Technics

The development of the BMW M1 was driven by aspects related to a potentially successfull racing career. The road version was the spin-off. Nevertheless it was considered important to conform with the “Allgemeine Betriebserlaubnis” (ABE), the German regulation defining the requirements for a car to be allowed generally on German roads. This was the only way to avoid the exhaustive and expensive “Einzelabnahmen” – an admission for the road on an individual basis to be passed for each single car. The ABE also required crash tests. Thanks to that requirement, the M1 features a crash-optimised front section.