Help me choose a BMW

Help me choose a BMW

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bodhi

Original Poster:

10,333 posts

228 months

Tuesday 22nd July 2014
quotequote all
Thanks for the advice everyone, I've put a deposit down on the one I mentioned. Was an absolutely lovely steer, and I think I'm going to get on with that engine very nicely indeed. 1 lady owner, full history (although not all BMW), 4 Bridgestone runflats and freshly serviced.

I am over the moon quite frankly smile

Obligatory pic


aeropilot

34,299 posts

226 months

Tuesday 22nd July 2014
quotequote all
bodhi said:
Thanks for the advice everyone, I've put a deposit down on the one I mentioned. Was an absolutely lovely steer, and I think I'm going to get on with that engine very nicely indeed.
Great stuff.

Now get yourself down to see Will at P-Torque in Wolverhampton for one his 125i remaps that bring the N52 up to 260hp 130i levels to really enjoy that N52 engine fully.

nickfrog

20,872 posts

216 months

Tuesday 22nd July 2014
quotequote all
Absolutely. And when the front discs need changing, fit 130i 330mm ones instead (hardly more expensive then 300mm 125i discs). All you need is a pair of caliper carriers at £50/pair off ebay or breakers.

s m

23,164 posts

202 months

Wednesday 23rd July 2014
quotequote all
bodhi said:
Thanks for the advice everyone, I've put a deposit down on the one I mentioned. Was an absolutely lovely steer, and I think I'm going to get on with that engine very nicely indeed. 1 lady owner, full history (although not all BMW), 4 Bridgestone runflats and freshly serviced.

I am over the moon quite frankly smile

Obligatory pic

Great choice thumbup

bodhi

Original Poster:

10,333 posts

228 months

Wednesday 23rd July 2014
quotequote all
Cheers for the feedback folks, I am over the moon with it, and am counting down the seconds until Monday until I can go pick it up.

Has a brilliant spec too, first owner added

Leather heated seats
Front and Rear Parking Sensors
Xenons
Business Stereo (sounds great)
Privacy Glass

Only thing I'll miss is the Enhanced Bluetooth, as I use BT Streaming for music on the current car. Other than that it's perfect.

Oh, except the carbon effect BMW roundels the previous owner has fitted. They'll be going.

nickfrog

20,872 posts

216 months

Wednesday 23rd July 2014
quotequote all
Indeed... CF : this is not 1999!
You may want to consider non-RF tyres. You can get a full set of Michelin Supersports for around £550 and you could sell your RFTs for around £400 if they're recent. It would transform the car.

bodhi

Original Poster:

10,333 posts

228 months

Tuesday 29th July 2014
quotequote all
Well, I picked the 125i up yesterday, and what can I say, what a fantastic bit of kit. The things that's shocked me the most is the economy of the thing. When I picked it up in Northwood it was showing 7 mpg (obviously been sat running while they prepped it), and I'm sitting here at work, after popping into Watford to go shopping, a trudge up the M1, then another shopping trip to the Bull Ring in rush hour (I had the missus with me, hence all the shopping), back up the M6 to Stafford, then back down to Birmingham this morning. The fuel consumption readout is on 36Mpg. The 330d used to do 39!

How the hell have they managed that then?

Other than that everything is as fantastic as imagined, great engine, seems to ride better than the old 330d, lovely and comfy, enough room for all our kit. Only slight issue was the Tyre Pressure warning came on not long after picking it up, checked all the pressures, they looked fine, so reset it and it hasn't been seen again since.

Overall I'm over the moon though. Cheers folks, I think you've helped me find a cracker.


s m

23,164 posts

202 months

Tuesday 29th July 2014
quotequote all
bodhi said:
Well, I picked the 125i up yesterday, and what can I say, what a fantastic bit of kit. The things that's shocked me the most is the economy of the thing. When I picked it up in Northwood it was showing 7 mpg (obviously been sat running while they prepped it), and I'm sitting here at work, after popping into Watford to go shopping, a trudge up the M1, then another shopping trip to the Bull Ring in rush hour (I had the missus with me, hence all the shopping), back up the M6 to Stafford, then back down to Birmingham this morning. The fuel consumption readout is on 36Mpg. The 330d used to do 39!

How the hell have they managed that then?

Other than that everything is as fantastic as imagined, great engine, seems to ride better than the old 330d, lovely and comfy, enough room for all our kit. Only slight issue was the Tyre Pressure warning came on not long after picking it up, checked all the pressures, they looked fine, so reset it and it hasn't been seen again since.

Overall I'm over the moon though. Cheers folks, I think you've helped me find a cracker.
Sounds great thumbup

Only thing I would say on the mpg readout is to do a few brim to brim manual calculations if you want to check you really are getting what the computer readout says - they can come times be a bit optimistic. But generally, yes, they are quite economical.
I've had my TPMS light come on the odd occasion after a spirited drive as well. Always reset ok though

bodhi

Original Poster:

10,333 posts

228 months

Thursday 31st July 2014
quotequote all
Hmmm, ever had a really bad feeling about something? The car itself seems absolutely fine, run for 400 miles in a week with no issues. Pulls well, drives perfectly, etc etc everything works, no concerns there.

What is concerning me is the Xenons. Looking at the front bumper they don't appear to have headlight washers, which the BMW website says you can't have Xenons without. Have I bought an illegal car?

s m

23,164 posts

202 months

Thursday 31st July 2014
quotequote all
bodhi said:
Hmmm, ever had a really bad feeling about something? The car itself seems absolutely fine, run for 400 miles in a week with no issues. Pulls well, drives perfectly, etc etc everything works, no concerns there.

What is concerning me is the Xenons. Looking at the front bumper they don't appear to have headlight washers, which the BMW website says you can't have Xenons without. Have I bought an illegal car?
Have you checked the chassis number for the original build option codes?

bodhi

Original Poster:

10,333 posts

228 months

Thursday 31st July 2014
quotequote all
A very kind ph'er has done that for me, looks like they didn't come with the car originally. They look to be the official BMW items, just no washers fitted on the bumper.

Think the dealer will be getting a call tomorrow...

aeropilot

34,299 posts

226 months

Thursday 31st July 2014
quotequote all
bodhi said:
A very kind ph'er has done that for me, looks like they didn't come with the car originally. They look to be the official BMW items, just no washers fitted on the bumper.

Think the dealer will be getting a call tomorrow...
Ooops......that would be a MOT failure as well IIRC.

There is a pukka BMW retro fit kit available for the xenons, not cheap, but maybe worth trying to bargain with the dealer about getting into a dealer for the bits that are missing to be done properly. It's not cheap though.





AOK

2,297 posts

165 months

Thursday 31st July 2014
quotequote all
Depends how good the place he bought it from is, and how much they value the satisfaction of a customer who is already out the door and probably only went there because they had the right car at the right price... I doubt they are local to him, doubt he had bought there before, doubt he will buy there again!

If it is indeed a MOT fail I think they will have to do something to rectify the situation under SOGA Fit-for-purpose. But.... unless the Xenons were specifically mentioned as a feature on the advert / contract, the cheapest way for them to rectify the situation would be to turn round and say "We're extremely sorry Mr Bodhi that we did not notice the car you have bought was fitted with non-original Xenon headlights which are illegal due to a lack of a washer system. This is totally unacceptable. Please return to us at your convenience so we can return the car to its fully road-legal standard specification... by refitting OEM halogen units"

... which isn't what you'd want. Because the Xenons are damn cool.

BUT, if they do realise they can go down that avenue, unfortunately that will be perfectly satisfactory as far as SOGA is concerned so you won't really be able to decline their offer... as I said earlier, unless the Xenons were mentioned on the advertising.

aeropilot

34,299 posts

226 months

Thursday 31st July 2014
quotequote all
AOK said:
But.... unless the Xenons were specifically mentioned as a feature on the advert / contract, the cheapest way for them to rectify the situation would be to turn round and say "We're extremely sorry Mr Bodhi that we did not notice the car you have bought was fitted with non-original Xenon headlights which are illegal due to a lack of a washer system. This is totally unacceptable. Please return to us at your convenience so we can return the car to its fully road-legal standard specification... by refitting OEM halogen units"
I know of a 1 Series owner that came back to collect there car from a BMW dealership after some work being done (can't remember what) to find their aftermarket HID's removed and replaced with OEM halogens.


bodhi

Original Poster:

10,333 posts

228 months

Friday 1st August 2014
quotequote all
Thanks again for the advice folks, my only concern with the HID's is the legality of them, I must admit the looks appeal to my inner tart who's spent too long in old SE BMW's smile

I'm going to pop into one of the local MOT stations today for advice on them, then take it from there. It looks like it's already passed an MOT with them on (at a Renault garage of all places), so I take some heart from that - however I didn't pay 10.5K on a 5 year old BMW so I had to find a friendly MOT station come test time, so if there's any doubt I'll be taking it back to get sorted.

However I'm starting to see the value in buying from a local dealer, as the place I bought this from is 120 miles away! So I suspect I will wait a couple of weeks to see if anything else crops up (I'm a bit dubious about the clutch if I'm honest - was absolutely fine on the extended test drive in hot weather, seems a bit juddery when maneuvering on occasion now though frown), then get them to sort everything at one time.

Sadly, as the 125i is like rocking horse poo, the guy I normally get cars through couldn't find one in budget, so I had to go further afield. Hence the bad feeling about this.....

ratty6464

628 posts

209 months

Friday 1st August 2014
quotequote all
AOK said:
Would leasing a new M135i not be a possibility? Perfect all rounder. Very fun when you want it to be. Well within your fuel economy budget. And with the mileage you do sounds like having 3 years new car warranty won't be unwelcome.

IMHO the E90 generation petrols are desperately slow and uneconomical. Even the rare 320si wasn't a hoot to drive... All it had going for it (apart from engine issues) were the special alloys!
Yeah, lease an m135i. Get maintenance included and pocket £200 a month.

30mpg with the auto on a run easily

nickfrog

20,872 posts

216 months

Friday 1st August 2014
quotequote all
He's just bought a car. Best lease on a M135i is around £350 inc amortised deposit which is a fair bit more than the depreciation on a 125i, 3 times as much possibly.

OP. The headlights may be DEPOs, check them out. Look on babybmw, loads of people have them so there must be a solution regarding MOT.

As for the clutch, is there like a bit of hopping and beginner style progress in 1st and 2nd ?

If so, fear not, they all do that. BMW fit a CDV (clutch delay valve) to protect the diff but makes low ratio progress jerky. Stupid idea.

Very easy to remove, like 15mn work. I meant to remove mine but I ended up getting a good feel for the clutch and it doesn't even bother me very often.

Tbf, if you remap the car back to 130i power, which you should do, you will rarely need second...

Edited by nickfrog on Friday 1st August 21:08

philmots

4,630 posts

259 months

Friday 1st August 2014
quotequote all
bodhi said:
Thanks again for the advice folks, my only concern with the HID's is the legality of them, I must admit the looks appeal to my inner tart who's spent too long in old SE BMW's smile

I'm going to pop into one of the local MOT stations today for advice on them, then take it from there. It looks like it's already passed an MOT with them on (at a Renault garage of all places), so I take some heart from that - however I didn't pay 10.5K on a 5 year old BMW so I had to find a friendly MOT station come test time, so if there's any doubt I'll be taking it back to get sorted.

However I'm starting to see the value in buying from a local dealer, as the place I bought this from is 120 miles away! So I suspect I will wait a couple of weeks to see if anything else crops up (I'm a bit dubious about the clutch if I'm honest - was absolutely fine on the extended test drive in hot weather, seems a bit juddery when maneuvering on occasion now though frown), then get them to sort everything at one time.

Sadly, as the 125i is like rocking horse poo, the guy I normally get cars through couldn't find one in budget, so I had to go further afield. Hence the bad feeling about this.....
Have you a pic from the front of the car?

As another poster said they could be aftermarket parts (that look oem) that will easily swap out with halogens for an mot, small price to pay IMO.

TheBigUnit

364 posts

191 months

Saturday 2nd August 2014
quotequote all
nickfrog said:
As for the clutch, is there like a bit of hopping and beginner style progress in 1st and 2nd ?

If so, fear not, they all do that.
Would echo this. I had three E2x 1series and they all did it. Never had any problems with them beyond the juddering, and with a delicate left foot you soon avoid it.

bodhi

Original Poster:

10,333 posts

228 months

Sunday 3rd August 2014
quotequote all
Thanks for the advice everyone. I think discovering the xenons brought on a serious case of buyer's remorse, I've spent the past couple of days giving it a good run out, and apart from the dubious headlights it's a cracker. Clutch has been absolutely fine, and I've had more time to enjoy that engine. Good lord, it is immense! Picks up from revs my old diesel would demand a lower gear from, then pulls all the way to 7k rpm, screaming as it goes. Now that's what I missed from my old 328i smile

Anyway I took a pic of the headlights last night, what you folks reckon?