BMW M135i bids for world's fastest Christmas song

Jonathon Ramsey — Mon, 17 Dec 2012 17:58:00 EST

Filed under: Performance, Etc., Videos, Hatchback, BMW, Luxury

The Christmas season is getting more sideways every year. Recently, Mercedes-Benz and its AMG performance division showed us a new way to cook Christmas cookies, and now rival BMW Switzerland is presenting a new way to speed up seasonal caroling. It put four members of the Zurich Acapella Group in an M135i and instructed them to sing Jingle Bells while driver Martin Tomczyk flogged the hot hatch around the Circuit de L'Anneau du Rhin at the same time.

The result is The Fastest Christmas Song in the World, and you can watch it in the video below. And for you Pinterest fans, the behind-the-scenes photos are pinned all over your favorite online photo album site.

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BMW M135i bids for world's fastest Christmas song originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 17 Dec 2012 17:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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BMW M135i Concept blends turbo heart with three-door hatch shell

Jeremy Korzeniewski — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 02:00:00 EST

Filed under: Concept Cars, Performance, Geneva Motor Show, Hatchback, BMW, Design/Style

And here we thought we already knew about everything BMW planned to bring to the 2012 Geneva Motor Show. We were wrong. The German automaker has announced that it will debut a new M135i Concept, marking the first time it has paired a gasoline-burning engine with its new M Performance moniker.

We'll get to the powertrain in a moment, but first, take note of the three-door hatchback body. Up until now, we've only seen the 2012 1 Series in five-door form, and while the M135i is officially a concept, we'd expect the production version to rock this basic shape, sans the enlarged air intakes up front and the rest of the body kit.

BMW says the three-door 1 Series has "a more dynamic and elongated appearance" than its five-door sibling, pointing to details like its rising character line, frameless windows and "powerfully flared wheel arches" as unique elements. We won't argue any of that, but we're still not entirely sold on the new 1er's nostrils.

Underhood lies BMW's well-known Twin Power Turbo 3.0-liter inline six that sends "more than 300" horsepower to the rear wheels. The suspension has been modified for M Performance duty, and the wheels have been upgraded to 18-inch M-branded alloys. We expect something along these lines to show up in production guise in relatively short order... at the very least for European buyers.

Check out the high-res image gallery above, then click past the break to read the official press release.

Continue reading BMW M135i Concept blends turbo heart with three-door hatch shell

BMW M135i Concept blends turbo heart with three-door hatch shell originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 24 Feb 2012 02:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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