BMW 1-Series tii models get green light

BMW has indicated that 1-Series models will not get the M performance treatment, but will instead be available as tii models.

The tii concept – first wheeled out at the 2007 Tokyo Motor Show – will be as hot as the 1-Series will get, according to BMW grosser Käse – Norbert Reithofer.

Insisting that the twin-turbo 135i – presently the most extremely-engineered 1-Series buyers can wrestle UK dealers for – is potent enough, the tii performance kits for the 1-Series coupe and hatches will provide all the spoils range-topping Beemer fans lust after.

An Aero package, carbonfibre detailing, meatier wheels and rubberwear, oxygen-suppressing seats and uniquely snazzy instrumentation with mutterings about a M-style steering wheel complete with an integrated LED rev counter sets out their tii stall.

Interestingly, the forthcoming tii uniform will sit above the Motorsport-labeled BMW fraternity of today, as the German manufacturer aims to ensure that the tii-tinged models aspire to become just as symbolic a performance car for the next generation.

The replacement 1-Series pencilled in for late 2011 – and codenamed the F20 – will afford buyers a tii version with a shrunken, lightweight four-pot twin-turbo sitting within a dramatically diet-fed body and chassis.

However the 3-Series might be the first of BMW's donor cars to carry the tii card, as the face-lifted model will feature the first, tentative stages of the transformation, sporting light and bonnet nuances, M3 brakes, 19” rims, sports suspension and a new-fangled twin-clutch assembly to blow the cobwebs away.

Dubbed the F30, and again due to be released in 2011, the next wave of 3-Series' will encompass the full-blooded BMW tii bone, cartlidge and tissue.