M135i - best discounts and finance rates?

[mikebrownhill]

EricE said:

Not to turn this into a Mini thread but I am also interested in reports from M135i owners who previously owned a Mini.
I'm looking to replace our R56 Cooper S due to extreme oil consumption but I'm worried the M135i might be extremely fast but boring in the city. Mini is pretty much fun everywhere (when it's not busy lunching its engine).

I have been running an M135i 5 door alongside a MINI Cooper S Convertible for the last 15 months, but had the MINI first (R57). I have just traded the MINI in for a new M235i Convertible on the strength of my experience of the M135i and haven't looked back.

Whilst I really enjoyed the MINI the BMW's are in a different class in my opinion - yes, the MINI was fun but for me it was compromised on space - I have had a load of IKEA flat packs, a set of stepladders and a child-seat in the back of the M135i and still had as much fun on the way home - the M235i picks up where the MINI left off now i.e. roof down.

[Grubbster]

I realise I'm quite late to the M135i party but I'm about to order one

Interested to hear of other peoples specs and what should or should not be added? At the moment I'm going 5 door, auto, Estoril blue, black leather, professional multimedia, Harmon Kardon speakers, lumber support and adaptive suspension - have I missed any 'must haves'?

[RumbleTumble]

Grubbster said:

I realise I'm quite late to the M135i party but I'm about to order one

Interested to hear of other peoples specs and what should or should not be added? At the moment I'm going 5 door, auto, Estoril blue, black leather, professional multimedia, Harmon Kardon speakers, lumber support and adaptive suspension - have I missed any 'must haves'?

I'm about to order one too. Same spec as yours plus heated seats and comfort pack (park sensors and cruise), and possibly sunroof. Black with red leather.

I might downgrade the hk speakers to BMW Business and wondered if anyone had compared the 2?

Where are you getting yours from. Coast2coast seem to be good on price.....

[SIXSM]

I'm not sure what the BMW Business speakers sound like, but I've got the HK speakers in my M235i and they sound brilliant, if you like your music well worth getting HK - loads of non distorting bass and clear crisp high quality sound.

One mistake I think I made was not going for adaptive dampers, the ride is pretty hard with standard suspension, I guess the adaptive dampers in comfort mode give a much better ride.

RumbleTumble said:

I'm about to order one too. Same spec as yours plus heated seats and comfort pack (park sensors and cruise), and possibly sunroof. Black with red leather.

I might downgrade the hk speakers to BMW Business and wondered if anyone had compared the 2?

Where are you getting yours from. Coast2coast seem to be good on price.....

[bennyboysvuk]

ATM said:

PTF said:

Clivey said:

That's interesting...very interesting.

Oh, and 340i next, Sir?

Nah the Mrs wants a Mini Countryman/Paceman.

I fancy an 08+ 325i auto. I think the 3.0 engine really suits an auto. If there was a great deal on a 340i touring i'd be interested, but it would have to be amazing.

Will there be a 340i wagon?

I wanted a modern 3 series Touring for a long time, but on getting an E91 version a couple of years ago I found that the suspension setup is far more understeery than the saloons due to the rear ARB being far thinner. It's put me off them for life unless they have aftermarket ARBs on them. The M135i does understeer a little, but far, far less than a 3 series Touring.

[bennyboysvuk]

Grubbster said:

I realise I'm quite late to the M135i party but I'm about to order one

Interested to hear of other peoples specs and what should or should not be added? At the moment I'm going 5 door, auto, Estoril blue, black leather, professional multimedia, Harmon Kardon speakers, lumber support and adaptive suspension - have I missed any 'must haves'?

Go with the additional storage too. Mine is ok, but extra cubby holes and strap loops would have been nice when needing to strap down various purchases en route home from Wickes.

I don't think rear PDC is standard IIRC. I'm not sure though, but if it's important to you it might be worth checking. Ahh, as per the post below, it's the comfort pack that's worth going for too.

RumbleTumble said:

I'm about to order one too. Same spec as yours plus heated seats and comfort pack (park sensors and cruise), and possibly sunroof. Black with red leather.

I might downgrade the hk speakers to BMW Business and wondered if anyone had compared the 2?

Where are you getting yours from. Coast2coast seem to be good on price.....

I had a 320i as a loan car recently with standard speakers and it really highlighted how much better the HK audio system is than the standard BMW setup.

The difference between them is like:

Standard BMW stereo:


HK equipped BMW:

Edited by bennyboysvuk on Friday 4th September 07:43

[Grubbster]

Thanks for the opinions, much appreciated. I've now added comfort pack, adaptive suspension and (dare I say it) auto box! The Mrs wants me to go for orange rather than blue, should I dare?

Yes - coast2coast seem to be best on price.

[DarylB90]

Grubbster said:

Thanks for the opinions, much appreciated. I've now added comfort pack, adaptive suspension and (dare I say it) auto box! The Mrs wants me to go for orange rather than blue, should I dare?

Yes - coast2coast seem to be best on price.

Personally I would go blue, it looks stunning and surprisingly hides the dirt very well.
Also on the options front if you are a bit OCD like me get the heated seats, if you don't you will have a blank button on the dash!

[Steve Evil]

Grubbster said:

Thanks for the opinions, much appreciated. I've now added comfort pack, adaptive suspension and (dare I say it) auto box! The Mrs wants me to go for orange rather than blue, should I dare?

Yes - coast2coast seem to be best on price.

Everyone goes Blue, go Orange, in the sun it looks fantastic. It also hides the dirt quite well.

[johnraiders]

Hi

Picked up my factory ordered M135i yesterday, 5 door Estoril Blue, 7.5k worth of extras. Very pleased with 18.45% discount.
Lane assist( or whatever it's called) was probably a waste, otherwise very pleased.

John

[nickfrog]

Grubbster said:

I realise I'm quite late to the M135i party but I'm about to order one

Interested to hear of other peoples specs and what should or should not be added? At the moment I'm going 5 door, auto, Estoril blue, black leather, professional multimedia, Harmon Kardon speakers, lumber support and adaptive suspension - have I missed any 'must haves'?

A little controversial but anyway :

- I don't perceived auto as an "option" - it's only of interest if you prefer it to the (free) manual "option".
- Orange may devalue quicker than a safer colour, if you care.
- Pro Nav will devalue very quickly. Bus Nav is std now as I am sure you know.
- Std speakers are shyte, upgraded speakers a little less shyte, HK slightly less shyte IMO - if you like your in-car music they're all basically shyte IME.
- As you have now gathered, you have forgotten cruise and sensors, which will keep a big chunck of their value
- I find the ride very smooth on passive dampers so adaptive would have been a waste as that option depreciates badly but that's a personal thing

A great car anyway.

[Grubbster]

Interesting thoughts, thanks. I'll confirm my spec and place an order on Monday.

I've previously had a 3 door 120d (57 plate) which I really liked apart from some annoying niggles and woeful service from our local main dealer. Problems were clutch judder (never got resolved) and problems with the windows in cold weather (not dropping when opening the door which means the frameless doors couldn't be closed without opening the window first). 5 door won't have this problem and auto won't have a juddering clutch As I'll be doing a lot of commuting miles I think the auto will be good for me, I do enjoy driving the wife's auto Jag XF.

The pro satnav/multi media I'm in 2 minds about, seems pricey for extra gadgets I may never use.

My 120d had the top spec ICE of the time (may have been HK, it sounds familiar reading the description but I can't remember for sure) and it really sounded pretty good, so I hope this lives up to expectations.

I might stick with Estoril Blue and black leather as a safe choice, the orange looks fine but it'll stick out like a sore thumb everywhere!

[Goatex]

I''ve had my auto for almost a week now and went quite heavy on the options - some thoughts on them so far:

Adaptive lights: brilliant if, like me, the roads around you are twisty but probably not worth it if you mainly drive in town or on relatively straight roads.
Adaptive suspension. Difference between sport and comfort definitely noticeable but not night and day although certainly seems to ride better than the passive set up I test drove.
HK. At low to moderate volumes nothing to write home about but sounds very good when turned up reasonably loud. Money well spent there I think.
Pro nav. In 2 minds. Not too fussed about the added functionality but the wide screen looks great - maybe not £900 great, mind.
Lumbar support. Essential if you have a bad back.
Through load. Not fussed about the though load per say but also adds a rear armrest and cup holders so yes if you carry people in the back often.
Heated seats. Once lived with, can't live without...certainly in Scotland.
Heated steering wheel. Unnecessary but highly recommended, already been cold enough to give it a try and it feels great!
Driver comfort, ie cruise and rear PDC. should be standard so an essential option
Autodim and fold mirrors. Not had much opportunity to appreciate fully yet but didn't dim as much as I thought they would on the short time a car was behind me when driving at night. Jury still out but wouldn't bother on limited experience so far.

[paulmc]

That 40i is a lovely car but no X-Drive in the uk that's got to be a mistake.

[nickfrog]

Why? What's wrong with RWD ?

[Sir_Dave]

So, today i got 2 options from Gateway2Lease, for my 18 months old M135i with 16k miles:

1. Buy outright for £23,800. Not exactly a good deal lol.
2. Hand it back for £596.23 (5 months rental, divided by 2, less the VAT)

Having put a deposit down on an e46 M3 on Saturday, im doing option 2, but i thought the buy price would be less, i could get a brand new one for £26.5k, or a 2nd hand one for considerably less than £24k!! Seems daft to try & get such a high figure when they simply get punted off to BCA auction otherwise ...

[Max M4X WW]

Sir_Dave said:

So, today i got 2 options from Gateway2Lease, for my 18 months old M135i with 16k miles:

1. Buy outright for £23,800. Not exactly a good deal lol.
2. Hand it back for £596.23 (5 months rental, divided by 2, less the VAT)

Having put a deposit down on an e46 M3 on Saturday, im doing option 2, but i thought the buy price would be less, i could get a brand new one for £26.5k, or a 2nd hand one for considerably less than £24k!! Seems daft to try & get such a high figure when they simply get punted off to BCA auction otherwise ...

Put this on babybmw.net as well, but..

Random, I've just had mine and the cherished plate docs. It will now be RF14 MHU!

My buy it now price is £24,650.00 with 14k miles.

The hand back figure (valid until 10th Oct) is more than I think it should be at £934.18. I got my car on the 13th March 2014, so would my last payment be 13th March 2015? Meaning I have Oct, Nov, Dec, Jan, Feb & March to Pay? (£727 I work it out as, rental is £303pm)

[bennyboysvuk]

Sir_Dave said:

So, today i got 2 options from Gateway2Lease, for my 18 months old M135i with 16k miles:

1. Buy outright for £23,800. Not exactly a good deal lol.
2. Hand it back for £596.23 (5 months rental, divided by 2, less the VAT)

Having put a deposit down on an e46 M3 on Saturday, im doing option 2, but i thought the buy price would be less, i could get a brand new one for £26.5k, or a 2nd hand one for considerably less than £24k!! Seems daft to try & get such a high figure when they simply get punted off to BCA auction otherwise ...

It would be interesting to hear how it feels getting back into an E46 M3 after the M135i to see if it's a case of rose tinted specs or indeed if the M3 still feels as special as it always did.

[Sir_Dave]

Max - posted on Babybmw for you

bennyboysvuk said:

It would be interesting to hear how it feels getting back into an E46 M3 after the M135i to see if it's a case of rose tinted specs or indeed if the M3 still feels as special as it always did.

Well, thoughts so far, after a quick 20 minutes test drive, will do a proper comparison when the M135i goes back (ill have both for 2-3 weeks):

1. M3 steering far better, i hate the lightness of the newer car, a real let down!
2. M3 throttle response far better, lack of turbo = much nicer
3. M3 pulls to the top end far nicer, no point taking the M135i past 5.5k, you can travel very quickly using just the first 4.5k rpm. Newer car far quicker off the line, around town kind of driving. It is deceptively fast, but gives a massive "boooost" feeling, when you go for it. 0-60 and 0-100mph are pretty much the same, its just the way the speed is delivered is different.
4. Brakes are a million times better in the M135i.
5. Noise wise, the M135i sounds like a 330i with a turbo, the M3 is totally bespoke/raspy/angry sounding, esp. on startup.
5. M3 has a nicer colour interior combo than the M135i, that is spec dependent though, the overall interior on the M135i is far nice looking, but the older car seems to have been put together better, with more expensive/harder wearing materials.
6. Overall, the M3 feels like a much older car, which it is. As a family daily, the M135i is by far the best car, but i dont need that, i need something that makes me smile just by remembering that i own it.

No doubt, when it needs fixing for the first time, i'll wish i was back in the M135i

[Accelebrate]

Mine is poorly...



Started misfiring whilst joining the M5, left at the next junction, restarted and all was good but the drivetrain error remained for 10 miles or so. Couldn't get it to do it again during the rest of the 80 mile journey.