The BMW 1 Series M Coupe has been pretty highly acclaimed in first drive reports so far.

German and US launch events have revealed it to be dynamic, involving, charismatic and capable. But there’s one test it had still to face: the unique challenge of UK roads.

Sinuous, unpredictable, pot-holed and ramshackle, British roads are seen by many as the ultimate dynamic engineering bellwether. Particularly the blinding roads around Inverness, where BMW has been holding the UK launch event for the 1 Series M Coupe for the past week.

I was there for the first day: so, too, were many international journalists. BMW M GmbH didn’t hold an official international launch for the 1 M. The UK press office thus stepped in, to cater for foreign writers who didn’t get a chance to drive it in their home market. How, then, did it fare?

Marvellously. Everything you’ve read about the 1 Series M Coupe’s considerable abilities shone through on the delectable Inverness roads too. Relief for the BMW engineers and great news for us. It proves the genuine M spirit is back. But what is the essence of its mastery? Here are six snapshots.

• Ride quality

The BMW 1 Series M Coupe is taut. On UK B-roads, it’s pretty jiggly, with a nuggety feel to the ride that excites passengers with high-frequency jitters. What it is not, though, is harsh. This is more of a racing car stiffness, rather than something that’s plain hard: the suspension is still allowed to breathe, and individual wheels are still allowed to compress and rebound as the surface requires.

Good damping helps here. BMW elected not to use electronic dampers, and the measured, sensitive way it’s tuned the passive units shows decades of M experience at work. What’s more, the ride also settles down appreciably on smoother roads, again allowing this damping to do its work.

Think of it as a tiptoe-like feeling: plenty of firm reassurance, yes, but also light on its feet despite this. Goodness, if this is to become an M characteristic feel in the future, we’re all in for good times.

• Steering feel

Eschewing EPAS in favour of hydraulic isn’t the only retro move BMW’s made, for the engineers have also given it an old-school feeling of weight, too. The steering is meaty, firming up appreciably when turning into bends, just like steering systems used to.

On Scottish switchback roads, this variation in weighting is delicious. It really involves the driver and offers tuned-in reassurance that helps them understand what road conditions are like, and also utilise the balance of the rear-drive chassis in corners. Keen drivers will love it – steering systems this pure are a real rarity nowadays, so praise be to BMW for emulating a 1980s feel here.

• Engine torque

There is nothing predictable about UK roads. If it’s not a surprise corner, it’s a surprise sheep, or a surprise cattle grid, or a surprise Toyota Starlet dallying in front of you. Driving a high-revving engine fast thus really takes it out of you. What you need is a torquey motor, that helps you pounce even when you’re caught out in a high gear. How the 1 Series M Coupe delivers.

The spread of torque is exceptional. It will pull from tickover revs, and offers useful grunt from as little as 1500rpm. In reality, this means you can leave it in 3^rd on a UK country sequence, and still have all the power and drive you need.

Such is the muscle, you’ll feel yourself pressed into the seat even at 80mph plus, even if you’re in sixth gear. Of course, such torque also allows DSC-off exploits with ease, should a tight UK hairpin allow. It’s a brilliant antithesis to the peaky nature of the M3’s V8, and works stupendously well on British roads.

• Low-speed sensations

It’s pretty rare you can drive full-bore in the UK. It’s thus vital a performance car offers satisfaction at slower speeds, too. The BMW 1 Series M Coupe ticks this box. Be it the creamy engine, snickety gearshift (complete with fantastically short, stubby lever), the mechanical feeling of the pedals or the pleasure derived from feeling the steering’s weight vary, it’s as rewarding at 10mph as it is at 100.

Torque is always there, the overlay of turbo whoosh is a pleasant new addition to the soundtrack, and the impression of wide, chunky, squat sophisticated muscle you get ensures the stubby little 1 M satisfies even if you’re crawling through the city centre.

It’s not all mechanical, either. The low, bolstered, sportingly supportive seats play their part, as do the grey graphics on the dials, the deluge of orange stitching and the overriding impression you’re sitting in something very, very special indeed. A collectable car for life? Rare will the driver be who doesn’t think this.

• Handling accuracy

Such is the feel through the steering, and such is the bite of the 19-inch CSL-style wheels’ 35-section tyres, and such is the excellent balance of the rear-drive chassis, pedalling a BMW 1 Series M Coupe fast is something you can enjoy without fear or hesitation.

Some fast cars can feel clumsy on the road, somewhat aloof until you’re really on it, which doesn’t quite instil the snappy crispness you desire. The E60 M5 was a case in point here. The 1 Series M Coupe is different: all the assurance you get at higher speeds is there at lower speeds, too.

This counters every last spot of UK road unpredictability – it’s possible to place it inch perfect, hit every apex, brush every pebble marking every single turn-in point. The engine plays its part here, too, as you’re never guessing when it will deliver full power, or whether you’ll be able to throttle-balance it to the extent you desire.

It’s that race car comparison again. The 1 Series M Coupe is without fluff or woolly softness, and instead flooded with pinsharp accuracy that helps even the most hesitant feel encouraged to get the best out of it.

• Charisma

Here’s the clincher. The 1 Series M Coupe is plain good fun. It oozes character, brings a smile to the face no matter what the road, basically presses all the buttons in a car enthusiast that will guarantee they’ll be besotted.

It’s modern yet retro, and the most convincing reinvention of the original BMW E30 M3 yet. BMW has, this weekend, revealed the BMW 328 Hommage, as the latest in its ‘Hommage Car’ range. With the 1 Series M Coupe, it may just have the basis for its third: genuinely, it offers all the grin-inducing delights you’d expect of a BMW E30 M3 Hommage.

BMW has given us an April Fool double-header this year.

As if the BMW M3 Pickup wasn’t enough, and following on from last year’s PRAT roundel, BMW GB has also taken out ads in the nationals – to, ahem, celebrate the forthcoming Royal Wedding.

The BMW M3 Coupe Royal Edition is, it seems, available in a choice of three colours:

• Regal Red
• Bridal White
• Imperial Blue

Inside, it’s said finished in Windsor White Dakota leather (what else?). As a finishing touch, the Royal Edition special M3 Coupes are marked out by a special Will emblem (in-bleemin-genious).

The made-up names aren’t bad, either: Joe Kerre, BMW Junior Operations Kindle Executive at BMW’s Forschungs und Narren division in Munich, said: “The Royal Wedding has captured the people’s imagination so we thought that it would be a fitting tribute to offer an exclusive edition of one of our most majestic models.

“Given the Windsor’s German heritage, the BMW M3 Royal Edition should make for the ideal wedding gift.”

Oh, and if you want to know more, pauline.yorlegg@bmw.co.uk has all the info.

Smart stuff. How long did it take them to spot the M logo would work?

BMW says a year after the launch of the X5 M and X6 M, there’s been lots of good feedback. ‘People like the tuning,’ said chassis chief Heinz Krusche.

‘So we decided to give the new X5 more of this, too.’

BMW, he revealed, took the M versions’ standard model for DTC , which has led to a change in handling characteristics. ‘It is much more neutral with less understeer. Indeed, it’s more neutral to oversteer-biased, but it’s very smooth with it. This improves the agility of the handling.’

However, with DSC off, BMW has retained the settings for the standard model. ‘M models feel even more rear-led, with high relative slips angles and oversteer. This is NOT relevant for the X5.’

In essence, it’s a transfer of a new philosophy BMW introduced for X models with the X1. Basically, Krusche explained, in an unstable curve where the driver progressively increases steering input, torque is gradually increased to the rear of the vehicle – increasing the rear-drive feel and making it more agile.

Krusche’s department also handles drive assist systems – Active Cruise Control with Stop & Go, for instance. Thus, the new X5 gets optional 7 Series and 5 Series enhancements, but the standard system hasn’t been forgotten, either.

Take cruise control; this now auto-brakes into bends too, if it senses the car’s ‘running away’ from the driver. This is a first for your man here – if it senses it’s getting uncomfortable, the car auto-brakes to slow it and draw it back into the comfort parameters.

How? ‘We analyse wheel speed, steering angle and lateral acceleration. From this, we calculate how it should drive and ‘feel’ as standard. Any deviation from this sees the brakes applied to regain the range.’

We turned back to the M influence, though. How was Krusche able to include the M-specific xDrive profile? Well, he said M models are of course developed by M GmBH, entirely separately. ‘However, in some areas such as chassis and electronics, a huge amount of knowledge and research is required. This is where BMW AG supports M.

‘For the X5 M and X6 M, we got the job to develop the handling. M defined the handling ‘order’ for us, and we met this.

‘We did this, saw it was quite good, and therefore decided to transfer the same philosophy to BMW AG…’

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STANDARD BMW X6 models, in corners, work harder, earlier, for agility.

And that, explains Head of M Development Albert Biermann, is down to how the clever torque vectoring rear axle is programmed: power is shuffled round quite considerably, to give a rear-steer effect and kick the back end into corners.

The X6M uses this same technology – but is more linear. ‘It is not as agile, so we don’t work the rear end as much early on.

‘However, once you’re within the corner, we engage it far more – here, the split happens much earlier than in the standard X6.’

Why? ‘So the driver can get on the throttle earlier.’ And feel the ‘rear drive’ balance M reckons is a characteristic of its cars.

It’s not only here where the ‘M-gineers’ (arf) have been busy. ‘Dampers and springs are stiffer – and there are bespoke EDC settings. The ABS and Dynamic Drive are specially adjusted – the stiffness of the roll bar goes hand-in-hand with the dampers.’

There are stiffer upper wishbone hearings, and stiffer rubber in the rear axle carrier. ‘This gives better off-centre feel and more precision.’ The engine mounts are stiffer, too.

‘The upper shock mounts are also completely different.’ This solution, says Biermann, was very expensive, and could be easily overlooked. It shouldn’t be.

In the standard X6, there are three components, all settled together in the upper mounting. This sees the helper spring and damper share a common rubber bearing.

It’s a compromise. The helper spring is offsetting the rubber bearing over a spring, for example.

So, with the X6M, we’ve separated the bearing and piston rod from the helper spring. This means the two bearings fit better together; and one is dedicated to the damper, the other to the helper spring.

Advantages? Considerable, especially over challenging roads. It’s particularly good for comfort – it’s at least as good as the regular X6…

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BMW X6M. Or, but for Mazda, the MX6. What in Lord’s name is it all about, ask hardcore M fans worldwide.

Well,  it was certainly a challenge, admits M Head of Product Management, Carsten Pries.

‘M cars,’ he revealed, when asked about the process of the X6M’s creation, ‘must display the core values of the brand.’

Which are?

According to our man Pries, M cars must be best in:

•    Acceleration
•    Lateral dynamics
•    Efficiency
•    Steering behaviour
•    Braking distance

He admits they weren’t sure the X6 could be made suitably ‘M’ at first. The department eventually figured it could – but it wouldn’t be simply a matter of making a big M3.

‘Customers in this segment are different to M3 buyers. We thus had to define in the early stages exactly what these new needs were.’

An SAV, he says, is ‘completely different’, particularly in terms of size and weight. It is therefore vital to develop a good sense of the key requirements.

Which are not the same as an M3, whose buyers are ‘deep into technology – they go into dealers and give them a hard time with their in-depth knowledge! They know so much…’

So what about these M SAV (or, as the rest of the world prefers, ‘SUV’) buyers? ‘They’re performance orientated, but not that into the last technical detail. They want high performance, and a differentiated character in terms of suspension, chassis, steering and design.

‘It needs to be dynamic, easy to control, have a clear emphasis on rear-wheel drive.’ M-lite, if you like. M with bling, you could also say.

See, it is vital the model is highly exclusive – a particular requirement for this segment. ‘It must stand out, be instantly recognisable as something different to an xDrive50i. It should be seen as being the latest, the most powerful. It’s also not a car for people who just like to pretend. Form must follow function. ‘

What Pries means here is that it should not be merely chavv’d up. A no to show without go.

There was another consideration, too. ‘It was vital we didn’t compromise its off-road ability. People want to take these to the Alps – if we restrict this in any way, it will not be as successful as we wish.’

No wonder it took them two and a half years to develop.

Along the way, he ditched potential grumble-areas. BMW M drivers, it seems, don’t like Active Steering. Their power steering systems have to be consistent. That’s why M spent big developing a bespoke Servotronic steering system for its most expensive X SUVs.

Servotronic means variable weight – it’s light at low speeds, weightier at higher speeds – but the steering ratio is consistent.

‘We intentionally didn’t use Active Steering – the steering angle must be consistent whatever the road speed,’ says Pries. ‘This is appreciated by our sports car drivers…’

There it is again. Sports car drivers. BMW’s thought long and hard about this one, about whether an SUV can actually also be an M. It reckons so.

Me? The jury’s out…

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BMW facelifted the 3 Series last year. Odd, how M hasn’t followed with the M3. Why’s that?

Well, it’s because M has such independence from BMW AG.

It’s able, says Head of Product Management Carsten Pries, to make deliberate decisions separately from mainstream BMs

‘We launched the M3 in March 2008,’ says Pries. ‘In September, AG launched the LCI (life cycle impulse) 3 Series. We didn’t follow, keeping instead the same existing front end.

Why? ‘Because we didn’t think it was necessary.’

The M3, says Pries, is suitably differentiated from the 3 Series not to need the additional expense of an (admittedly subtle) LCI so soon into its like. ‘We carried over the revised design tail lights, that’s all.’

This independence, he adds, comes through M being so well integrated into BMW AG. It can make unilateral decisions 12, even 24 months ahead, as it did in this case.

‘It’s exciting to do LCIs – as with the M6 Competition – but if it’s not necessary, we won’t automatically do it.’

Purity and purpose, rather than marketing for marketing’s sake. That’s M. Now, the X6M…

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BMW’s M3 is the core of the M brand, Rolf Sheibner from the division told me.

So who is its closest relative? Step forward the Porsche 997 911. Yes, really. ‘In terms of dynamic skills and character, the M3 and 997 are like relatives,’ Sheibner revealed.

Well, I’ll be.

He was straight up, though. The M division hadn’t benchmarked the M3 against other M cars, but the mighty and ever-better Porsche, the definitive everyday supercar.

‘For 30 years, M3 customers have also been drawn to Porsche. When someone considers one, they’re usually looking at the other, too.’

Which presents quite a high bar for the M division to clear. That’s why they start early. Albeit, from a solid base.

‘We let the road car division develop the standard 3 Series for two years. And, once they reach a certain level, we then start to develop the M version.’

Makes sense. So how much independence do they have here? A wry smile from Sheibner. ‘Look in our papers: we’re a maker! We’re called M GmBH…’ All that was missing here was the cheeky wink.

He knows his customers pretty well, though. I asked about the eight million different settings for the V8 M3’s suspension, engine mapping and whatever else. How on earth will customers get their heads around it?

‘They will play at the beginning,’ he said. ‘But then, after 3 weeks, they’ll probably leave it, happy that they’ve explored enough.’

Hence the importance of getting the standard setup right – and why there will always be a degree of computer reprofiling as per driving conditions here.

Even if customers can’t be bothered prodding buttons, there still needs to be some reward for the money spent…

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