BMW 1 Series M Coupe Sets 8:12 Nürburgring Lap Time

If you thought BMW had released all the details on its new 1 Series M Coupe last week, you’d be wrong. Marketing the car as a true enthusiast’s machine, almost all 1 M Coupe’s sold are certain to find their way onto a race track and so BMW has gone though the effort of testing the car on THE race track – the Nürburgring. The time? How about an 8:12.

To put that into perspective, that’s 10 seconds faster than the E46 M3, which is hardly surprising, however, as the old E46 only made 262 ft-lbs, compared to the substantial 332 ft-lbs the new turbocharged straight-six makes. Perhaps more impressive is that it’s as fast as the old Z4 M Coupe (another car-guy special) and faster than the 500-hp V10-powered E60 M5.

BMW will officially unveil its new sports car at the 2011 Detroit Auto Show, so check back for live photos starting January 10th.

GALLERY: 2011 BMW 1 Series M Coupe

[Source: BMWBlog]