The new BMW M135i xDrive has a really tough job laid out in front of it, considering the competition it has to face. The biggest, baddest guy in the segment comes in the shape of the Mercedes-AMG A35 model, the A-Class doing the whole front-wheel drive premium hot hatch thing for a bit longer. Then there’s also the Audi S3 and I’m not even going to mention the RS3 and A45 AMG options which are even more threatening.
Therefore, the new 1 Series has its work cut out. What we’re looking at today though is how the BMW M135i xDrive compares to the A35 AMG from a tuning perspective and how much potential each car has. To do that, the guys from RaceChip got the two cars together to see how much performance they can squeeze out of them. One thing that should be mentioned here is that the Mercedes-side of things is represented by the A35 AMG in sedan guise but the engine under the hood is the same as on the hatchback model.
The spec sheet tells a story that’s very familiar between these two models. Both use 2-liter 4-cylinder engines and both have 306 PS to rely on. However, the BMW has 450 Nm (332 lb-ft) of torque at its disposal while the Merc has 400 Nm (295 lb-ft). After the guys from RaceChip fiddled with both powerplants, the end results showed some power increases on the dyno but nothing back-breaking.
The A35 AMG went up to 345 PS and 447 Nm of torque while the BMW M135i showed 338 PS and 492 Nm of torque. Therefore, the BMW still keeps the edge in terms of torque but loses in the horsepower department. How do the two compare on the street? Well, to find out, the guys took the cars out on an unrestricted Autobahn and tested their sprints between 100 and 200 km/h (62-124 mph). Check out the video to see how they did.
