New BMW M140i will get 250kW B58 engine

While the BMW M2 is considered firm’s closest rival to Audi RS3 and Mercedes A45 AMG, we’re going to throw another player into that mix with the upcoming BMW M140i – the replacement for the M135i hatch we still rate highly to this day.

Set for 2017 production, the BMW M140i and M240i will swap their N55 powerplants for the newer and stronger B58 engine – the same engine we first sampled in the BMW 340i.

While the B58’s 3.0-litre straight six turbo configuration apes the N55, revised internals squeeze out another 10kW  (250kW total) and torque swells by 50Nm for a figure of 500Nm – that’s just shy of the M4’s 550Nm tally. Interestingly the BMW M2’s heart is still related to the older N55 but warmed up with BMW M4 internals.

And while we struggled to notice the extra grunt in the 340i, gains in the B140i and M240i should be pronounced. The 0-100km/h time comes down by 0.3 seconds for an official time of 4.6 seconds for both models. A more efficient engine design sees carbon emissions reduced by 10g/km and fuel consumption reduced from 8.3l/100km to a claimed 7.8l/100km.

If BMW can tie down the pricing to R600 000, we’re not convinced that its German rivals will have an answer to this humble yet potent everyday car.