For some people, buying a fast car isn’t enough anymore, unless they turn it into a really great visual experience. This M235i Coupe definitely looks like it means business.

Let’s not forget, this is a car that has been called in lots of (good) ways. They’ve called it the real successor to the E46 M3, to the old 1M as well as the most fun to drive modern-day BMW car – though the M2 is coming!

It’s easy to understand why so many people have fallen in love with the M235i. First of all, it’s a RWD, light-weight small coupe, that can hit 100 km/h (62 mph) in just 4.8 seconds (4.6 sec with xDrive system) and can handle itself against a whole bunch of more powerful opponents.

If maneuverability is what you’re looking for, odds are you’re not going to find anything better than this car with either Audi or Mercedes-Benz.

Personally, I like the 1M comparison the most even though that one had a bit more power and torque. The difference is negligible though, with the M235i putting down 326 PS and 450 Nm (331 lb-ft) and the 1M Coupe being good for 340 PS and 500 Nm (368 lb-ft).

The M235i also weighs a little less (1,545 kg vs 1,579 kg) and is a fraction of a second faster to 100 km/h (62 mph).

As far as I can tell, the car in these images is the M235i automatic with rear wheel drive, since there’s no xDrive badge on the trunk lid, and that’s exactly the car you’d want to buy if you were interested in extracting the perfect balance of fun and performance from this car.

If you’d go for the manual (yes, they make a manual version!), you would probably lose out on the performance.

It’s sad that it’s come to that but these are innovative times we’re in and manual transmissions will soon be a thing of the past.

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