Earlier this year BMW decided to replace the popular M135i with an even more powerful version, the new BMW M140i. Unfortunately, U.S. customers are still deprived of the joy of owning a BMW hatchback, unlike many other countries. Australian customers will be getting the M140i and M240i models in the fourth quarter of 2016 and the pricing for the hatch has already been released.
Therefore, if you live in the land Down Under and you’re planning on buying an M Performance hatchback with the BMW logo on it, you should get at least AUD64,900 ready or $49,775 at today’s exchange rates. That price, however, doesn’t include road-costs or any optional feature. The standard kit will offer you comfort access, a 12-speaker Harman/Kardon sound system, electrically-adjustable leather-trimmed front seats with heating and lumbar support on top of what its predecessor already had on offer.
The adaptive M suspension, adaptive LED headlights, professional navigation and DAB+ digital radio will also be included in the AUD64,900 price tag. And while all of this sounds well and good, the biggest improvement will hide under the hood, where a new-age B58 engine is hiding, bringing both a power bump and an increase in performance.
The new BMW M140i now has 340 HP to play with and 500 Nm (369 lb-ft) of torque. If you choose the rear-wheel drive 8-speed automatic model, you’ll reach 100 km/h (62 mph) from standstill in 4.6 seconds while all-wheel drive models will do the same sprint in 4.4 seconds. The more entertaining manual M140i is just 0.2 seconds slower. At the same time, BMW claims it managed to reduce fuel consumption to an average of 33.1 mpg (7.1 l/100 km), an increase of about 2 mpg compared to the M135i.
