Royal Blue - AC SCHNITZER BMW M135I (Part 3)

AC Schnitzer upgrades are for the most part subtle; roof spoiler looks the part

The standard fit six-pot brakes seem to be more than up to the job of washing off speed when required and the suspension strikes an excellent blend between keeping the body well controlled but still retaining enough compliance that it doesn’t get thrown off line every time you hit a bump or dip in the road. The combination of the Dynamic Traction Control and the winter tyres give a fair amount of slip before the electronics intervene, but the car’s chassis is so good that you have every confidence in it to keep pressing on even when you know you’re reaching the limit of adhesion.

AC Schnitzer BMW M135i The exhaust sounds meaty

The road might only be three or four miles long, but I keep turning around to have another go and eventually only head back to AC Schnitzer UK’s HQ when the fuel tank is somewhat severely depleted! I’m grinning like a Cheshire cat though and can’t help but try and work out how I might be able to rustle up the $ 58,579.50 required to take the car home with me! If you’re quick the car may still be for sale, but with it being so good I can’t see it hanging around on Schnitzer’s forecourt for long.

The good news is that AC Schnitzer UK can create a facsimile of this car for you and the complete drive in, drive out package would set you back $ 18,286.85, a saving of over $ 2,677.92 if you were to have all the items fitted individually, and it’s worth mentioning that the price quoted includes all parts labour and VAT, too. While the entire conversion does look, sound and perform superbly if I were watching the pennies I’d say that the must-have items are the performance upgrade and the Sport suspension and possibly the exhaust, but that is always part of the joy of aftermarket tuning, you can fit one item and go back for others when the desire or finances are in place.

AC Schnitzer BMW M135i Steering wheel

What is for sure though is that as it stands this AC Schnitzer M135i really is an absolute hoot to pedal quickly. It can’t be that far off what a full-on M1 hatch would be like and rates as one of the stand-out cars of my motoring year so far.