Update: We’ve got some new snapshots of the upcoming, all-new BMW 1 Series donning its sportiest attire as the M135i. It’s wearing a bit less disguise at the front, allowing us to get a slightly clearer glimpse of its front bumper design. Just like our previous sighting, this prototype is rocking the production-ready light units.
There aren’t many cars BMW’s M Division hasn’t turned its attention to, but one that’s never got past the M-lite phase is the little 1-series hatch. Could that be about to change?
These latest spy shots show what appears to be an M135i prototype judging from its brakes and wheels, but the quad-exhaust setup – something BMW normally reserves for full M cars, but that we’ve now seen on a couple of prototypes – has us wondering if M Division might be about to turn up the boost on the M135i’s 2.0-liter four and resurrect the 1M badge last used on the M2’s predecessor.
In addition to the presence of those quad pipes, this 1-Series is wearing less disguise than was fitted to earlier test cars. Most obviously we can see the trapezoidal shape of the intake in the new front bumper and the headlights have less camouflage over their lenses. There’s no change to the amount of disguise around the kidney grilles and what we can see makes us think BMW is preparing to slim down the ugly, tall grille on the 2023 1-Series that wraps upwards and onto the plastic body-color panel in front of the hood.
Related: New BMW 1-Series And M135i xDrive Facelift Spied Showing Updated Interior
SH Proshots for Carscoops
Official BMW paperwork seen previously suggested BMW was changing the 1-series’ internal model code from F40 to F70 in July 2024, which points to an entirely new car. But that doesn’t tally with what we see in these pictures or the timing, since the now-four-year-old 1-series is due for a facelift not replacement. The car in the spy shots certainly appears to be based on the current 1-series, as it has the same old-fashioned (non-flush) door handles and the same fuel filler flap. It also looks like it has the same doors, though interestingly, the previous spy shots showed a different design of the rear side windows, where the Hofmeister kink made its direction change further up the C-pillar.
Maybe BMW is planning so many changes that it thinks the updated car deserves a new model code. We’ve already mentioned the front-end styling changes and the through the disguise we can make out some new tail details including revised rear lights and a reconfigured lower bumper. But it would need some major mechanical changes to make sense of that new code.
The current 1-series shares its front-wheel-drive platform with the combustion-powered Mini Cooper, which we know is getting some upgrades to help it look and feel fresh alongside the new electric Mini that sits on a totally different architecture.
Secret BMW paperwork mentioned a 116i that is likely powered by the same 1.5-liter three-cylinder seen in the Active Tourer 216i, where it develops 121 hp (122 PS) and 170 lb-ft (230 Nm) of torque. But 2.0-liter petrol and diesel options including a successor the current 302 hp (306 PS) M135i, and potentially a plug-in hybrid variant will give customers plenty of choice. Not customers in the U.S. though, where the 1-series will remain off-limits.
