All-new BMW M135i leaked

BMW has become the victim of a leak with two images of its all-new BMW M135i appearing online ahead of its global debut at September's Frankfurt motor show.

The images, leaked by fan site bimmerfile.com, reveals the front and rear styling of the flagship in the third-generation 1 Series range, thel BMW M135i xDrive.

Set to replace the current M140i, it appears the BMW M135i will follow in the X7 and 7 Series tyres tracks and receive a super-sized version of the brand's trademark grille that below is accompanied by a huge air intake and a pair of side air blades.

These first pics, which are believed to be genuine, also show the BMW M135i xDrive will feature a subtle front splitter that suggests the Volkswagen Golf R rival will feature some trick aero parts in its bid to lead the class for performance and handling.

The biggest change though is no doubt the switch to the front/all-wheel drive FAAR architecture which itself is an evolution of the MINI UKL platform.

This means standard 1 Series models will be front-drive, although the powerful M135i will be all-wheel drive.

Enthusiasts are set to lament that, as well as losing real-wheel drive, the next-gen M135i is also highly likely to drop the current car's turbocharged 3.0-litre inline six-cylinder for a less exotic turbocharged 2.0-litre four-cylinder.

Rumoured to use the same engine that powers the X2 M35i, the BMW hot hatch will produce around 225kW and 450Nm of torque.

Despite the cylinder deficit, the all-new M135i is set to eclipse the current car for performance thanks to its traction-enhancing four-wheel drive.

Expect a sprint around two-tenths quicker than the already rapid 4.6 seconds it takes the current M140i to dash to 100km/h and an identical 250km/h limited top speed.

Sadly, the a six-speed manual isn't expected to be an option, with buyers only offered an Aisin-sourced eight-speed automatic.

Already spotted testing in Europe, BMW is claiming big advances in front-drive chassis dynamics for the M135i, in part thanks to ‘actuator contiguous wheel slip limitation’, or ARB, which will be standard across the 1 Series range and was first seen in the BMW i3s.

Effectively a traction control system fitted within the ECU unit rather than the electronic stability control unit, BMW says ARB improves traction “while facilitating significantly more sensitive and faster control” because it “passes on information three times faster, which translates to up to 10 times faster regulation speed perceived by the driver”.

BMW says the result is reduced power understeer, as seen in most front-drive vehicles, “but without control intervention to stabilise lateral dynamics”, thanks also to BMW Performance Control — a brake intervention-based yaw moment distribution system that will also be standard.

Factor in increased torsional stiffness and an expected weight-saving over the current car and the next M135i is odds on to offer class-leading pace.