Upgrading the BMW M140i 1 Series
Upgrading the BMW M140i 1 Series
Owning the BMW M140 already brings you the fastest 1 Series currently in production and while not as hardcore as the older 1M E82, the 335hp rear wheel drive straight 6 model is a great car out of the box.
Remapping is certainly the enthusiasts first route to more power and driveability, stage one remapping brings the power output to upto 440hp giving a huge 100hp gain without the need for any accompanying hardware modifications. For drivers worried about their BMW warranty, a RaceChip Tuning Box is an alternative giving a nice safe 60hp with a unit that can be easily removed on visits back to the BMW dealer. Day to day living with the M140 in remapped form gives a huge amount of power in this hot hatch whilst also improving miles per gallon, making this BMW 1 series a massive competitor to Audi’s offering such as the Audi RS3.
The most popular mods post remap on this 3.0 litre 6 piston engine encompass improving the sound aesthetics, letting this engine breath more easier unleashing a wilder tone. Both Remus and Akrapovic offer exhaust modifications for the M140i, Titanium to carbon systems are available with options to change the mid pipe and remove the cats if you wish to improve on stage one performance figures and you believe you can handle the stage two figures in this rear wheel drive only performance car. To further improve both noise and performance, the CTS Turbo Induction Kit is a good affordable product for the M140
With all the power even on a stock BMW M140, handling is a much considered upgraded often before performance tuning modifications. Thankfully KW Automotive have the whole package available on the M140i covering anti roll bars, to varying degrees of performance coilover suspension. If you are new to the car modifying game, then coilovers refer to a set of shock absorbers where the coil spring sits over a shock absorber rather than the generic design of keeping the shock and spring separate. A good quality coilover such as the KW versions offering lowering of the vehicle, varying degrees of adjustment in rebound to ensure the principle objective of suspension in keeping the tyre attached to the road surface whilst smoothing out undulations in the road.
Polybushes are a popular upgrade on all BMW's, especially cars that have had some life out of on the road. The benefits of swapping to polyurethane bushes is they are firmer to allow better handling and feel through the steering wheel, while being made of poly instead of rubber gives them longetivity to the point that manufacturers such as Powerflex offer a lifetime guarantee on their uprated bushes.
So our recommendations on the best upgrades for the M140 are: