BMW 135i vs. the 1M Coupe at Laguna Seca - No Tune or Widebody Needed!

Can the 135i keep up with its sweetly ///M-tailored counterpart, the 1M, at a track like Laguna Seca? With some upgrades, it can...while remaining a comfortable daily commuter.

Our benchmark for comparison is the BMW 1M lap time of 1:43.31 at Laguna Seca established by MotorTrend's Pro Driver Randy Pobst. That's pretty quick - not much slower than the E92 M3 with the V8 engine (414hp), in which Randy managed only 0.35 seconds faster. You can watch the hot lap of the 1M here:    • 2011 BMW 1 Series M Coupe Hot Lap! - 2011 ...  

Compared to the 135i, the 1M is tuned with more power/torque, has wider track grip on wider wheels (9" front & 10" rear), and employs larger brakes, to name a few significant improvements over the 135i.

The 135i just needs a new suspension, camber plates, LSD, wheels/tires, and better brake pads+pistons. Adding power or installing wider fenders are not necessary to match the 1M!

Properly sized brakes are preferable however… Currently, the car needs to be braked earlier than necessary due to lots of brake fade and pedal softness/dropping - at least quarter of a second in T2, T5, T6, T8, and T11. The brake pedal dropped below the gas pedal and made for a challenging heel-toe rev-match. A bigger brake kit is the next upgrade this car really needs!

Future plans are to run wider wheels and tires (9.5" square setup with 265 tires) which will become possible by adding the 1M front body kit with its wider fenders. But for now, brake issues must be solved...and of course, I need more seat time :)

There is another 2 good seconds to squeeze out in this current setup especially once the brakes are sorted.

My list of upgrades to match the 1M:
-Ohlins R&T with Swift springs
-Quaife ATB Limited Slip Differential
-All E92 M3 arms, bushings, front sway bar
-Vorshlag camber plates @ -2.4
-Apex EC-7 18" wheels, 8.5" front / 9.5" rear
-Hankook R-S4, 235 front / 255 rear
-PFC-08 brake pads
-Racing Brake stainless steel pistons
-Castrol SRF brake fluid

Other notable setup info:
-Stock power (Dyno @ 270whp/272wtq)
-Weight @ 3520lbs with driver
-Top moonroof intact (can't live without it on the street :p)

Cameras:
-GoPro HERO 4 Black for main view
-GoPro HERO 3+ Black for pedals

Other notes:
My external GPS device (Dual Electronics XGPS160) stopped working so Harry's Laptimer was unfortunately not active during this lap. (It no longer obtains a GPS signal even with a full charge. Time to look for a another device that is reliable.) The next best thing was to simply overlay the timing animation from the Laptimer app. For best accuracy, the timing overlay starts and stops at the precise frame where the hood visually "touches" the last line before the "Mazda Raceway Cooper Tires" overhead sign.

Credits:
The image of the BMW 1M in this video's thumbnail is a snapshot from MotorTrend's video of the hot lap. Link above.

The short clip of the BMW 1M shown at the beginning of this video is captured from MotorTrend's video of the hot lap. Same link above.

The right image in this video's thumbnail is a captured photo courtesy of Bill Wang Photography.

Many thanks to MT and Randy - learned a lot from your videos!

Song is Foundation by Vibe Tracks.

#lagunaseca #hotlap