M coupe

Last night spy photographer Palbay contacted us to share a series of images of BMW's 1 Series M Coupe at the BMW Performance Center Skidpad in South Carolina. The water adds a nice effect to the shots, and serves to underline just how much fun the driving school instructors were having at the time.

SkiddMark reader Andrew Mulholland was one of the first customers to view BMW's new 1 Series M Coupe when he joined us at our photoshoot last Thursday. He got the chance after responding to one of my tweets a few weeks ago (you can follow us at @DriversRepublic), offering a reader the chance to meet BMW's new M car, and it took him all of about 3 seconds to accept the invitation when asked!

BMW's 1 Series M Coupé is one of the most eagerly anticipated cars to arrive from BMW in the past decade, with the E92 M3 now sporting a 414-bhp V8 and costing well above £50,000 it hardly fits the role of "BMW's entry level M car" any more. What was needed was a more affordable model, harking back to the very first E30 M3 and providing access to the M-power ladder from a more affordable and approachable package.