RE: BMW 130i: PH Carpool
Discussion
DonkeyApple said:
Good little cars. A quirky alternative to an M3 of similar age as its shorter wheelbase makes it a little more twitchy.
Standard brakes aren't as good as you would really want them. Interior is OK. Nothing special and not as sturdy as bigger BMs. What you are paying for with the 130 is the drive train. Inside its still a hatch built to a budget defined by its sector.
Very nice straight six and RWD. The original English sportscar set up and one that suits our roads so well.
You can under and over steer it but you know when it's coming as it is rather well balanced with what feels to me to be a rear bias by a fair margin.
What I have noticed is that it seems to be hugely effected by choice of tyres. A set of tyres can turn this car into a total lump of crap.
You have the nail on the head there mate Standard brakes aren't as good as you would really want them. Interior is OK. Nothing special and not as sturdy as bigger BMs. What you are paying for with the 130 is the drive train. Inside its still a hatch built to a budget defined by its sector.
Very nice straight six and RWD. The original English sportscar set up and one that suits our roads so well.
You can under and over steer it but you know when it's coming as it is rather well balanced with what feels to me to be a rear bias by a fair margin.
What I have noticed is that it seems to be hugely effected by choice of tyres. A set of tyres can turn this car into a total lump of crap.
Allanv said:
You have the nail on the head there mate
I didn't have any real issues with the run flats. You definitely can't eek out all the performance the engine and car is capable of but all in I never found any of the issues that some people claim are manifest. On the other hand when switching to normal tyres anything wider on the front completely cripples the car's real niche. Turn in just dies and tram lining is shocking.
Personally, I think it's a car that shouldn't be on the larger wheels as more sidewall seems to suit the car and I'd also plumb for slightly narrower tyres as that seems to enhance predictability and turn in.
I have the 130LE which had the larger standard width rims of the LCI and the narrower tyres of the first model(as far as I know this correct, the LE had the BBS World touring car rims as standard)therefore the original rear tyres were too narrow looking for the rims, and looked odd!
I have fitted the later sizes of 245/35 in place of the 225/40 on the rear, and fitted the 225/40s on the front in place of the limited choice 205/45s. (I know I should have fitted 215/40s but once the 225s wear out I will change them for the correct size!)
My questions are,
Is it definitely worth ditching the run flats?
You say that tyres make or break the car so what tyres do people recommend, Pilot Sports?
And is it worth just changing the suspension springs for the Birds B1 sports ones?
I have fitted the later sizes of 245/35 in place of the 225/40 on the rear, and fitted the 225/40s on the front in place of the limited choice 205/45s. (I know I should have fitted 215/40s but once the 225s wear out I will change them for the correct size!)
My questions are,
Is it definitely worth ditching the run flats?
You say that tyres make or break the car so what tyres do people recommend, Pilot Sports?
And is it worth just changing the suspension springs for the Birds B1 sports ones?
bbd1 said:
I have the 130LE which had the larger standard width rims of the LCI and the narrower tyres of the first model(as far as I know this correct, the LE had the BBS World touring car rims as standard)
The LE came with BMW Style 216 rims (in specific 1 Series ET49/ET52 offsets)bbd1 said:
Is it definitely worth ditching the run flats?
Yes.And retain the 225/40 front and 255/35 rear sizes as well.
bbd1 said:
You say that tyres make or break the car so what tyres do people recommend, Pilot Sports?
Personally I'd recommend Pirelli P Zero.bbd1 said:
And is it worth just changing the suspension springs for the Birds B1 sports ones?
I recommend getting the full Birds B1 damper/spring set instead of just the springs, as you'd have to buy a new set of springs if you changed the dampers later on. The BMW OEM dampers are rubbish.The Birds B1 damper/spring kit transformed my 135i
Standard sizes are 215/40 and 245/35. Personally I'd suggest going 225/40 on the front and 235/40 on the rear, they're cheaper than OEM sizes and give a better handling balance. Goodyear Asymmetric 2's are another tyre to consider, extremely impressed with them on both my old 123d and current 130i with Birds springs and M3 lower arms etc.
aeropilot said:
Yes.
And retain the 225/40 front and 255/35 rear sizes as well.
And retain the 225/40 front and 255/35 rear sizes as well.
Edited by LocoBlade on Saturday 19th October 21:30
LocoBlade said:
Standard sizes are 215/40 and 245/35. Personally I'd suggest going 225/40 on the front and 235/40 on the rear, they're cheaper than OEM sizes and give a better handling balance. Goodyear Asymmetric 2's are another tyre to consider, extremely impressed with them on both my old 123d and current 130i with Birds springs and M3 lower arms etc.
I take it your talking about non run flats?
Did you find they made a big difference on their own?
Have you only changed the springs and lower arms suspension wise? and what's the improvement?
aeropilot said:
Yes.
And retain the 225/40 front and 255/35 rear sizes as well.
Standard size on my model were 225/40 rear, I went for 245/35 as it's as near as you can get to the same rolling dia, for speedo and ride height, and a fairly common size for price and availability, and a BM size fitment.And retain the 225/40 front and 255/35 rear sizes as well.
I take it your talking about non run flats?
Did you find they made a big difference on their own?
Have you only changed the springs and lower arms suspension wise? and what's the improvement?
Sorry, should have clarified that facelift cars after mid 2007 have are the sizes I mentioned, pre facelift with the narrower 8" rim have the size you mentioned I think along with a 205/40 front.
I've never had runflats on the 130 but changed over to regular rubber within a few weeks of getting the 123d about 4 years ago. The only negative with the change is a slight reduction in turn-in sharpness due to the softer sidewall, everything else was an improvement, grip, feel, ride comfort, the lack of tram lining, less road noise, plus a significant cost saving even if buying premium non runflat rubber, so definitely worth doing IMHO.
Suspension wise, the 130i has
Birds 'B' springs
M3 front Control arms and tension struts
M3 rear subframe bushes
M3 Front strut brace
Plus a Quaife ATB slippy diff
I bought it off a mate with all that done so can't compare before and after directly, but compared to the 123d it initially felt a bit nervous but its just because its a bit more direct, the rear end is more compliant (less bouncy), it turns in better and feels more adjustable mid corner, so more fun to throw down a B road.
I've never had runflats on the 130 but changed over to regular rubber within a few weeks of getting the 123d about 4 years ago. The only negative with the change is a slight reduction in turn-in sharpness due to the softer sidewall, everything else was an improvement, grip, feel, ride comfort, the lack of tram lining, less road noise, plus a significant cost saving even if buying premium non runflat rubber, so definitely worth doing IMHO.
Suspension wise, the 130i has
Birds 'B' springs
M3 front Control arms and tension struts
M3 rear subframe bushes
M3 Front strut brace
Plus a Quaife ATB slippy diff
I bought it off a mate with all that done so can't compare before and after directly, but compared to the 123d it initially felt a bit nervous but its just because its a bit more direct, the rear end is more compliant (less bouncy), it turns in better and feels more adjustable mid corner, so more fun to throw down a B road.
LocoBlade said:
Sorry, should have clarified that facelift cars after mid 2007 have are the sizes I mentioned, pre facelift with the narrower 8" rim have the size you mentioned I think along with a 205/40 front.
Mine is a pre-facelift and runs on 225/40 at the front and 245/35 at the rear. Runflats ditched 
TX.
Cheers everyone, I had a good chat with Kevin Bird today, who said that the main problems with the car can be split equally between, Springs, Run flats and Shocks, and as he stated if you carry out any one mod it will make a noticeable difference, obviously if you can afford to it's best to go for all three.
The 245/35s have just over 1% speedo error compared to the standard 225/40s, where as 255/35 have less than 0.25% error!
But the 255 is not listed as a standard fit on the One series (as far as I know) and I didn't realise that the 255 would fit.
But the 255 is not listed as a standard fit on the One series (as far as I know) and I didn't realise that the 255 would fit.
Edited by bbd1 on Monday 21st October 20:12
Sorry just re-reading your earlier posts. An LE like yours should have 215/40 and 245/35 on the 216 rims, the same as every other facelift 1 Series on 18" wheels as they have an 8.5" rear rim, so it sounds like yours has had non standard tyres fitted at some point. 225/40 do fit on the back of that rim but can look a little stretched depending on tyre brand/model. I had 225/40 Asymmetric 2 all round on my 123d and they looked fine on the rear, but the same width winter tyres look a bit of a stretch (although still ok).
Compared to a sandard 245/35 the 235/40 adds about 3% from memory and makes the speedometer pretty accurate (only 1-2mph over-read at motorway speeds compared to GPS), a 245/40 would probably make the speedo under-read which isn't ideal
Some have fitted 255/35 but you can run into rubbing issues. Why someone would want such a wide tyre on the rear other than for aesthetic reasons I don't know, IMHO the 1 Series handles better with a squarer setup with fronts as wide (or nearly as wide) as the rear.
Compared to a sandard 245/35 the 235/40 adds about 3% from memory and makes the speedometer pretty accurate (only 1-2mph over-read at motorway speeds compared to GPS), a 245/40 would probably make the speedo under-read which isn't ideal
Some have fitted 255/35 but you can run into rubbing issues. Why someone would want such a wide tyre on the rear other than for aesthetic reasons I don't know, IMHO the 1 Series handles better with a squarer setup with fronts as wide (or nearly as wide) as the rear.
Edited by LocoBlade on Monday 21st October 20:26
Right, this may warrant a seperate topic, but I'd like some advice. I was going on earlier in the thread about a 130i LE I'd put a deposit on. Long story short - whilst testing electrics before purchase an engine management warning came up on the sat nav, I rejected it, and reclaimed the deposit.
Now, I'm looking again, with the money burning a hole in my pocket. (But still with an emphasis on finding the right car)
An approved used 130i le has come up for sale, with 79k on the clock and a 2 year bmw warranty. Bad idea? good idea?
Now, I'm looking again, with the money burning a hole in my pocket. (But still with an emphasis on finding the right car)
An approved used 130i le has come up for sale, with 79k on the clock and a 2 year bmw warranty. Bad idea? good idea?
Edited by P1H on Monday 21st October 20:43
P1H said:
An approved used 130i le has come up for sale, with 79k on the clock and a 2 year bmw warranty. Am I mental to even entertain this idea?
Not at all, especially if they are chucking in 2 years BMW warranty (normally AUC is only 12 months)These things handle the miles without any major issue.
aeropilot said:
Not at all, especially if they are chucking in 2 years BMW warranty (normally AUC is only 12 months)
These things handle the miles without any major issue.
I like think I can be confident about the condition.These things handle the miles without any major issue.
I think part of my concern is resale value. If I were keeping the car for 5 years the value would be low whether the car had covered 100k, or 140k. But, if I end up switching in 2 years i think I'd get hurt.
P1H said:
I like think I can be confident about the condition.
I think part of my concern is resale value. If I were keeping the car for 5 years the value would be low whether the car had covered 100k, or 140k. But, if I end up switching in 2 years i think I'd get hurt.
What are they asking?I think part of my concern is resale value. If I were keeping the car for 5 years the value would be low whether the car had covered 100k, or 140k. But, if I end up switching in 2 years i think I'd get hurt.
P1H said:
DoubleSix said:
What are they asking?
Approved £11k with 79k on.Vs car I put deposit on:
General dealer £12k with 45k on.
Vs wider market :
General dealer 11k with 76k on.
Private 12k with 60k on.
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