BMW is celebrating 30 seasons of the British Touring
Car Championship by introducing a limited edition M140i. Dubbed the
Championship Edition, the model is based on the three-door hatchback and
features a host of minor revisions. BMW hasn’t released details about the car
but the images show the model will have a black grille, carbon fiber mirror
caps and five-spoke alloy wheels. We can also see a tri-color BMW M stripe with
“Championship Edition” lettering above the rear wheels.
BMW declined to release interior pictures but considering this is a fairly tame special edition, we shouldn’t exact drastic
changes aside from some possible Championship Edition badging and maybe a
limited edition plaque.
We can expect a familiar 3.0-liter TwinPower Turbo
six-cylinder engine producing 340 PS and 500 Nm of torque.
When equipped with the standard six-speed manual transmission, it enables the
hatchback to accelerate from 0-100 km/h in 4.8 seconds before
hitting a limited top speed of 250 km/h. Buyers looking for something
quicker can order the optional eight-speed automatic transmission which cuts
the 0-100 km/h time to 4.6 seconds.
There’s no word on pricing but production will be
limited to 30 units and the standard M140i three-door starts at £ 33,920. Given
this is a limited edition model, it will likely be a tad more expensive. If the
M140i Shadow Edition is any indication, the Championship Edition could start
around £ 35-36,000.
