Classifieds' Car Of The Day: 306bhp BMW M135i

Yesterday we were in sunny Spain testing the incredible new M235i. The looks have been a little divisive, however, and if you ask us, the 1-series coupe it replaces is a more aesthetically pleasing beast. Early examples of the 135i coupe are now relatively affordable, and they offer a lot of performance for the cash.

Up front, there's a 3.0-litre twin-turbocharged straight-six belting out 306bhp. That's only 16bhp down on the M235i. It'll dispatch the 0-62mph sprint in 5.3 seconds, and top out at an electronically-limited 155mph. It's a fantastic thing to drive, too. The small size certainly helps; next to the much larger 3-series and 5-series, many would argue the chuckable 1-series is the keen driver's choice.

And if 306bhp isn't enough for you, that turbocharged N54 six-pot is very tuneable: a 'stage 1' remap via Burger Tuning's JB4 piggyback ECU for example will give you around 50 more horses than standard. Take things further, and you can easily have enough firepower to embarrass a V8 M3.

Tempted? This one has 39,000 miles on the clock and is up for £16,995. Not exactly cheap, but considering a brand new M235i will set you back twice that, it's pretty decent value.