RE: BMW M140i and M240i announced

[nickfrog]

Crafty_ said:

On a track, flat out I can well imagine with an open diff the car will be left wanting

At Spa, on Supersports I had traction loss in second out of the last chicane and the hairpin. That's on a sub-3min lap, but in the dry. In the wet that would be a different story of course. Fitting M4 LCAs then allowed enough apex speed to short shift in 3rd without much of a performance loss.

[mikey k]

Crafty_ said:

Wondering exactly how hard people are driving to have the traction control cut in regardless of road conditions. On a track, flat out I can well imagine with an open diff the car will be left wanting, are people really driving that hard on the roads ? Not found traction to be a problem to be honest.

4wd would be better, obviously, but there are always trade offs. Which are all pretty obvious (I think?).

Either way, in 10 years when we're all driving glorified milk floats around we'll look back on cars like this with affection.

In 57k miles on PSS's I've only seen the TC light with a heavy right foot in the wet or early on the power over a hump when it's still light.
It's been a revelation too me how little the TC intervenes on mine, especially after the intrusive system Aston Martin use.
Some of it is down to the PSS tyres, putting them on the Aston made a big difference.

[stropley]

mikey k said:

Krobar said:

I thought the M135 chassis was struggling with the power, can only imagine this new model will be a handful.

IME it doesn't have a problem (57k miles in)
It is frustrating you can't adjust the front geo
Mine just failed an MOT on front out edge tyre wear ( common issue )

These are old enough for MOT?
.... Rushes off to the classifieds

[nickfrog]

yonex said:

Artey said:

Oh you such a pretty frog. Oh you such a pretty frog. You so pretty. P R E T T Y.
Regardless M135i is still merde tho.

Remind us, what do you actually drive? There are lots of various things discussed like 'American V8's' in your topics but no real evidence of what you ended up with?

Yes indeed it would be interesting to compare and find out what a good car actually is. I haven't been impressed by any V8 cars I have rented in the US but each to their own.

[s m]

S3_Graham said:

Artey said:

oop north said:

The last chance any of us will have to buy a 6 cylinder hatch

Doesn't mean st. The last decent 6 cyl hatch was the 130i.

Really? A standard 130 isn't without faults. It desperately needs an LSD and some suspension work to shine.

They never seemed to get the rear end setup quite right on the 130i I thought as standard

[750turbo]

yonex said:

Artey said:

Oh you such a pretty frog. Oh you such a pretty frog. You so pretty. P R E T T Y.
Regardless M135i is still merde tho.

Remind us, what do you actually drive? There are lots of various things discussed like 'American V8's' in your topics but no real evidence of what you ended up with?

Yet another poster to totally ignore Yonex, sadly PH is being infiltrated with people that really only want to troll, a bit sad really.

Anyway, one of these will be on my "Next Car" list, I am of an age that I do not give 2 hoots what anyone thinks.


My current car has raised more comments than everything else I have ever owned, added together.

[Artey]

750turbo said:

Anyway, one of these will be on my "Next Car" list, I am of an age that I do not give 2 hoots what anyone thinks.

Welllllllll, you fking should care because in this particular instance those who diss this car do you and any other potential sheep a favour. Unless... unless you're from the generation brought up "driving" GranTourismo on Playstation. Then you'll love the numbness of the chassis and zero steering feedback combined with horribly overrated power delivery and sound that should be exciting but isn't. Listen to naysayers. 130i was a better car except for size. You can thank me and apologise for personal insults later.

[k-ink]

Artey said:

Lowtimer said:

Strewth, they've done it again, according to that link. Another new engine where you have to take it out of the car to replace the timing chain.


Also don;t like the sound of this from the BMW engineering brochure:
"Replacing the main bearing caps... is not allowed and will lead to engine damage"

Sounds like you're supposed to use up the engine and then buy a factory new one, no rebuilds allowed.

Don't worry the sheep will buy it regardless as it's an amazing piece of machinery or some bullst like that.

Modern BMWs certainly seem to come with various problems in the waiting. Not an issue for renters I suppose. Stops me wanting to own one though.

[anonymous-user]

Artey said:

Welllllllll, you fking should care because in this particular instance those who diss this car do you and any other potential sheep a favour. Unless... unless you're from the generation brought up "driving" GranTourismo on Playstation. Then you'll love the numbness of the chassis and zero steering feedback combined with horribly overrated power delivery and sound that should be exciting but isn't. Listen to naysayers. 130i was a better car except for size. You can thank me and apologise for personal insults later.

Funny that, I owned one and have put some miles on a 135i. Size wise they are very similar and loads faster. No modern car has 'amazing' steering full stop. As for the power delivery it is linear and pulls smoothly. The brakes are better, it has more potential to tune and is a nicer place to be. You've owned one or other right?

You still haven't mentioned what you actually drive?

[nickfrog]

I owned a de-restricted 125i, (ie a 130i Coupe) and steering feel was very limited too, no worse than a std M135i. Amusingly, the older hydraulic steering set-up had...very limited steering feel. But, once again, stick some M4 LCAs on a M135i (£300) and suddenly you get some steering feeling partially thanks to the improved castor angle but mainly thanks to the higher quality kinematics components. It's still not brimming with it but no worse than a hydro PAS E82 135i.
Maybe BMW should make second hand 130i ?

Do I miss the N52? you bet I do. But the N55 is excellent in its power delivery and keeness to rev - no need to listen to the average troll.

[stuart-b]

My poor old N54T, new kids on the block are catching up.

[JMF894]

j555 said:

I know BMW already have the 340i but this new small RWD hatch, likely to be popular with the drifting crowd in a few years time made me think of this...!


On another note, I'm sure it will be a good car and hope Chris Harris manages to take time out of his Top Gear schedule to give us a video.

Edited by j555 on Tuesday 17th May 04:40

Excellent! Had one of those years ago. Same colour too...................

[Artey]

nickfrog said:

I owned a de-restricted 125i, (ie a 130i Coupe) and steering feel was very limited too, no worse than a std M135i. Amusingly, the older hydraulic steering set-up had...very limited steering feel. But, once again, stick some M4 LCAs on a M135i (£300) and suddenly you get some steering feeling partially thanks to the improved castor angle but mainly thanks to the higher quality kinematics components. It's still not brimming with it but no worse than a hydro PAS E82 135i.
Maybe BMW should make second hand 130i ?

Do I miss the N52? you bet I do. But the N55 is excellent in its power delivery and keeness to rev - no need to listen to the average troll.

Quick google reveals that you chopped this amazing car in for Megane RS less than 6 months after you bought it. Hypocrisy much our merde filled frogue?

I also sold mine. And I couldn't stop crying for the rest of the day that day. They were tears of joy - I was happy to finally get rid and the price I got was well above what the market dictated. They were also tears of upset - at the amount lost in depreciation and sunk cost of tweaks which were supposed to make this horrrrribly sub par car driveable, as per internet shills like yourselves.

[nickfrog]

Artey said:

nickfrog said:

I owned a de-restricted 125i, (ie a 130i Coupe) and steering feel was very limited too, no worse than a std M135i. Amusingly, the older hydraulic steering set-up had...very limited steering feel. But, once again, stick some M4 LCAs on a M135i (£300) and suddenly you get some steering feeling partially thanks to the improved castor angle but mainly thanks to the higher quality kinematics components. It's still not brimming with it but no worse than a hydro PAS E82 135i.
Maybe BMW should make second hand 130i ?

Do I miss the N52? you bet I do. But the N55 is excellent in its power delivery and keeness to rev - no need to listen to the average troll.

Quick google reveals that you chopped this amazing car in for Megane RS less than 6 months after you bought it. Hypocrisy much our merde filled frogue?

I also sold mine. And I couldn't stop crying for the rest of the day that day. They were tears of joy - I was happy to finally get rid and the price I got was well above what the market dictated. They were also tears of upset - at the amount lost in depreciation and sunk cost of tweaks which were supposed to make this horrrrribly sub par car driveable, as per internet shills like yourselves.

You could simply have asked me. I kept it for 11 months. I don't chop cars, it sold privately at a £2,790 depreciation to the first viewer, ie £253/month, which is as superb as the car has been overall - the thing is, I did test drive it (unlike you, clearly) and once fitted with M4 LCAs yielding 2deg of front camber, it did all the jobs that I needed it to do superbly, including sub 3:00 around Spa on stock pads and tyres and a comfy drive back home afterwards. I rarely keep my cars for more than 12/18 months, I like a change and too many track days this year to turn down a deal through work (I work in motorsport) on one of the last Megs.

I can now see the source of your bitterness and trolling, having bought the wrong car for your needs and clearly at the wrong price. Sorry to hear about your heavy financial loss although it's self-inflicted.

"Hypocrisy much our merde filled frogue?" : no idea what that means but English being my third language, I am sure I can be forgiven.

Edited by nickfrog on Sunday 22 May 22:40

[E9AAP]

Hi, I'm a new here posting;
But been watching from a-far in the comments too long.

I personally find the negative comments interesting, especially with modern BM's.

Up front I am a BM fan, I however have only really owned the more mundane stuff. I will update my car history soon.

I have driven a couple of 135i's and found them brilliant, no numb chassis and good feedback and pretty good fun for a modern car. How anyone can compare a lump of US muscle cars is delusional.

current 1/2 35i owners, what are general running costs like?

Regards,

Phil

[E9AAP]

Hi, I'm a new here posting;
But been watching from a-far in the comments too long.

I personally find the negative comments interesting, especially with modern BM's.

Up front I am a BM fan, I however have only really owned the more mundane stuff. I will update my car history soon.

I have driven a couple of 135i's and found them brilliant, no numb chassis and good feedback and pretty good fun for a modern car. How anyone can compare a lump of US muscle cars is delusional.

current 1/2 35i owners, what are general running costs like?

Regards,

Phil

[DibblyDobbler]

Hi Phil. Welcome! Ignore the trolls

Personally I find the running costs exceptionally low - insurance, fuel, servicing all very good and the MPSS tires even last well. For a 300+ BHP car it is very cheap to run

[urquattroGus]

I spent £3.5K on the Quaife LSD, Birds Spring and ARB's - all supplied and fitted by Birds onto my 2013 M135i

Expensive but worthwhile, it has transformed the way the car drives, I have so much more confidence, steering has more feel, better traction etc, and still a pliant ride.

[anonymous-user]

urquattroGus said:

I spent £3.5K on the Quaife LSD, Birds Spring and ARB's - all supplied and fitted by Birds onto my 2013 M135i

Expensive but worthwhile, it has transformed the way the car drives, I have so much more confidence, steering has more feel, better traction etc, and still a pliant ride.

This is exactly what I would do with a 135i, everyone I know who has had the Birds kit fitted to both 130's and 135's says the same thing.

[Johnnytheboy]

This takes my fantasy next car shopping list to M140i X-Drive vs Focus RS.

Both AWD and both similar-ish amounts of power, but quite a different image.

A lot of the negative comments (filtering the usual crap) are aboput the traction. Surely X-Drive would address this?