BMW M135i F20: the six-cylinder hot hatch, M140i, faults and values
The BMW M135i F20 is the rear-wheel-drive, six-cylinder hot hatch BMW built on the second-generation 1 Series from 2012: a 3.0-litre turbocharged straight six with 320 hp (235 kW) in a three- or five-door body, on sale in Britain from 22 September 2012. In 2016 the M140i replaced it with a newer 340 hp engine, and that car stayed in production until the F20 1 Series ended in 2019. BMW's later cars called M135i have four cylinders and four-wheel drive, so the F20 and F21 models of 2012 to 2016 are the only six-cylinder M135is.
History of the BMW M135i F20
The M135i was BMW's first "M Performance" car with a petrol engine. M Performance was the range BMW placed between its ordinary models and the full M cars; CAR magazine counted the M135i as the fifth model from the new division, after the M550d saloon and Touring and the X5 and X6 M50d diesels. F20 is BMW's code for the five-door 1 Series and F21 for the three-door, which is why owners use both, as Tony Middlehurst's 2022 M140i buying guide for PistonHeads sets out.
The Concept M135i at Geneva, 2012
BMW announced the car as a concept on 24 February 2012. Its press release called it a concept study of an M Performance automobile "featuring a six-cylinder petrol engine", with its world premiere on the media days of the Geneva motor show, 6 and 7 March 2012. The show car was a white three-door with M stripes along its flanks, and the production car that followed it was little different, CAR magazine reported when the first official pictures appeared in May 2012.
Launch in three-door and five-door form
The production M135i arrived with the new three-door 1 Series. BMW's press kit of 13 May 2012 made it the "highlight in the model range", said it would also be sold as a five-door, and promised all-wheel drive (xDrive) for the M135i and 120d from November 2012. What Car? gave the British price as £29,995 for the three-door, with first deliveries in September, and CAR put the five-door at £530 more and expected 75% of buyers to choose three doors. In Germany the M135i cost from €39,850.
The M135i xDrive
BMW's all-wheel drive, xDrive, reached the M135i at the Paris motor show in September 2012, with the eight-speed automatic as the only gearbox. BMW Blog gave its 0–100 km/h time as 4.7 seconds, 0.2 seconds quicker than the rear-drive automatic, and its CO2 output as 182 g/km. A SkiddMark report of 17 September 2012 recorded that xDrive added 75 kg and €1,830 to the German price, with the compulsory automatic a further €2,320, and that the M135i xDrive would not be sold in the UK; CAR had already heard in May that BMW had not engineered the system for right-hand drive. The same SkiddMark report compared the M135i xDrive on paper with the Audi RS 3 Sportback: 4.7 against 4.6 seconds to 62 mph (Autocar quoted 4.5 for the Audi), 182 against 212 g/km of CO2, and identical peak torque of 450 Nm, delivered from 1,300 rpm in the BMW and 1,600 rpm in the Audi.
The 2015 facelift
The facelifted M135i appeared at the Geneva motor show in March 2015 with 326 hp, 6 hp more than before, and unchanged torque of 450 Nm, according to BMW Blog's show report. Evo's road test lists the range's reshaped headlights, tail lights that reach into the bootlid and a restyled front bumper, and says sat nav became standard across the range. Evo found the engine was essentially the version the M235i coupé had used since early 2014, and BMW claimed no change to the 0–62 mph times. German prices started at €41,900.
The M140i replaces the M135i
BMW UK announced the M140i on 17 May 2016. Its media information gave the new 3.0-litre six 340 hp and 500 Nm, 14 hp and 50 Nm more than before, and cut the automatic's 0–62 mph time by 0.3 seconds to 4.6. The price started at £31,875 for a three-door manual. GoAuto reported no exterior changes; the new engine was the B58, which Middlehurst notes had first appeared in the 340i version of the BMW 3 Series and in the 440i.
When did BMW stop making the M135i and M140i?
The M135i was built until 2016, when the M140i took its place, and the M140i was built until the F20 and F21 ended in mid-2019. BMW Blog reported on 5 July 2019 that the front-drive F40 1 Series had begun production at Leipzig "immediately after the end of production" of the F20, and that BMW had built 1,248,737 second-generation 1 Series in all. A UK recall for starter motors (R/2025/405) lists three-door builds up to 13 May 2019 and five-door builds up to 29 May 2019.
Engine, chassis and design
Both cars put a longitudinal 3.0-litre straight six with one twin-scroll turbocharger in front of a six-speed manual or eight-speed automatic gearbox, driving the rear wheels through an open differential. The M135i used BMW's N55 engine, the M140i the newer B58.
The N55 engine in the M135i
The M135i's 2,979 cc N55 had a TwinScroll turbocharger, direct High Precision Injection, Valvetronic variable valve lift and Double VANOS camshaft timing, according to BMW's 2012 press kit. Bore and stroke were 84.0 mm and 89.6 mm, the compression ratio 10.2:1, and it made 320 hp at 5,800 rpm and 450 Nm from 1,300 to 4,500 rpm. BMW gave the M135i its own cooling system, engine management and "engine sound tuning", and a newly developed six-speed manual gearbox with dry-sump lubrication. CAR's 2012 review was told by BMW's engineers that 90% of the sound in the cabin was real and 10% synthetic.
British magazines quoted 316 bhp, the same output in imperial horsepower; BMW's "hp" is the metric PS.
The B58 engine in the M140i
The B58 had a higher compression ratio and more boost than the N55, and made its peak power at 5,500 rpm, according to Middlehurst. BMW UK listed an electric wastegate, an indirect intercooler and an on-demand coolant pump, and said the manual gearbox blipped the throttle on downshifts. Fuel consumption fell: 36.2 mpg for the manual and 39.8 mpg for the automatic in the official test, against 35.3 and 37.7 mpg for the 2012 M135i in Autocar's launch report.
Manual or automatic?
Most buyers chose the automatic. Evo expected about 80% of facelifted M135is to be sold with the eight-speed ZF gearbox, and Middlehurst counted about twelve automatic M140is for every manual on the used market in 2022, when the automatic had cost £1,430 extra new. He also wrote that BMW dropped the manual from the M140i around July 2018. Of the 7,303 M135is registered in Britain, 1,844 are manuals.
Suspension, steering and brakes
The M135i had an aluminium double-joint spring-strut front axle with M-specific geometry, a five-link rear axle, four-piston front and two-piston rear brake calipers, and Variable Sports Steering as standard, whose rack varies its ratio so that less lock is needed for tight turns. It sat on 18-inch wheels with 225/40 tyres at the front and 245/35 at the rear. Adaptive dampers were an option. A limited-slip differential could be fitted by a dealer, but evo reported that almost nobody ordered one. Middlehurst notes that M140i five-doors were given the underbody brace that three-doors always had.
Design and interior
BMW's press kit lists what set the M135i apart from other 1 Series: large air intakes in the front bumper where the fog lights would otherwise be, divided by Ferric Grey struts; Ferric Grey mirror caps; 18-inch M double-spoke wheels; a Dark Shadow rear apron around twin exhaust pipes. Inside were Hexagon cloth and Alcantara seats, an M leather steering wheel with blue stitching, an anthracite roof lining, M135i sill plates and dials with red markings. The boot held 360 litres, or 1,200 with the rear seats folded. From late 2017 the M140i had the newer dashboard and dials of the M240i, with adaptive M suspension and adaptive LED headlights as standard.
BMW M135i F20 specs and performance
All versions were limited to 155 mph (250 km/h). The figures below are the maker's, for the three-door; the five-door was slightly heavier.
| Version | Years | Engine | Power | Torque | 0–62 mph, manual (auto) | CO2, manual (auto) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| M135i | 2012–2015 | N55, 2,979 cc | 320 hp at 5,800 rpm | 450 Nm, 1,300–4,500 rpm | 5.1 s (4.9 s) | 188 g/km (175 g/km) |
| M135i xDrive | 2012–2016 | N55 | 320 hp (326 hp from 2015) | 450 Nm | auto only: 4.7 s | 182 g/km |
| M135i facelift | 2015–2016 | N55 | 326 hp | 450 Nm, 1,300–4,500 rpm | 5.1 s (4.9 s) | not stated in sources |
| M140i | 2016–2019 | B58, 3.0 litres | 340 hp at 5,500 rpm | 500 Nm | 4.8 s (4.6 s) | 179 g/km (163 g/km) |
| M140i xDrive | 2016–2019 | B58 | 340 hp | 500 Nm | auto only: 4.4 s | not stated in sources |
Sources: BMW press kit, May 2012; BMW Blog, September 2012 and March 2015; evo; BMW UK media information, May 2016; Middlehurst, 2022 (M140i xDrive). BMW gave the 2012 M135i three-door manual a kerb weight of 1,425 kg (DIN) and the automatic 1,440 kg.
How fast is the BMW M135i?
BMW's figures put the 2012 M135i at 5.1 seconds from 0 to 62 mph with the manual gearbox, 4.9 seconds with the automatic and 4.7 seconds as an xDrive, with top speed limited to 155 mph. Evo timed a facelifted manual at 5.2 seconds to 60 mph. Autocar's launch report added BMW's 50–75 mph time in fourth gear, 4.3 seconds, and a standing kilometre in 23.9 seconds. The automatic M140i took 4.6 seconds to 62 mph.
M140i special editions: Shadow and Championship
The M140i had two special editions in Britain. The Shadow Edition arrived with the late-2017 update and cost £35,785, according to Middlehurst, who lists a black grille, black or grey wheels, M Sport brakes with blue calipers and a Harman Kardon stereo, and says the car was called Finale in some markets. By April 2018 a Shadow Edition three-door manual cost £34,485. Shadow Editions make up more than half of the M140is registered in Britain (see the table below).
The Championship Edition marked BMW's 2017 British Touring Car Championship manufacturers' and teams' titles. PistonHeads reported on 12 April 2018 that it was shown at the 2018 BTCC season opener and announced by BMW UK on Facebook, with tricolour stripes, black wheels, black kidney grilles and carbon-fibre mirror caps; BMW had not given a price.
How many BMW M135i and M140i cars were made?
BMW Blog's total for the whole F20 and F21 1 Series is 1,248,737, with no split by model. For the M135i and M140i, British registrations can be counted, because the DVLA records each car's model description. How Rare Is My Car, which reads the DVLA's licensing statistics (last updated 15 August 2026), gives these figures.
| DVLA model | Ever registered | Still on the road |
|---|---|---|
| M135i (manual) | 1,844 | 1,450 |
| M135i Auto | 5,459 | 4,321 |
| M140i (manual) | 955 | 831 |
| M140i Auto | 4,340 | 3,691 |
| M140i Shadow Edition Auto | 8,460 | 7,427 |
| All five | 21,058 | 17,720 |
Source: How Rare Is My Car, DVLA data, read 28 October 2026. The counts include cars imported to Britain and registered later. The DVLA's "M135i xDrive Auto" description (15,510 cars) is left out: the six-cylinder xDrive was not sold in Britain, so those are almost all the later four-cylinder M135i. On these figures about one British M135i in four was a manual, and about one M140i in fourteen.
BMW M135i F20 reliability, faults and running costs
The six-cylinder 1 Series has no fault that affects every car. What Car? reports that in its 2023 Reliability Survey the M140i, and this 1 Series generation as a whole, had few faults, and that high mileage did not change that; owners' minor complaints were clogged washer jets and over-sensitive driver aids.
M135i (N55) faults
The British tuning firm JXL Performance's buying guide lists the N55's usual problems: oil leaks from the rocker cover, oil filter housing and sump gaskets; a plastic charge pipe (between the intercooler and the throttle) prone to cracking; and an electric water pump and thermostat that can fail with age, which it suggests asking about on cars over 80,000 miles. It also warns that many M135is have been remapped, which adds wear to the turbocharger and gearbox.
M140i (B58) faults
Middlehurst's M140i guide calls the drivetrain "a strong story" for reliability. The exhaust valve could rattle, seize or fail, and BMW usually replaced it under warranty. Some cars lost coolant slowly with no visible leak, a fault owners blamed on the filler cap. The original oil filter had a reputation for falling apart, and on early cars the chargecooler behind the grille under the offside headlight was exposed to stone damage until BMW added a mesh. Cars built from June 2018 have a petrol particulate filter, which makes an aftermarket exhaust harder to fit without a warning light.
Body and cabin
On both cars, the same guide found the paint on the inside of the tailgate thin enough to chip through and rust, frameless door windows that could stick to their seals in cold weather, and washer-jet filters that blocked easily.
Recalls
The DVSA recall list files 1 Series recalls by build date, not engine. Those covering the M135i and M140i years include a check for retrofitted Takata driver's airbags on five-doors built from May 2011 and three-doors built from March 2012, up to November 2017 (R/2024/403, launched October 2024) and replacement starter motors, at risk of water getting in and short-circuiting, on cars built from February 2017 to May 2019 (R/2025/405, launched October 2025). Many of the other F20 recalls concern the diesel engines' exhaust gas recirculation coolers.
Running costs: tax
Road tax depends on the registration date. A car first registered before 1 April 2017 pays by its CO2 band: on the gov.uk rate table, an early M135i manual at 188 g/km is in band J, £410 a year, and an automatic at 175 g/km in band H, £325. An M140i registered before April 2017 pays £360 (manual, 179 g/km) or £275 (automatic, 163 g/km). A later M140i pays the standard rate of £200, plus £440 a year in its second to sixth years if its list price with options was over £40,000.
BMW M135i F20 prices and values
A used M135i cost £7,950 to £18,499 in British adverts on PistonHeads in October 2026, with a median of £12,485; an M140i cost £8,795 to £26,995, median £20,192. What Car? says "condition is king with the M140i, rather than age", and the adverts agree: the cheapest M140i, at £8,795, had covered 143,625 miles, and no M135i with under 60,000 miles was offered for less than £13,795.
| Cars advertised | Number | Price range | Median price | Median mileage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| M135i, 2012–2016 | 30 | £7,950–£18,499 | £12,485 | 73,137 |
| M135i, 2012–2014 registrations | 16 | £7,950–£18,499 | £11,247 | 73,137 |
| M135i, 2015–2016 registrations | 14 | £9,495–£17,995 | £13,992 | 72,250 |
| M135i under 60,000 miles | 9 | £13,795–£18,499 | £15,990 | 44,521 |
| M140i, 2016–2019 | 67 | £8,795–£26,995 | £20,192 | 58,959 |
| M140i Shadow Edition | 41 | £15,990–£26,995 | £20,795 | 57,948 |
| M140i under 60,000 miles | 36 | £15,990–£26,995 | £21,370 | 49,100 |
Source: PistonHeads M135i and M140i classified adverts by year of registration, the first page of results for each year (about 20 cars), read 28 October 2026. These are asking prices, not sale prices.
What Car?'s used M140i review put the entry price at about £10,000 for a 2016 car with a high mileage, and at least £18,000 for a 2019 car with under 70,000 miles. The PistonHeads guide of October 2022 found the cheapest M140is at £16,000 with 90,000 to 100,000 miles and the dearest, a 2018 Shadow Edition with 18,000 miles, at £29,989.
BMW M135i F20 rivals
When the M135i went on sale, Autocar on 14 May 2012 named its rivals as the £39,950 Audi RS 3 Sportback, the £30,575 Volkswagen Scirocco R and the £26,040 Renault Mégane 265, with the Mercedes-Benz A45 AMG to follow in 2013. The RS 3 had 335 bhp and four-wheel drive and reached 62 mph in 4.5 seconds by Autocar's figures (4.6 in SkiddMark's table) against the M135i's 5.1 to 4.9. By the facelift, evo's main rivals were the Volkswagen Golf R, £2,200 dearer than the BMW, and the Audi S3; in 2017 Motor Sport rated the Golf R the only car "good enough to give the M140i a proper run for its money". BMW's 2012 press kit called the 1 Series' rear-wheel drive "unique for a vehicle in this class", and CAR's later review of the M140i called its 3.0 litres the biggest engine in any hot hatch of its time, larger even than the RS 3's five-cylinder.
BMW M135i vs BMW 1M
The M135i arrived just after the BMW 1M, the 1 Series M Coupé of 2011 to 2012. The two cars are largely unrelated: CAR noted that the 1M had an M3-derived limited-slip differential and a manual-only gearbox, while the M135i had an open differential and the option of an automatic. The M135i made 316 bhp against the 1M's 335 bhp, but at 1,425 kg it was 70 kg lighter, so both had about 222 bhp per tonne. The 1M had cost more than £40,000, about £10,000 more than the M135i.
What the press said about the M135i and M140i
Reviewers praised the engine and the price, and criticised the steering. CAR gave the 2012 M135i five stars; its reviewer Chris Chilton wrote that he could not "think of a more desirable, more exciting top-drawer hot hatch on the planet". Top Gear's review of January 2015 called it a "BMW performance hatch that is also a bit of a bargain. It's not quite a 1M, but it's close." Evo found the facelifted car agile but said the steering had "no real feel", and that the car got "a little ruffled" when pushed hard. Middlehurst recorded that once the launch excitement passed, the M135i's electric steering was "panned" and some British owners found it "a bit of a handful on crinkly roads in wet weather".
The M140i was received in the same way. Andrew Frankel, in Motor Sport's road test of February 2017, found it "the most charming hot hatchback out there" and said it had replaced the Golf R as his favourite on sale. Middlehurst notes that the M140i is seen as "M-lite" next to a full M car such as the M3.
Which BMW M135i has the six-cylinder engine?
Only the F20 and F21 M135i, built from 2012 to 2016. Its successor, the F40 M135i xDrive of 2019, has a 2.0-litre four-cylinder engine, four-wheel drive, an eight-speed automatic and five doors only: BMW's press release for its 2021 update gives 306 hp, and BMW Blog reported that the F40 range dropped the three-door body. The PistonHeads guide gave the F40 M135i 1,600 kg and said a 2019 M140i was 0.2 seconds quicker to 62 mph. The current 1 Series drops the "i": Drive's BMW 1 Series review (formerly Honest John) lists its top model as the M135 xDrive, from £45,630.
Questions
What does F20 mean on a BMW M135i?
F20 is BMW's code for the five-door second-generation 1 Series and F21 for the three-door. The M135i was built in both bodies from 2012 to 2016, so owners and sellers use either code.
Is the BMW M135i F20 rear-wheel drive?
Yes. Every British-market M135i drives its rear wheels. BMW also built an M135i xDrive with four-wheel drive and an automatic gearbox from late 2012, but it was not sold in the UK.
What is the difference between the BMW M135i and M140i?
The engine. The M135i (2012 to 2016) has the N55 3.0-litre six with 320 hp, or 326 hp after the 2015 facelift, and 450 Nm; the M140i (2016 to 2019) has the newer B58 six with 340 hp and 500 Nm, and the automatic is 0.3 seconds quicker to 62 mph.
Is the BMW M135i a proper M car?
Not by BMW's own definition: it is an M Performance model, the range BMW placed between its ordinary cars and the full M cars, with an open differential where the 1M had an M3-derived limited-slip differential. Top Gear's 2015 review called it "a true M car" all the same; evo found the full M cars better suited to driving on the limit.
Does the BMW M135i have a limited-slip differential?
Not as standard. A limited-slip differential was a dealer-fit option, and evo reported that very few buyers ordered one.
How much power does a remapped M140i make?
PistonHeads' 2022 buying guide put a stage 1 remap without intake changes at about 400 hp, and recorded a £600 Litchfield remap that measured 435 hp on a rolling road.
How many BMW M135i are left in the UK?
About 5,800. DVLA figures read by How Rare Is My Car in October 2026 count 1,450 manual and 4,321 automatic M135is still on the road, out of 7,303 ever registered in Britain.
Sources
- BMW Group, "Top athlete for the premium compact segment: The BMW Concept M135i", press release, 24 February 2012: concept, six-cylinder petrol engine, Geneva media days.
- BMW Group, "The new three-door BMW 1 Series", press kit, 13 May 2012 (PDF, pages 6, 12, 13, 17 and 26–27): first petrol M Performance car, five-door and xDrive plans, engine and chassis specification, design details, weights, tyres.
- BMW UK, "BMW model debuts and upgrades for summer 2016", media information, 17 May 2016, pages 1–2: M140i power, torque, acceleration, economy, CO2, engine technology and price.
- BMW Group, "The BMW M135i xDrive: a compact four-cylinder sporting powerhouse with even sharper dynamics", press release, 2021: the F40 M135i's 306 hp four-cylinder engine.
- CAR magazine, "BMW M135i (2012) first official pictures", May 2012: fifth M Performance model, UK sale date 22 September 2012, price, xDrive and right-hand drive.
- CAR magazine, Chris Chilton, "BMW M135i (2012) review", autumn 2012: five-door price and three-door share, comparison with the 1M, engine sound, verdict.
- What Car?, "2012 BMW 1 Series 3dr unveiled", May 2012: UK price and delivery date.
- Autocar, "Hot BMW M135i: full details and pics", 14 May 2012: rivals and their prices, in-gear and standing-kilometre times, economy.
- Bimmertoday, German prices for the three-door 1 Series and M135i, 14 May 2012: €39,850 German price.
- BMW Blog, M135i xDrive at the Paris motor show, September 2012: acceleration, CO2 and fuel consumption.
- SkiddMark, "Desk Drive: BMW's M135i xDrive takes the fight to Audi's RS 3 Sportback", 17 September 2012: xDrive weight and price, UK availability, comparison with the RS 3 Sportback.
- BMW Blog, "2015 Geneva Motor Show: BMW M135i facelift", 3 March 2015: 326 hp, acceleration, German prices.
- Evo, "BMW M135i (2012-2016) review": facelift changes, automatic share, limited-slip differential, measured 0–60 mph, rivals and prices, M140i prices.
- Top Gear, "BMW M135i (2012-2019) review", 13 January 2015: verdict.
- Motor Sport, Andrew Frankel, "Road test: BMW M140i", February 2017: verdict and the Golf R comparison.
- GoAuto, "BMW M140i lobs with new name, spec boost", 21 July 2016: M140i unchanged outside, power and torque gains.
- CAR magazine, Keith Adams, "BMW M140i (2016-2019) review": engine size against its rivals, xDrive not sold in the UK.
- Drive (formerly Honest John), BMW 1 Series review, read 28 October 2026: the current M135 xDrive and its price.
- PistonHeads, Matt Bird, "M140i Championship Edition announced", 12 April 2018: Championship Edition details, Shadow Edition price.
- PistonHeads, Tony Middlehurst, "BMW M140i: PH used buying guide", 29 October 2022: F20 and F21 codes, B58 engine, manual deletion, xDrive, late-2017 update, Shadow Edition, faults, owners' views, 2022 prices.
- BMW Blog, "BMW Plant Leipzig: production of the new 1 Series F40 started", 5 July 2019: end of F20 production, total of 1,248,737 built.
- How Rare Is My Car, BMW M135i and M140i model pages, DVLA data updated 15 August 2026, read 28 October 2026: UK registrations by model description.
- PistonHeads, used M135i and M140i adverts, first results page per registration year, read 28 October 2026: asking prices and mileages.
- What Car?, "Used BMW M140i 2016-2019 review": used prices, 2023 Reliability Survey, minor faults.
- JXL Performance, "BMW M135i F20/F21 buying guide", 18 October 2024: N55 oil leaks, charge pipe, water pump and thermostat, remapped cars.
- DVSA, vehicle recalls file, read 28 October 2026: recalls R/2024/403 and R/2025/405.
- GOV.UK, vehicle tax rates for cars registered from 1 March 2001 to 31 March 2017 and for cars registered from 1 April 2017, read 28 October 2026.