With less than 10 days before the big reveal of BMW’s highly anticipated E82 1M Coupe more info has been continuing to pop up.

BMW originally set to release the E82 1M Coupe as a limited edition model – about 2700 units. But due to positive response, BMW lifted the cap and was said to produce as many E82 1M Coupes as they can until production ends in Spring of 2012.

What BMW does typically at the end of the life cycle of certain models is to release special editions to send off the outgoing models in style. Kind of like the E36 LTW, E46 CSL and the recent E92 GTS.

What about the 1M Coupe? I remember a while back my source from BMW told me that there was a discussion about a “Performance Program” for the 1M Coupe which can result in similar special limited editions to show the potential of this program.

So I brought this up with the source to inquire further. They are always tight lipped (as expected) but here’s a quick excerpt on a few info I received.

JS: Will the new Performance Programme be handled by the M Division or would that be a separate division on it’s own?

BMW: When the car was being conceived we sat down and discussed what could be done to extend the appeal of the car. Dr Segler came from MINI so we thought about MINI-ising the 1M in terms of what is available for the enthusiast in terms of scope.
The ideas were put forward but the budget made this impossible for this generation. But what we have will be carried over to the next generation because there will be more time and more money to do so.

JS: Is there a possibility of a “CSL” type version of the E82 1M Coupe at the end of its life cycle?

BMW: Anything is possible, we have ideas and the creativity to expand. In the end it all comes down to the reception of the car. 1M is more personal than any other M car. It has to be more upfront with the customer because it is developed entirely for the customer who want something pure.
As it stands E82 production will be online till summer 2012, 1M will finish around the Spring, We have Cabrio production lasting till late 2012 in which they have produced a Cabrio model. We have a Cabrio unofficially. Reaction to the Coupe will determine the Cabrio’s existence as will the GTS/CSL type car.

In light of these interesting information I decided to create my final speculative rendering of the BMW 1M Coupe, but this time in Alpine white and with the special Motorsport color graphics.

The graphics were inspired by the classic 1975 3.0 CSL and of course the 1973 BMW 2002 Turbo, but with a modern twist as how it might be applied to the E82 1M Coupe.

If BMW does produce a limited edition 1M Coupe, I imagine the similar treatment they did with the GTS with lots of track oriented performance upgrades. With the second generation 1M Coupe speculated to be released in 2014, I doubt that a special edition of the E82 1M Coupe will ever see the light of day. If anything, we’ll most likely see it happening on the second gen model with a longer term production. But either way, US will probably be left out again.

My BMW source went on to say that the 1M Coupe has proven itself to the Cayman S and Audi TTRS within internal testing. And he ended his email by saying the the MINI Coupe is being bench marked as a sort of 1M for the MINI brand.

BMW will lift the embargo on the press pictures of the BMW 1M Coupe on December 12th. It will make it’s North American debut at the 2011 NAIAS in Detroit in January. Expect to see the 1M Coupes at the US BMW dealerships by Summer.