E93 M3 into M135i

[JapFreak786]

Sorry to make another M135i thread.

Long story short, got an E93 M3 a few weeks back from a specialist trader, it's got a few issues and it may be going back to the trader.

I should be driving an M135i in manual this weekend, seen the £388 deposit and £388 pcm offers and it's quite interesting to me. If I went for a 135i it would be DCT that I go for, current M3 is also DCT

I have read a number of replies/threads but cannot remember seeing anything specificly saying M3 to M135i

It will be my daily car,and for what it's worth I think the M3 is abit to mundane and a 325i could do what my M3 does 90% of the time. Will I find the M135i even more boring?

I know a test drive will reveal what I think of it, but like to hear other people's view's please

[NIIKME]

have you cranked the M3 up? or have the issues prevented this?
although its fun to look I'm not sure I could swap mine for anything.

[JNW1]

JapFreak786 said:

Sorry to make another M135i thread.

Long story short, got an E93 M3 a few weeks back from a specialist trader, it's got a few issues and it may be going back to the trader.

I should be driving an M135i in manual this weekend, seen the £388 deposit and £388 pcm offers and it's quite interesting to me. If I went for a 135i it would be DCT that I go for, current M3 is also DCT

I have read a number of replies/threads but cannot remember seeing anything specificly saying M3 to M135i

It will be my daily car,and for what it's worth I think the M3 is abit to mundane and a 325i could do what my M3 does 90% of the time. Will I find the M135i even more boring?

I know a test drive will reveal what I think of it, but like to hear other people's view's please

DCT isn't available on the M135i, the choice is between a manual and a conventional auto (albeit the latter is 8-speed and apparently very good in manual mode).

However, I had a short run as a passenger in an M135i at the weekend and when I got back into my E92 335i I concluded pretty quickly that the 335i cabin was a much nicer place to be. Obviously you can only tell a limited amount from the passenger seat and it may well be that the M135i is a more rewarding car to drive quickly down a twisty road. However, even if I could secure one of the mega-discounts being mentioned on various threads it would still cost a substantial five-figure sum plus my 335i to make the change and frankly I'd rather spend a fraction of that with Birds and just upgrade the chassis on the 335i (which I think is its weak point, especially the ride). However, the M135i rode no better and all the time I was in it I felt I was sitting in something with more, err, humble origins. I know that should be secondary to the driving experience but when you spend a fair bit of time behind the wheel these things matter and paying a heap of money plus my existing car to end-up in something that feels cheaper just doesn't appeal I'm afraid!

This is all a long-winded way of saying I'd persevere with an E9x M3 even if that means finding a different one from the one you've got at the moment. In the event you find the M135i an improvement then go for it while there are still good deals to be had; however, I'd feel like an E92 M3 was a step forward from my 335i whereas I wouldn't feel like that about an M135i. For me, then, it would be the M3 every time but that's just my opinion - no doubt there will be plenty that come along and disagree!

[Vladimir]

All E93s are VERY heavy - this might blunt the performance a lot compared to an E90 or E92.

You also have to stop ever 13ft for more fuel... ;-)

[cerb4.5lee]

JapFreak786 said:

It will be my daily car,and for what it's worth I think the M3 is abit to mundane and a 325i could do what my M3 does 90% of the time. Will I find the M135i even more boring?

I know a test drive will reveal what I think of it, but like to hear other people's view's please

I understand why you think the M3 is mundane I do most of the time too, the M3 is only exciting when you are kicking its backside but I do love it as an allrounder & that's what I tell myself to get by!

I haven't experienced a M135i but I would imagine with its lighter body weight & more usable power delivery in day to day driving it should deliver the goods, the M3 is nothing short of epic if you throw it down a country lane as if your pants are on fire but those oppourtunities are few & far between & for the rest of the time it's just a 3 series.

I am a big fan of the M135i as you get M3 performance with more torque & more mpg thrown in for free it's sounds good to me.

[Patrick Bateman]

A good all rounder tends to be 'mundane' a lot of the time, it's a pre-requisite for being a good all rounder I'd say.

Having the option to wring its neck and explore the split personality is nice to have.

[JapFreak786]

I did have a much detailed reply but got an error when I tried to submit

I agree the E93 is heavy, but the noise you get with the roof down and that V8 more than makes up for it.

The M135i could be seen as a slight downgrade, and not a "proper M", a move from a 335i to a M135i would be a sidestep and not "up" like you would if you got an M3, I guess that comes down to the person who is buying the car. I would see the move to an M135i as a downgrade, but also an upgrade at the same time as the M3 doesn't feel as special to me as I thought it would have done.

You can feel the chassis being not as tough as the E92 would be, I do need to take my M3 down the local roads that I know very well since all my other car's have gone that way and I know what they were like.
Just a very different place to be compared to the E60 M5.

For me, a weekend long test drive would let me know exactly how I feel about an M135i, just need to see if the dealer is willing to let me have that as an option now.