BMW Concept 1 Series tii

BMW Concept 1 Series tii: Performance preview or appearance package?
As soon as the 1 Series was announced, the question everyone began to ask was, "When is the M model coming?" But the 1 Series may never wear an M badge. Many a Bimmerphile would consider it sacrilege to name it M1 -- the legendary mid-engine homologation racer of the late '70s. So BMW went back a few more years into its history to help name the BMW Concept 1 Series tii.

Unveiled at the 2007 Tokyo motor show, Concept 1 Series tii bears the same designation as the performance variant of the now venerable BMW 2002, which roamed the streets in the early 1970s. The car is a glimpse into the future of what a production performance 1 Series model may be like -- at least on the surface.
The emphasis of the tii concept is on agility. Weight savings are numerous - the hood, mirror caps, airdam covers, trunklid spoiler, and rear bumper inlay are all of carbon-fiber reinforced plastic. All four brake calipers are painted blue, as is one bolt on each of the four wheels and the tow hook. A racing stripe runs the length of the entire car, starting off white on the black carbon-fiber hood and then turning black on the white roof and trunklid. A tii decal is on both bumpers, with the front decal being mirror imaged. The anti-glare strip at the top of the windshield also sports a tii logo.

The interior boasts copious amounts of Alcantara, which covers the steering wheel, most of the upper dashboard, shift knob, and part of the door panels. The sport bucket seats are wrapped in leather with Alcantara upholstered insets. The sport-style rear seats are upholstered in a similar material mix. The stitching in the leather of the front seats is blue, as is the driver's seatbelt and the base of the shift knob.
A nifty touch is the mixed color gauge faces. The speedometer is primarily black and the tachometer white, which gives the tach the advantage of instantly grabbing the eye -- handy on the track where engine rpms are far more important than the indicated speed and fractions of a second.
Conspicuously absent, however, are changes to the business end of things, making the Concept tii little more than a club-racer trim package of sorts for the 135 rather than a true performance model. If the concept comes to production life, it's hoped BMW will spice up the production model with stiffer springs and maybe more boost to the 3.0-liter twin-turbocharged unit, rather than with just a carbon-fiber body kit and an Alcantara dashboard.
Credit By Kirill Ougarov