If you’ve ever wanted to know how the 1M will fare against big brother M3 around the track, an enthusiast magazine in Germany had the same idea. Sport Auto pushed these cars to the limits at the Hockenheimring circuit in Germany. It turned out that the 1M is faster than the M3. Sport Auto took a stock 1 Series M Coupe and let it race against a current-generation (E92) M3 with ZCP competition package and dual-clutch transmission.
Meanwhile, the 1M is available only with a six-speed manual transmission. Sport Auto had the cars run separately on the track. The 1M posted a time of 1:14.1 while the M3 finished the lap in 1:14.2.
There’s only a difference of a tenth of a second but this is significant when you consider that the M3 is powered by a 414hp, 4.0-liter V-8 engine and the weight difference between the two cars is 378 pounds.
On the other hand, the 1 Series M Coupe is powered by a 3.0-liter, turbocharged inline-six that delivers 335hp. The German magazine has also tested other cars previously. A record of 1:14.3 was posted by both an Audi TT-RS and a E92 M3 that was equipped with a manual-transmission.
Meanwhile, the Audi RS5 had a time of 1:15.3, coming in at one full second behind. The PorscheCayman S, which had a six-speed manual, posted a time of exactly 1:14 but with a dual-clutch transmission, the same car was faster with a time of 1:13.9. This stands to show that the 1M is in the company of some very impressive vehicles.
Sport Auto points out the awesome speed of the 1M but it also seeks to play up its fun side. The magazine said that it is glad that the 1M has kept some of the oversteering qualities innate in several of BMW’s old models. BMW said that it aims to remind them of the 1M’s sporting heritage since the company had a vintage E30 M3 for direct comparison at the press event last year.
