a usable car that is so capable sounds like the perfect situation, but it has one major flaw, especially for anyone living where inclement weather is a real factor. Since the M3’s import numbers from 1988-1991 were just shy of 4,996 units and a huge number were used up through track use, winter rust or just general wear, subjecting a surviving E30 M3 to year round use these days may very well result in death threats from the owners clubs like S14.net. The 1M has the exact same problem. Being such a well rounded and capable do all car makes owners want to use them all day every day. Some do! they have lovely experiences sliding the cars around in the snow and salt, but with 741 units brought to the USA in the single model year of 2011  the car is simply too rare to use at all times in good conscience. At the end of the day, these are cars and they’re designed to be used, but in both of these vehicles cases they’re not primary or secondary vehicles, they’re crown jewels of collections that come out on nice days for nice events on nice roads. Is that really a shame? I don’t think so. Keeping nice rare cars nice while still piling on nice weather miles is just good sense, and BMW made you a standard E82 to slide around and use up in the winter anyhow while your lovely 1M sits a few months a year in a heated garage waiting longingly for springtime hoons.

Spiritual successor to the 1988-1991 M3 though, I don’t really see it. the M3 was brought in to this world to do one thing. To win races. Win races it did. In fact, the E30 M3 remains the winning est chassis ever produced in regards to overall race wins. The fact that the car was so lovely to use every day and had what this writer believes to be near perfect proportions is irrelevant to the M3s appreciation and value. the 1 series M was designed to be what the E30 M3 became, and it does that better than the M3 ever did thanks to modern technologies and parts bin engineering. Spiritual successor? No, I don’t think so. A Successful tribute to BMW’s crown jewel? Absolutely, and a worthy one at that.