From the moment BMW introduced the new 1 M Coupe, it was more than evident that the smallest member of the Bavarian firm’s M family would be compared with the brand’s most illustrious product, the M3 Coupe.

Automobile Magazine’s West Coast Editor Jason Cammisa voiced his thoughts on the 1 M Coupe versus M3 debate in a rather amusing way during his first drive of the sports car in California.

The skinny? “If you want an M badge, go ahead and buy an M3. If you want what an M3 could be, buy one of these things [the 1 M Coupe]”. Follow the break to watch the full video.

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The all-new 2012 BMW M5 sports sedan will be making its first public appearance at The Goodwood Festival of Speed, which takes place in the UK between July 1 and 3, the German automaker announced today.

The most powerful production version of the M5 series to date comes with a high-revving 4.4-liter turbocharged V8 pumping out 560hp from 5,750-7,000rpm and 680Nm [501.5 lb-ft] of torque from 1,500rpm. It goes on sale this fall.

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BMW of Canada has published a new and rather entertaining promotional film on the firm’s new limited production 1-Series M Coupe. The video shows the Bavarian automaker’s sports car pushing its 335-horsepower twin-turbocharged inline-six to the limit and burning plenty of rubber in doing so while passing sideways through set of imaginary walls on the road.

Truth to be said though, BMW’s advertising agency could have skimped on the somewhat farcical CGI (computer-generated images) cement walls and still have an engaging commercial in its hands. Take a look at it in the video after the jump and tell us what you think in the comments section below.

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The newest member of BMW’s high-praised family of M models has just begun arriving in the hands of its owners, yet we already have one of the first tuned examples of the 2012MY 1-Series M Coupe. A member of the 1addicts forum, who goes by the nickname Flex///M, owns the car you see pictured here and which has been baptized “Clockwork Orange”.

The list of modifications include a mix of performance and styling bits such as collection of decorative carbon fiber parts for the exterior, a different steering wheel, forged alloy wheels and a KW sports suspension.

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One of the most memorable concept models from the decade that brought us grunge, the internet, Playstation and the Prius, is Italdesign’s series of BMW Nazca supercar studies. Designed by the great Giorgetto Giugiaro who was also responsible for BMW’s production M1 sports car, the Nazca M12 made its debut in 1991 and was followed in by a more hardcore version called the Nazca C2 in 1992 and an open-top Spider C2 model in 1993.

Now, one of the Nazca concepts has been put up for sale by a dealer located in the Czech Republic. The car seen here is based on the body of the 1991 Nazca M12 but features an Alpina-prepped 5.7-liter V12 engine (sourced from the 750i / 850i of the era) producing 379HP.

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Today’s eBay find brings us a seemingly immaculate BMW M1 from 1980 that’s offered up for an undisclosed price. One of 455 (albeit some bring this number down to 451) examples ever built, this one is finished in a classic red hue with a black interior. Claimed to be in original condition, the seller says it has been driver a mere 4,418 kilometers or 2,747 miles since it left the Bavarian automaker’s factory some 31 years ago.

According to the eBay listing, the M1 was “garaged for all of its life and pampered” in a German private residence, before it was imported in the U.S. having surpassed the 25-year age requirement. At the time we wrote this article, the current bid on the car was US$130,500, but the reserve had not been met.

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It is by far, the most sacred place for a BMW M fan. We’re talking about the BMW M Division’s underground facility where the company stores copies of all the production cars and prototypes it has ever built, including a variety of never before seen in public vehicles. In a surprising but much welcomed move, the German automaker recently opened the doors of the special M garage to the members of the press and select enthusiasts revealing an array of models that most had only heard about.

We already brought you a video of the wild M8 Coupe with the 580-horsepower V12 engine that was eventually used on the McLaren F1, but now we have several videos showcasing the entire lineup of M cars.

These include the E46 M3 Touring (BMW for station wagon), the E36 M3 Compact powered by the same 321HP straight-six from the M3 Coupe of the time, the E34 M5 Cabriolet with open-top seating for four, an M3 powered E30 ute and possibly the strangest creation yet, the so called Ur-Roadster. The latter is said to have been developed after the Z1 with power being delivered by the E30 M3’s 2.3-liter four-cylinder engine.

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If BMW’s upcoming, limited production 1-Series M Coupe with its 335Hp 3.0-liter twin-turbocharged straight-six doesn’t tickle your fancy, you may want to take a look at this custom made 1-Series 5-door hatchback that’s being offered for sale in Norway.

This particular Bavarian hatch sports a modified version of the E92 BMW M3 Coupe’s 4.0-liter V8 engine tweaked to produce 435-horsepower, or 100 more ponies than the normal 1-Series M Coupe. The car also gets the M3’s gearbox, differential and brakes, plus a Bilstein sports suspension, a BMW performance exhaust system and 19-inch BBS alloy wheels in 235 tires up front and 265 at the back.

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The upcoming BMW 1-Series M Coupe will serve as the official Safety Car for the 2011 season of the motorcycle road racing world championship (or simply MotoGP), which kicks off this weekend. The 1-Series M Coupe Safety Car is a one-off built by BMW’s M division specifically for this race series, with the Bavarian automaker stating that only the 340HP twin-turbocharged straight-six engine and the entire drivetrain were taken over unchanged from the production model, which launches in late April.

The Safety Car is lighter than its production counterpart thanks to a series of weight saving measures such as the carbon fibre-reinforced bonnet featuring additional large air vents, polycarbonate side and rear windows and the elimination of the rear seat bench. In addition, BMW’s M team developed a bespoke lightweight titanium race exhaust system that not only saves weight but also promises to delivers a much more exciting sound.

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Sales of BMW's M car series continue to sprout as the Bavarian company's performance division concluded the 2010 business year with a 14.2 percent increase to 16,967 units, despite the phase out of the V10-powered M5 and M6 models.

The M brand's most popular model remained the M3 with 5,729 units of the coupe, 2,544 units of the Convertible and 1,843 Saloons. Worldwide sales of the newly introduced all-wheel drive X5 M and X6 M totaled 2,778 and 3,082 respectively.

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We've lost track of how many times we've seen crazy edits to the English subtitles of a scene from the 2004 German-language movie titled “Downfall" in the United States, in which Adolf Hitler explodes with anger. This four-minute-long video spoofs BMW and the company's decision to make use of the N54 twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter straight-six engine on the 1-Series M Coupe. Enjoy some laughs in the video after the jump.

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Ever since the demise of BMW’s M1 in 1981, designers and illustrators alike have speculated on the look of a possible successor to the Bavarian automaker’s only mass produced, mid-engined vehicle. Some – like industry stalwart ItalDesign – have gone so far to build full scale, drivable mock-ups.

One such speculative mock-up was ItalDesign’s Nazca M12 of 1991 featuring a mid-mounted V12 and BMW’s ubiquitous rear wheel drive. The Italian design house also presented a race-spec version of the car called the Nazca C2 at the 1992 Tokyo Motor Show, followed by a Spyder model in 1993.

Now, twenty years later, Dutch designer Sabino Leerentveld has resurrected the Nazca C2 in the form of this rather slick homage.

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At the 2011 Detroit Auto Show, BMW announced pricing information for the U.S.-spec 2011 1-Series M Coupe, face-lifted 2012 1-Series, and the all-new 2012 650i Convertible.

The revised entry-level 128i Coupe starts from $31,825, while the much anticipated 1-Series M Coupe with the 335HP turbocharged inline-six is priced at $47,010 and will be available in limited quantity. The new generation of 650i Convertible starts at $91,375. All prices include an $875 destination and handling fee.

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In less than three weeks from now, the 2011 North American International Auto Show [NAIAS] will open its doors at the Cobo Hall in Detroit, and BMW will be there with three world premieres. These include the new 6-Series Convertible, the punchy 1-Series M Coupe and the revitalized for the 2011MY, 1-Series Coupe and Convertible. We've already had a chance to see all three models, so no surprise there, that is, unless the Bavarians have something else up their sleeves.

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The BMW 1-Series M Coupe is pretty fast on paper. Reaching the 60 mph (96 km/h) mark in just 4.7 seconds is no small feat, but nowadays, it seems that performance cars need to have a respectable “Ring” time under there belt to command respect. Now, a forum member of the 1Addicts fan site who calls himself "SteveD" claims that the Ring time for the 335-horsepower strong M model is 8 minutes and 12 seconds.

If true (and according to the Nürburgring lap times list posted on Wikipedia), this means the entry-level M model is 10 seconds faster than the E46 M3, on par with the E86 Z4 M Coupe, but 7 seconds slower than the E92 M3 .

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After much anticipation, the new BMW 1-Series M Coupe was finally revealed to the world today. As you can see for yourselves in the photo gallery after the jump, the Bavarian maker tries its best to convince us about the similarities between the original 1988 M3 E30 and its most recent creation to wear the coveted M badge, but we'll that on the side for now.

Starting with the name, the reason why BMW went for the somewhat awkward sounding 1-Series M Coupe moniker, is to avoid any confusions with the legendary M1. The smallest and most economically priced model of the M family is based on the 135i Coupe.

However, it is 0.2 inches (5mm) longer, 2.1 inches (53mm) wider, 0.5 inches (13mm) taller than its 135i sibling, while it tips the scales at 1,495kg DIN (3,296 lbs), meaning it weighs 35kg (77 lbs,) less. BMW says the weight distribution is almost perfect at (51.7/48.3).

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It's only a matter of hours before BMW drops the ball on its much anticipated 1 Series M Coupé, but for now, the Bavarian automaker has released a video showing the production version of the sports car completely undisguised for the very first time. The short story is that the 1 Series M Coupé is based off the 135i featuring a straight-six engine capable of 340-horsepower or more, a wider body, upgraded chassis and all the other usual tweaks you'd expect from a car wearing the M badge. For the full story, we'll have to wait until tomorrow.

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Yesterday, Evo magazine released a video in which Chris Harris goes to Munich to find out if the BMW 1-Series M Coupe is a proper M car. His conclusions will bring joy to BMW fans, as Mr. Harris thinks that everything from the engine character to steering and damping "feels like a really good package".

"This is going to be the car that everyone wants" he says, although that largely depends on the price point. Let's just hope the Germans won't get greedy. In any case, Harris' input is a very valuable one and it seems that BMW's engineers are on a good path with the upcoming 1-Series M Coupe.

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Welcome to another round of insignificant teaser pictures of BMW's upcoming 1 Series M Coupe. This time, the Bavarians took a pre-production version of the high-performance compact coupe over to the Arc de Triomphe, just off the Place Charles de Gaulle in Paris, for a quick photo shoot. Once again, the car was fully wrapped so nothing really new to see here. And before you ask, we don't know anything about the man or the young woman posing with the car.

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Talented photoshop artist 'Alpine325Ci' from the 1Addicts bimmer forums is at it again. This time he created a very realistic CGI of the upcoming BMW 1-Series M Coupe based on what we've seen of the car up until now in the official teaser videos. If you want our opinion, the wheels need to be a bit larger (especially the rear set), but other than that, the rendering looks pretty accurate.

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