At one point, a six-cylinder engine was the hallmark of a recent hot hatch and offers quiet operation and superior performance. The Volkswagen Golf R32 was a good as the Audi A3 and Mercedes-Benz offers the slightly larger sport coupe Class C with a V-6, too. With the introduction of more fuel economic order and the corresponding reduction of the six-cylinder hot hatch is a thing of the past, except for BMW. The hatchback 1 Series, sold worldwide, but not in the US, remains a straight-six engine. It’s called the M135i, and if available, with four-wheel drive and an automatic eight-speed, we tested the purist version with rear wheel drive and a six-speed manual.

Series 1 is a close relative 2 Coupe, which he represents in a rear-wheel-drive architecture with longitudinally installed engines based. The chassis moves Series 2 and is equipped with an aluminum double-pivot front damper-strut suspension and a five-arm rear axle. The M135i rear wheel 245/35 front and 225/40 tires wrapped around 18-inch wheels.

The electromechanical power steering is tuned considerably lighter than older models such as the BMW 5 and 6 Series, which makes the car feel to work very flexible. With its relatively short wheelbase, the M135i love to spin, but is tolerant and easy to control. Interestingly, turn off the stability control system automatically sets the car at the Comfort mode, but that’s not a bad thing: The more gas sample mapping allows easy modulation.

We like the N55 3.0-liter inline six-cylinder turbo makes the right notes and has no trouble moving the M135i with enthusiasm. Acceleration from zero to 60 mph in under five seconds, says BMW; Top speed is governed to 155 mph. Flogging this compact hatch on rural roads is pure bliss. The engine sings a beautiful song, but artificially increased, overtaking handled effortlessly, and the shifter has affectionately short spear. The power button M135i came with a current update also saw the rise of the engine power 315-322 hp.

Despite its sporting qualities of the M135i it is a long distance cruiser fine, too. With different driving modes, it can act as a special covenant well behaved, it benefits from the rigid architecture and comfort features that are shared with exclusive offers from BMW. BMW, of course, is particularly proud of its telematics and connectivity systems. 1-series is an excellent example of what the future holds: It is equipped with a SIM card, as Tesla, can receive updates of the current system of BMW. The company knows exactly where the car is and what it does, a little scary.

Series 1 is slightly narrower and shorter than the coupe 2, but offers more space and practicality. Unfortunately, this does not offer attractive has a bright future in BMW. The next generation 1 Series will be based on 2 new series, unfortunately, not the rear-drive 2-Coupe, but the front wheel drive 2 Series Active Tourer and Grand Tourer. And the engine is not capable platform for a six-cylinder. Buyer lucky to live where the current 1st sold must take while you can.