By Leftlane Staff
Monday, Jan 16th, 2006 @ 6:54 pm

The BMW 130i M Sport is the closest thing the German automaker offers to its original M3 of the 1980s, but it doesn’t quite recapture that experience, explains John Simister. “The two things that deprive the 130i M Sport of the hoped-for old-M3 feeling are, oddly, two things that today’s sporty-car fans could well regard as plus points. If they haven’t driven an original M3, they might not mind the M Sport’s over-firm, choppy ride on typical British backroads. They’ll just think it confirms the M Sport’s performance credentials,” explains Simister. “And they might like the steering, even though I don’t. I’ve always found 1-series’ steering to be oddly viscous, with surprising resistance when returning to the straight-ahead position.” Still, the 130i M’s “tautness” and “immediacy” make up for its shortcomings, Simister says. The Leftlane Perspective: Now if only BMW would release its 1-Series coupe — which the company has said will come to the U.S. — we’d have a true M3 throwback.

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