DRIVEN: What Does Tiff Needell Think Of The 2011 BMW 1M?

Undoubtedly a great car. But it is just fugly.

"Turbo lag of a second or 2"?

Just kill me.

I can't get past the Fisher Price styling. It looks too cute for its own good.

To bad for you looks won't stop it from beating the RS3.

car750i says "To[o] bad for you looks won't stop it from beating the RS3."

I haven't been on a track for years. Likely won't be on one again. So for *me*, Fisher Price styling matters a lot more than numbers on paper, which I'll never be using. Mind you, because you spend most of your time on the track rather than driving on public roads, the "my car can beat someone else's car" can make a BIG difference. But then again, a ton of other car owners (Ferrari, Porsche, Audi S5, etc.) will be looking down at you because their car can beat your car :-)

Bottom line: It's not the ultimate performer. Perhaps it's the ultimate performer in the Oh So Cute category :-) But if you like the styling, it's a winner (for you).

never said it was the "ultimate performer". And if all you care about is image maybe your looking at the wrong cars. Track use or not, no difference the 1m is the better machine compared to the RS3. Also this car would walk all over the S5.lol.

That 1500rpm turbo lag issue is a deal breaker. It's ok if you're on a track and your rev's never dip that low. But for a car that's in stop and go traffic the couple seconds of lag time will grow exponentially more irritating. Especially for a M badged car that's supposed to be known for its near instantaneous throttle response and predictability.

What car can pull @ 1500 rpm in SIXTH GEAR (second overdrive)? This is a non-issue!

Who cares what gear it's in? If it's an issue at full throttle and 6th gear, it'll definitely be an issue in any other gear at partial throttle.

hopefully they will figure out to deal with the turbo lag issue in the near future..

LOL, you guys try so hard..

It says it had minimal lag at "1500 RPM IN 6th GEAR". That is top gear, at just above idel, lag would occure in any turbo engine in that situation.

This engine has won the International engine of the year 4 year and counting, and is internatinal priased for its pulling power, and amazing torque levels.

Isn't this the same engine that was recalled due to fuel pump issues?

Also, regardless of what gear it is in. When your revs climb, so is your torque as the turbo spools up. Resulting in a very non-linear acceleration pattern at every intersection. Picture it, your daily driving scenario, you shift into gear, let off the clutch, as soon as it engages you have say 100ft-lbs at partial throttle, after a second of accelerating you have 150ft-lbs, you shift to second and you're back down to 1500rpm and have less torque at the wheels and your head bobs forward, a second later the turbo kicks in kicking your head back a little, then it's time for third.

No thanks, I'd rather have a predictable car where even as I change gears I can keep the same smooth flow of acceleration by increasing throttle, and not have to constantly manipulate the throttle, or keep the rev's up high to maintain a smooth driving pattern.

"Isn't this the same engine that was recalled due to fuel pump issues?"

Thats irrelevent, it was a recall that was corrected...a faulty fuel pump does not equal a faulty engine.

Its only in 6th gear that it had MINIMAL lag. Your scenario is just that a scenario, not based on anything.

Go read the countless review on the 1M, its has been prised for having linear and lag free acceleration.

It's about as relevant as your international engine of the year reference.

So if you consider the recall to be irrelevant, I'll consider your award to be irrelevant. Plus, I consider the fuel pump to be part of the engine. It's almost impossible to draw a line and say what is and isn't part of the engine. For example, are the exhaust pipes part of the engine? They critically effect it's performance. If they aren't because they are bolted onto the engine, then are the fuel injectors, spark plugs, timing belts part of the engine?

My scenario just happens to constitute about 20% of the driving conditions these cars will witness. Then about 78% Is steady state driving in the city/on the highway. Finally Less than 2% will be full throttle high revving enjoyment.

I've read the reviews, and the lag free acceleration is what happens when you full throttle it and the turbo doesn't have a chance to slow down which as stated in my previous paragraph, only happens in less than 2% of all driving scenarios.

What you don't seem to understand is that at partial throttle, it takes even longer for the turbo to spool (i.e. far longer then 1-2s). This is an issue with all turbo vehicles. BMW has realized this in the past, but is now going in a direction that they themselves have criticized.

I can easily dismiss that award due to it's apparent bias. Look at the detailed specs for any of BMW's engines and you will see that there are many of it's competitors that do a better job as far as emissions/mileage/performance/weight and even reliability goes.

Who cares where the journalists are from?

I would rather not accuse BMW of bribing, I have no proof one way or another. Instead, I'll provide you with another alternative that could be happening.

There are BMW enthusiasts everywhere. I think the majority of the bias comes from the fact that these are motoring journalists judging the cars and not engineers/ordinary people. Afterall, what motoring journalist doesn't like BMW?

If you had a simple data acquisition setup to measure fuel economy/emissions/accelerations. And had a more diverse panel of drivers including old grannies, young punks, and business professionals, then have the data acquisition systems grade the vehicles. You would have a far less biased data set.

To bad they are all sold out. I would love to have one.

Easy Joe_Lemon!nit-picking won't change the results, which are VERY favorable to the 1M.You're so full of it,LOL