BMW M 1000 RR Review | Motorcycle Test

BMW M 1000 RR Review

The era of homologation-special race machines is in full swing, and BMW has remained firmly engaged in the horsepower arms race with arch-rival Ducati since the debut of the original M 1000 RR for the 2022 model year.

Since then, the M 1000 RR has undergone continuous refinement, culminating in a package capable of attracting Toprak Razgatlıoğlu, who leveraged a variant of the machine to dominate the 2024 WorldSBK Championship.

For 2025, the M 1000 RR returns with a price of $58,114 ride-away in Australia. While the latest iteration introduces some subtle updates, it remains an evolution rather than a full model overhaul. At its core lies BMW’s 999cc inline four-cylinder engine with ShiftCam technology. The Australian-spec model produces a claimed 218 hp, significantly more than its U.S. counterpart, which is limited to 205 hp due to stricter emissions regulations.

Inside the motor there are plenty of updates. Starting at the top, throttle body diameter has increased from 48 mm to 52 mm; the revised cylinder head now houses oval-shaped intake and exhaust ports that have necessitated new pistons; the valves are now full-length titanium with the seat angle reduced from 45° to 40°; and compression has been bumped up from 13.5:1 to 14.5:1. Oh, and you now get a full titanium exhaust with oval-shaped headers to match the new exhaust ports.

The go from the breathed upon motor is accessed by a new M Quick‑Action Throttle with its twist grip rotation reduced from 72° to 58°, meaning more horsepower gets to the rear tyre faster and with less effort from your right wrist.

A single session aboard the M 1000 RR at Cremona Circuit—fresh off hosting the Italian round of the WorldSBK Championship and located approximately 90 minutes southeast of Milan—may not constitute extensive seat time, but it is certainly sufficient to form a clear impression of the machine’s capabilities.

And without question, it’s more than enough to leave a rider genuinely impressed by the extraordinary level of performance today’s production superbikes, particularly those at this price point, are capable of delivering.

The acceleration delivered by BMW’s inline four-cylinder engine is both formidable and remarkably manageable. With output well exceeding 200 horsepower, such performance has no business feeling this accessible, yet the M 1000 RR delivers its power with exceptional smoothness and control. The experience is so composed and confidence-inspiring, one could almost believe they were channelling the talents of Toprak Razgatlıoğlu himself, who, watching from pit wall, was likely shaking his head in quiet disapproval.

The drive is metered by revised electronics—yes, you get the usual six-axis IMU and every conceivable rider aid—but there’s been some improvements.

Within the Dynamic Traction Control algorithm, the Slide Control now uses a steering angle sensor to give the rider greater control when lighting up the back tyre on acceleration. While not a ground-breaking innovation (you can thank Yamaha for debuting Slide Control way back in 2015 on that year’s YZF-R1), it allows the rider to absolutely hammer the quick-action throttle and control the drift on corner exits without the power getting electronically castrated. Your big black line on the Cremona tarmac on corner exits signify the system works…

The increased compression and larger throttle bodies help give you access to the engine’s beefier midrange. From 6000 rpm to 10,000 rpm, the forward drive is relentless, but it retains this friendly delivery which is in stark contrast to the earlier editions of the S 1000 RR I’ve tested over the years.

Many of its predecessors were known to deliver much peakier performance that necessitated you to ride higher up in the rev range than some of the competition. This, in turn, would give the rear tyre a harder time when you’re trying to pump out consistent lap times. This new M 1000 RR is a world away from those earlier BMW superbikes, so much more refined but with so much more performance on offer.

And, oh good lord, that induction roar is just so damn good. As the revs reach north of 9000 rpm, the BMW sounds like it could suck small children into the airbox. This, combined with the wailing exhaust noise, makes the in-line four almost sound like a big block V8 as you start seeing the digital tacho heading into the five-digit rev range. It is a mechanical symphony you and your right wrist conduct.

As acceleration increases, so too does the downforce, as BMW has paid close attention to increasing it in 2025. New for this year is the revised plastic front fairing and 3.0 side winglets that deliver oodles of high speed stability (although, at Cremona, we had use of the carbon fibre fairings as part of the optional M Competition Package that also comes with carbon fibre wheels, an anodised swing-arm, passenger kit, and GPS lap trigger).

At 150 km/h, you get 1.9 kg extra downforce, which increases to 5.2 kg more at 250 km/h. At the top-end of the speed scale, downforce has increased by a claimed 33 percent over the 2024 model to 30 kg at 299 km/h (that’s like taking the average Australian man, chopping him into thirds, and putting one of those thirds on the front of your bike). The M feels like it’s glued to the tarmac at that speed, but still retains that lightness in the chassis that makes you feel like you could place the bike anywhere you like on the track.

The 2025 M gets a revised chassis with increased steering-head stiffness and a relocated left-upper engine mount to give improved chassis rigidity, allowing the M to hold its line better and improve turn-in behavior.

It’s slightly above my pay grade to tell you if this has worked or not as I did not ride the 2024 M, so a direct comparison is not possible, but what I can tell you is the front-end has a remarkably tactile feel, especially when hard on the brakes when slowing from Cremona’s ¾ mile back straight, and when negotiating the left-right-left switchbacks that lead you onto the front straight.

The front is graced with 45 mm KYB forks and a KYB monoshock at the rear, both of which are set-up rather taught as a base setting. This should come as no surprise given the M’s track-biased ethos, and given we only had a brief amount of time on the bike at Cremona, we didn’t mess with the stock settings. After all, we had the main course, Toprak’s factory bike, ready and waiting for us in the pits. Read the BMW Superbike Test here.

BMW claims a mere 193 kg ready to ride with the 2025 M, which is a teeny-weeny bit heavier than it was in 2024 (think about a kilo more). That being said, the 2025 M is remarkably light on its tyres/feet and will change its line at the first hint of rider input.

Running a little wide? Push your outside leg against the tank and the chassis will tighten its line with obedience. The carbon fibre wheels from the aftermarket M Competition Package help see to that, and their reduced rotating/unsprung mass, wrapped in gorgeous sticky Pirelli slicks, will thus help you accelerate out of the corner faster than you ever thought possible.

Even though this is as head-down-arse-up a superbike as you can possibly buy, the ergonomics are quite comfortable for a 6’1” inch / 183 cm rider with a 32-inch / 81 cm inseam and less flexibility than he would like, such as myself.

Part of the M’s rider positioning comes from inputs suggested by Razgatlioglu and his team-mate Michael van der Mark, who both like a roomy cockpit with wide-set handlebars that have a hint of supermoto about them. Having such a rider stance allows you to really take the bull by the horns.

As such, The M allows you to move about the cockpit easily, giving you a comfortable ride position that lets you ride harder for longer.

When it comes time to haul yourself up from high speed, the blue M-badged calipers (for all intents and purposes they are Brembo Hypure four-piston radially mounted calipers), mated to a Nissin radial master cylinder, does the job as good as anything on the market.

There’s more than enough feel at the brake lever and certainly enough stopping power, which allows you to keep focused on not binning BMW’s pride and joy as you steer the chassis into the upcoming corner.

And, if you really want to get funky with it, you’ve got BMW’s Brake Slide Assist that will help you kick the back-end out and drift into corners if you’re not used to (or simply don’t use) the rear brake. In terms of Instagram fodder, it doesn’t get much better than backing in a superbike that costs north of $58,000 and looking like a complete gangster while doing so.

The BMW M 1000 RR is motorcycle that makes you feel like a king slayer. It looks devastatingly handsome in the black, blue and red of our testbike, and, when paired with that rival in red, represent the very pinnacle of performance sports motorcycles you can ride on the street.

It’s also one of the most irrelevant machines you can buy. It has almost no place on public roads due to its extreme spectrum of performance, but that’s precisely why it’s so important. These bikes probably won’t get much faster than this in the coming years (they might, who knows? But I highly doubt it). The M 1000 RR represents the very best in what a manufacturer can do for its paying customer. It’s a halo bike, and a damn good one at that.

What a superbike age we live in.

2025 BMW M 1000 RR Specifications

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