the bmw m1 is the best car in the world

Seeing the orange M1 in the first post reminded me of something I saw back in July:

http://manonthemove.com/2012/07/25/bmw-m1-main-street-sag-harbor-new-york/

BMW M1: Main Street – Sag Harbor, New York

Say hello to BMW’s hand-made, mid engine M1, arguably the most exotic gem the brand has ever manufactured. Built from ’78-’81, the M1 represented BMW’s first scalable attempt at a mid engine design and featured a lot of advanced tech for the day like six separate throttle bodies for the engine. Interesting back story…the car was built to race and sold to appease Motorsport Homologation rules. As things tuned out, the car never actually raced. M1 is the unicorn of BMW performance. Beyond the 70s Giugiaro-designed sex pot looks, absolute rarity contributes to the M1′s iconic status. BMW produced less than 500 of them. Market rates hover around $200K for low mileage examples like this one. And we all long for the day that BMW produces the modern homage like this one.

This might be the spot of the year.
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Nice spot!

 

That must be Phil's car... I wonder how many other M1's are around NYC..

Bradley Price from Automobiliac has a nice gallery of the M1, too:

http://www.automobiliac.com/automobiliac/2012/9/2/riding-shotgun-bmw-m1.html

 

Octane mag did a piece on the car a while ago, and they have a beautiful gallery of the M1 on some alpine roads. In Dark Blue, which is my favorite color:

http://www.classicandperformancecar.com/reg/?page=register

What were the 4 official colors? Orange, White, Dark Blue and ?
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

5 colors, Blue, orange,red,white and black. Orange is the most popular color as half of the 400 street cars are orange.Black is probably the rarest.

 

How bad is the driving position for a tall person in one of these? I'm about 6 ft 2, or something like 1m 86cm tall. I notice the seats are pretty much gonna sit where they are, but are any of you M1 owners or ex-owners tall? Will I need to have contortionist skills to sit in one comfortably?

 

...
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Since there seems to be quite a bit of interest in the M1 procar, let me share some of my and my friends procar's pics with you. 2 out of 40 procars made, Enjoy.
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=bmw+m1+mosport&oq=bmw+m1+mosport&gs_l=youtube.3...9935.16044.0.18534.14.14.0.0.0.0.93.1110.14.14.0...0.0...1ac.1.k4j5ya7zG3M

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tg1ynjgyIk4[/ame]
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUlhZ-Mytgk[/ame]
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYqiij4HDgA&feature=relmfu[/ame]
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6syiR4Jy5k[/ame]
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDRWqRdirYw[/ame] M1 at the 35 sec mark
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iktQRa6YbMM[/ame]
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-4vyl92KLo[/ame]
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HeH0PaaMrBw[/ame]
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chJSzZTvOIc&feature=relmfu[/ame]
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_E92HdB2JNU&feature=relmfu[/ame]
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47CdB4gArJA[/ame]

All these videos are videos of our cars and they are short, some less than 10sec. Hopefully some of you will find them interesting. Almost all are at Mosport, our home track.

 

Thanks but you have now put yourself in front of the firing squad so to speak! It would be cruel and unusual punishment for us if you did not share more pics and perhaps a more in depth video of the M1's you have and race. A "walk about" if I may?

 

I am 184 cm tall and I have about 3-4 cm free space when seated. The seat does sag 2-3 cm after a while but using a helmet for e.g.drivers education is a problem. The last time my car underwent the mandatory 2 year vehicle check, the technician had to drive the car onto the lift with his head out of the side window, he was probably 195 cm tall....

The workshop manual includes instructions for lowering the seat height (I dont remember by how much and dont have the manual at hand right now). This procedure includes drilling new holes in the frame for the seat rails.

You can probably gain another 2-3 cm by changing the headlining. I have purchased an extra original, fabric covered headlining from BMW Classic and will probably modify my existing headlining in an attempt at gaining some extra space.

Another aspect of the driving position which is debated in reviews of the car, is the position of the pedals. I do not find this a problem. The pedals in a 328/Mondial are at least as off-set as those in the M1. I have not encountered problems with the limited space between the pedals. I use size 44 so this may be different for a size 46. Again, not different from an F-car.

Lastly, the adjustable steering wheel is a big help in achieving a comfortable driving position.

 

Thank you very much for your answer.