BMW 135i Coupe (2007) CAR review

So, is this the ‘One’ that everyone has been waiting for?

Very good. The thought of a small, highly focused BMW, with the full M Sport works, powered by one of the finest engines on sale has certainly had us salivating. Shoehorned into the 135i’s engine bay is the same 3.0-litre twin-turbo straight six found in the 335i. It develops 306bhp at 5800rpm and a blistering 295lb ft at 1300rpm – good for a 5.3 second sprint to 62mph and an effortless 155mph before the electronic limiter steps in. You’ll pay for that power though - the 135i arrives in showrooms next month wearing a hefty £29,745 pricetag. Depending on which way you look at it, that’s a bankrupting amount of money for a car whose lower minions jostle with Golfs for sales, or it’s a bargain because you’re effectively getting a pint-sized M3.

Bargain or not, I’m still not sure about those looks

Join the club. At the launch BMW was keen to play up the links between the 135i and the 2002 saloon of the 1960s and '70s. Sure, they have two doors (and even a blown engine) in common but, while the 2002 is beautifully proportioned and neatly detailed, the 135i is not. Although the long bonnet, hump-backed roofline and stubby boot look good in isolation, join them all up and it somehow goes wrong. It looks best in dark metallics, and in the metal there’s a pleasingly squat chunkiness to the Bimmer’s lines.