GTP Cool Wall: 2016+ BMW M140i

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2016+ BMW M140i


  • Total voters
    124
  • Poll closed .

Wiegert

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2016+ BMW M140i nominated by @JC_Dude

2015-bmw-m135i-design-images-10-750x500.jpg


Body Style:
3-door, 5-door hatchback
Engine: 3.0L B58 turbocharged BMW I6
Power: 335 hp
Torque: 369 lb-ft
Weight: 1500-1595 kg
Transmission: 6-speed manual, 8-speed ZF automatic
Drivetrain: Front-engine, rear wheel or xDrive all wheel drive
bmw-m140i-2016-340-ps-10.jpg
bmw-m140i-2.jpeg

bmw-m140i-2016-340-ps-12.jpg
 
Sporty looking, nice amount of power and torque, so I was going to give it a Cool, but then I realized how heavy it is.

Meh.
 
I prefer hot hatches which are more exciting to look at, but at least this appears to be exciting under the skin with a rear wheel drive layout and 6-cylinder engine. Just about scrapes a cool.
 
On one hand it has similar P/W and stats that remind you of R34 GTR, or Supra MK4 depending on layout.

Nonsense aside, I will give it a low cool. Straight 6 is becoming highly endangered, Mercedes seems to have only been teasing us.
 
The 1595kg weight is hardly massive when you consider the latest Focus RS is somewhere in the neighbourhood of 1560kg based on specs. Considering that quoted weight is for the xDrive model, it's really not that bad. Yep, modern cars are heavy, but it's not a unique problem here.

Uncool. The front end is much nicer than the doofy-looking original second-gen 1'er, but the new, more BMW-like rear lamps are oddly less interesting than the square ones from before. Only the original Z3 M Coupe does this silhouette justice.
 
Meh. I don't think it looks that bad compared to the travesty to the eyes that was the M135i but it's a new BMW and you kind of get the impression that these M-Performance 1-Series' are never going to be as special as the 1M, even though they might indeed be more capable.
 
Honestly the LCI F20/F21 seem like a bit of a cop out. No doubt when it was launched the second generation 1-er's styling was challenging to say the least, but I've come to quite like them, and I think BMW sacrificed a lot it the character for something that was aesthetically more vanilla.

Anyway, uncool because of inevitable reactions to the badging.
 
The 1595kg weight is hardly massive when you consider the latest Focus RS is somewhere in the neighbourhood of 1560kg based on specs. Considering that quoted weight is for the xDrive model, it's really not that bad. Yep, modern cars are heavy, but it's not a unique problem here.
The thing with this is a lot of cars could do better. I mean, 1500 kg for a RWD car is still a bit much. It's almost as heavy as my 11 year old Impala.

There are plenty of hatchbacks that are much lighter:

Mazda 3: 1299-1373 kg
Scion iM: 1334-1371 kg
^Those are regular hatchbacks

You mentioned the Focus RS, so let me look at previous hot hatches.

2009 RS: 1468 kg
2013 Mazdaspeed3: 1488 kg

So why is the basic FR M140i heavier? I figure it's the drivetrain, but I'm sure weight can be taken off elsewhere.
 
I don't find it that heavy (seriously, most American SUVs are heavier, although it's apples to oranges), but I don't find modern BMWs cool.
 
Your 11 year old Impala is a FWD car designed primarily for fleet use built on a platform that first started development 34 years ago.


This is a modern RWD turbocharged luxury sports car.
That's the point. Why is this sports car nearly as heavy as a fleet car? And in addition, you ignored the comparison between the M140 and the other hot hatches.
Because it's not exactly basic.
It could stand to shed a few kilos imho. I don't hate the car, bur 1500 is just a tad too heavy.
 
That's the point. Why is this sports car nearly as heavy as a fleet car?
Because the fleet car was built on a (FWD) platform designed for specification targets originally put in place in 1982, with a transmission originally designed in 1985, a choice of engines either originally from 1980 or 1982, and the amount of interior equipment consummate with a car sold primarily to fleets by GM at the turn of the millenium. The Impala is also significantly more different in weight to this BMW anyway than the hot hatches you brought up.


And in addition, you ignored the comparison between the M140 and the other hot hatches
The old Mazdaspeed 3 is a trip to the grocery store in weight difference to this. Instead of being a RWD six cylinder luxury car, it is a FWD four cylinder Mazda. You might as well have not brought it up. The old Focus RS is another trip to the grocery store in difference to that, but is at least a 5 cylinder. The current Focus RS is in fact heavier than this BMW.
 
A RWD hot hatch should be cool, but this is way too anonymous looking.

Meh.
 
Because the fleet car was built on a (FWD) platform designed for specification targets originally put in place in 1982, with a transmission originally designed in 1985, a choice of engines either originally from 1980 or 1982, and the amount of interior equipment consummate with a car sold primarily to fleets by GM at the turn of the millenium. The Impala is also significantly more different in weight to this BMW anyway than the hot hatches you brought up.



The old Mazdaspeed 3 is a trip to the grocery store in weight difference to this. Instead of being a RWD six cylinder luxury car, it is a FWD four cylinder Mazda. You might as well have not brought it up. The old Focus RS is another trip to the grocery store in difference to that, but is at least a 5 cylinder. The current Focus RS is in fact heavier than this BMW.
Let's look at a market more like the M140, then. It's a powerful RWD, so it's a good comparison to the 370z and the rest of that segment. Just looking at the 370z gives us 1493-1615 kg. Fair enough, that lines up, but the 370z is still 7 kg lighter at its most basic form.
 
The only reason you'd buy this over another hot hatch is beacuse you want other people to see that BMW badge, you want to say "I drive a BMW". You don't buy it because you want to go fast, you don't buy it because you want a comfortable car, you buy it because you wanna appear to be a cool guy but A BMW GUY PEOPLE NEED TO KNOW YOU ARE A BMW GUY!

It's a posser car for the tosser man. Seriously uncool.

PS: It's not THAT heavy. If I'm not wrong, isn't that the engine from an E46 M3 or some kind of derivative? Chances are the gearbox and drivetrain is similar, plus you're getting all that heavy BMW luxury 🤬. A classic, circa 1980s "lightweight" hot hatch is around 900-1000kg...without a driveshaft, without turbos, with a smaller cylinder block, without airbags, without leather/heated/eletronically adjustable seats, etc., etc. Perhaps, the problem here is considering it a hot hatch. It's not such a thing, it's a RWD BMW sports sedan in drag, like a fourty-year old man wearing a flat-bill cap to look young.
 
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Let's look at a market more like the M140, then. It's a powerful RWD, so it's a good comparison to the 370z and the rest of that segment. Just looking at the 370z gives us 1493-1615 kg. Fair enough, that lines up, but the 370z is still 7 kg lighter at its most basic form.
So... what? Are BMW engineers supposed to be ashamed that their turbocharged RWD 5 seat luxury car weighs 16 pounds more than the absolute base model of a somewhat smaller normally aspirated 2 seat RWD sports car that it is already faster than anyway?


I legitimately don't get what this point is supposed to mean.
 
So... what? Are BMW engineers supposed to be ashamed that their turbocharged RWD 5 seat luxury car weighs 16 pounds more than the absolute base model of a similarly sized normally aspirated 2 seat sports car that it is already faster than anyway?


I legitimately don't get what this point is supposed to mean.
It's supposed to be a hatchback in a segment for coupes. You'd think the hatch would be lighter. My key complaint here is it could definitely be lighter. I'd have given it a cool if it was. But seriously? It's just too heavy for my taste.
 
It's supposed to be a hatchback in a segment for coupes. You'd think the hatch would be lighter. My key complaint here is it could definitely be lighter. I'd have given it a cool if it was. But seriously? It's just too heavy for my taste.


Uhm, first of all, lightness has nothing to do with coolness. For example: [insert generic "yo mamma so fat" joke]. Second, the fact it's a hatch means squat in terms of weight if the platform is the same, why would it be lighter than a coupe if it's just as wide, just as tall, just as long, and equipped with the same heavy interior, drivetrain and engine? A couple of turbochargers on their own already weigh around 50kg, so it all makes sense.
 
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