Just Passing By – Our friend Chris brings over his BMW 1M

Hailed as the modern successor to the legendary BMW E30 M3, the 1M took the world by storm on its release. This rare, straight-six powered miniature meanie is a rare sight to see, especially in the UK and in all black.

BMW M, or M Division, was created in the mid-1970s as BMW’s in-house performance wizards. They took ordinary, everyday road cars and created some of the most sought-after and legendary performance cars until today – with the likes of the M1, M3, M4, M5, M6 etc. In the late 2000’s, M would take the humble 1 series coupe and essentially grafted in elements from the M3 and M4 to create the 1M (not to be confused with the late 70s supercar, the M1).

With only a few hundred of these rare coupes arriving in the UK, most were ordered in colours like Orange and Blue. But this one was ordered in Black with Black leather, making it one of only a handful of cars to be specified like this – making it even closer to its forefather, the fabled E30 M3, whose most common colour was black.

Although we mainly work on classic and vintage vehicles, all of us at Bridge Classic Cars have an appreciation for modern cars which try to rekindle that old-school analogue feel – the 1M being one of those rare machines. Thank you to Chris for bringing it over and lighting up our late afternoon here at the Suffolk HQ.

What’s your thoughts on the BMW 1M?