Tuesday 16th July 2013

BMW M135i: PH Fleet

It's the benchmark in pretty much every PH discussion thread so we thought we'd better get properly acquainted

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'Ah, but what about the M135i!' It's already the thing of forum cliche but, rolleyes or not, BMW's astonishing six-cylinder turbo 1 Series is an impossible car to ignore. Hot hatches, coupes, sports cars, fast saloons - all must, at some point, face comparison with a car that, on paper, appears the performance bargain of the decade. And when we say 'at some point', that usually means within the first half dozen posts.

These are needed to combat 320hp...

And what's not to love about a classically rear-driven BMW with more than 300hp from a straight-six engine? In this age of downsized powerplants and upsized pricing it's seemingly so out of step as to warrant another General Gassing staple - the 'not sure if serious' Joker meme.

So it's a benchmark by which the relative value of pretty much any car with PH pretensions priced between £20-£40K must be judged. And, going forwards, in the used market. Suffice to say, the 'ah, but what about the M135i!' comparison isn't going to go anywhere in the next decade, new or used.

A car we thought we'd best have some familiarity with then. But one dropping off BMW's immediate press radar as it settles into the hard graft of earning its keep in the showrooms. We just about managed to squeeze a couple of months with one before defleeting and it sounded like the most PH-worthy spec too. Estoril Blue, three-door and manual. Brilliant!

So you're probably wondering why you're looking at a Glacier Silver five-door auto instead. Well, best intentions were there but BMW's press fleet manager went out for lunch and one of his colleagues sold 'our' car while his back was turned. Verdammt!

Looks great on paper; can it match the hype?

Still, the eight-speed auto is rightly praised, even if it begins the inexorable climb from that headline '£30K' pricetag to the order of £1,600, 'our' car inflated by £7,155 and subsequently much closer to £40K. Meaning it's less the GTI zerstorerand instead fighting a tougher battle against the likes of the new Mercedes A45 AMG and Audi S3 (current) and RS3 (previous). True, in the game of spec sheet stepping stones the Merc's price starts within a couple of hundred quid of where our BMW's ends and the Audi can't match the M135i's one-two of six-cylinder status and rear-driven delights. So it's hardly humbled. But we'd like to know how many have escaped the dealer having spent much less than £35K. Let's hear it from owners - who's got the cheapest, most basic M135i out there?

Hefty pricetag or not, 'our' 135i looks nicely stealth with its five doors, silver paint and modest 18-inch wheels on non-runflat tyres. Only the size of the brake discs within, and blue calipers clamping them, really hints at the potential and even then you'd need a pretty keen eye to pick it out from a 116d. Inside it's the same, with an interior that has an old-school BMW clarity and simplicity about it and a refreshing lack of buttons and gadgetry. Manually adjustable seats are a refreshing change too - who actually needs slow, heavy and expensive power adjustment? - and it feels pleasingly compact too. Perhaps less of the 'pleasingly' for anyone in the back but from the driver's seat it feels wieldy, low-slung and poised.

It's certainly not a cult hero for its looks...

Even with all the talk the numbers are astonishing and bear repeating. 320hp and 332lb ft to the rear wheels from a turbocharged 3.0-litre six, paired with official 37.7mpg and 175g/km, a limited 155mph vmax and 0-62mph in 4.9 seconds. It's faster and greener than the manual's 35.3mpg, 188g/km and 5.1 seconds too but, either way, if you'd shown those figures to someone 10 years ago they'd have cried witchcraft. Even now it seems scarcely believable but, of course, we'll be able to put those incredible stats - all of them - to the test properly.

So less of the number crunching. Time to get out there and do just that.

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FACT SHEET
Car: 2013 BMW M135i (five-door)
Run by: Everyone!
On fleet since: July 2013
Mileage: 8,123
List price new before options: £30,525 OTR (£37,680 as tested inc. £515 for Adaptive M Sport suspension, aluminium trim, complimentary BMW Business Loudspeaker system, £295 for DAB, £360 for Driver Comfort Package comprising cruise and parking sensors, £90 for 'extended storage', £250 for dimming/folding mirrors, full black panel display, high-gloss black finish, £95 for 'internet', £200 for driver/passenger lumbar support, £1,995 for BMW Professional Multimedia, £515 for metallic paint, £235 for front/rear Park Distance Control, £265 for seat heating, £1,600 for Sport auto transmission, £290 for Sun Protection Package, £450 for Visibility Package inc. adaptive xenon lights)
Last month at a glance: Just delivered!

 

 

 

 

[chiefski26]

Looking forward to this thread, should be interesting !

[Carnnoisseur]

Me too, I was expecting pages of submissions by now, must be the weather.......

[Schnellmann]

Virtually identical spec to the M135i I just ordered (but won't get for another couple of months). So I am very intersted in how this goes.

With respect to price: getting a 10% discount is very straightforward (too straightforward making me think I should have pushed for more) so on the road price of around £32.5k easily achievable, even with the automatic box, 5 doors and options.

[buckline]

Great car and i havent regretted my decision to buy it yet in spite of the recent release of the AMG A45. One point of note is that i have never got to see 37.7mpg with the 8 speed auto, i have 26.6mpg over the last 3500 miles, again no regrets as i am driving it how i should...much to the dogs chagrin

[RobM77]

I think a bit if proof reading may be needed there! I look forward to hearing more about the car though.

[STiG911]

How come if the £360 Driver Comfort Package includes parking sensors, you still have to pay £235 for front/rear Park Distance Control? Doesn't one work without the other?!

Edited by STiG911 on Tuesday 16th July 16:10

[Mermaid]

Lovely place to be in, far better than the Golf/A3 equivalents

[DISASTRA 5 0]

I will be following this, what a great buy these will be in three or four years!

[Otispunkmeyer]

I think there are some people within BMW that know what an M car really should be.

With the actual M-cars, getting larger, heavier and chasing ever higher power figures (plus being lavished with ridiculous amounts of kit), these guys are thinking that it just isn't what its about. They know the car should be small, light (relatively), RWD and packing a carefully judged amount of power (not too little, but not so much as to make it a hand full) from a more traditional BMW I6 engine and it shouldn't be draped in lots of extraneous electrical gubbins.

They did this with the 1 series coupe making the 1M... A car some people like to compare to the original E30 M3. Small, light and nimble with just the right amount of go to make you work and enjoy the drive.

[161BMW]

From what I have read this is f ing fast but looks so ordinary and rides pretty well too. Almost the perfect Q car especially debadged :-)

[Dazed & Confused]

Ah, but what about the M135i!

Oh... Wait.....

[MarJay]

BMW pulled it out of the hat again. How can a company as awesome as they and with the ability to make cars like the M135i, the M3, 335i, the 1 series M coupe, M5, 535d, 535i etc, make such crap as the X3, X1, X6? No one has given me a satisfactory answer, apart from the possibility of there being two 'sets' of BMW Engineers. The ones that bring an apple for the teacher and get top grades get to work on the saloons, hatches and sports cars. The ones who have a D on their pointy hat and need to be supervised with safety scissors and pritt stick end up working for the 'SUV' team.

[Andy ap]

Get ready.....Set.....GO!

So its a benchmark car eh? Couldnt look more bland in silver (for a BMW anyway) if it tried in my eyes (but thats just my opinion). The blue does look much better. But yes those on paper figures do seem impressive even the C02 emissions caught my eye. MY 1.8t puffs out 190g/km and this with 140bhp more puts out 15g/km less? yess it is witchcraft!

Edited by Andy ap on Tuesday 16th July 12:41

[German]

MarJay said:

BMW pulled it out of the hat again. How can a company as awesome as they and with the ability to make cars like the M135i, the M3, 335i, the 1 series M coupe, M5, 535d, 535i etc, make such crap as the X3, X1, X6? No one has given me a satisfactory answer, apart from the possibility of there being two 'sets' of BMW Engineers. The ones that bring an apple for the teacher and get top grades get to work on the saloons, hatches and sports cars. The ones who have a D on their pointy hat and need to be supervised with safety scissors and pritt stick end up working for the 'SUV' team.

Sadly, people want the X1/3/6.....I've driven them, and couldn't tell you why. The stupid, they walk amongst us

Edited by German on Tuesday 16th July 12:53

[Ollieb7]

£34k Silver auto w/ red interior. Great every day car around the bumpy roads my way the comfort is great - want sporty press the button and it's well rapid!
Auto vs manual debate - I commute a bit in traffic so it's great and the flappy paddels do a pretty good job of giving a level of manual intervention. I'm lucky though as i do have a Caterham too so that feeds my manual need or otherwise it would have been a manual if i didn't need to drive in town..
The looks ... Was not sure to begin with but now i really like it with the fact that it is different and it's not just another Audi - like the E60 5 series, with age it just gets better...

[Bladedancer]

Please tell me this isn't going to be run just to conclude that 135i is world's best car, as many here seem to think.

[FWDRacer]

Horrid looking. And on the basis of that, it'll be the car that other people drive/own/choose to be seen in. Your choice of car statement says I don't give an 'F what it looks like. Am I the only one that would have preffered the saloon 1-series for an M135i to be based off?

[Nickbrapp]

Saw my first one of these the other day, pig ugly, the exhaust is so low down the bumper that it looks like its just been stuck on, and the tail pipes are the same size as the ones you get on a 318D, not nice and meaty like the 335 that it should be.


Still it's good enough for pistonheads and seems to be the only car you can read a whole owners thread or any what car without the FINANCE WILL KILL YOU AND YOUR PUPPY AND END THE WORLD! Brigade rearing their boring addaoid filled heads.


Still begs the question at close to £40k what's wrong with a 1M or of course 4 E46 m3s or 10 e39 M5?

[smiffy555]

It is bloody ugly though!!

Seeing the spy shots of the 235i, with its much better looking front end and 'slimmer' lights, I think I'll be waiting for that over the 1er.

[RedTrident]

FWDRacer said:

Horrid looking. And on the basis of that, it'll be the car that other people drive/own/choose to be seen in. Your choice of car statement says I don't give an 'F what it looks like. Am I the only one that would have preffered the saloon 1-series for an M135i to be based off?

Put all that in a coupe/saloon body and I'll buy one. As it is it's one ugly looking car. I'm sure BMW don't care as it'll sell very easily.