Tuesday 27th August 2013

BMW M135i vs ... the world! PH Blog

How we're going to make our hard-hitting little BMW work for its living

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The BMW M135i has been with us for a few weeks and two fleet updates (intro and second) so far and while we'd love to be running it for longer the car is only with us until the end of September. And if it's had it pretty easy so far it's going to have a much tougher time of it for the next six weeks.

Just how good is the M135i? We're finding out

When I referred to it as 'the baby M' in the last report a few purists grumbled but when you consider the kind of cars it's compared with I think this playfully provocative moniker actually holds up pretty well. I introduced it to the fleet saying "it's a benchmark by which the relative value of pretty much any car with PH pretensions priced between £20K-£40K must be judged" and, money where my mouth is, that's what we're going to do.

Genuinely, I think it's that broad. You could be considering anything from a Toyota GT86 to a Porsche Cayman or Nissan 370Z, Golf GTI to A45 AMG, Audi S3 to Megane Renaultsport and yet looming in the background is that bloody BMW. A three-door M135i does a convincing coupe rival, the five-door one like 'ours' a hot-hatch humbler of awesome potential.

First contender due very soon...

The BMW isn't going to win any beauty contests but if we've learned one thing in the threads following our fleet updates thus far it's that you genuinely can score a well-specced M135i for 30ish grand. That number, plus the 320hp going to the rear wheels, remains a formidable combination. Whether it's a small 'price walk' from a hot hatch or a useful cash saving over something fancier in all cases the BMW thumps the immediate competition on bald performance and fundamental dynamics and in our so far limited experience - and that of the many PHers talking about running them - is a great car to live with day to day. Understated looks and a degree of practicality add to the 'heart and head' appeal, that silky six-cylinder howl another stand-out feature compared with most rivals. It even caters to both sides of the auto versus manual debate.

This will be along shortly also!

So. Given that it's going to loom large in the buying decisions of many a PHer as a new and, in time, used purchase we're going spend the next few weeks running a series of mini comparisons with cars the M135i could tempt you from, building to a grand finale in a few weeks time. Once that's done we'll have a fair resource of comparisons so the next time anyone utters 'ah, but what about the M135i?' in a thread they can be pointed at the landing page and check the stats for themselves.

We'll kick the comparisons off with the Toyota GT86 and there'll be one a week until the end of September.

Dan

[J-P]

Looking forward to this - seems very interesting!!

[...Mole...]

Looking forward to this, seriously considering a M135i in the near future.

[Vladimir]

Sounds great!

I'm working on persuading the wife that we need to change our 335d Touring for one. It's a slow process but I'm getting there...!

[jonm01]

It's hardly little.

[E38Ross]

sounds interesting.....though comparing it against a cayman may be a bit much. why?

it's literally an extra 1/3 of the cost - that's massive in this price bracket and that's before you start adding the options (which are more expensive on the porsche) AND it has no back seats.....you should bloody hope the porsche is considerably better to drive, otherwise where is your extra £10+k and less practicality going? i mean, the porsche doesn't even come with leather as standard, which is another £2k so if you want leather seats on your porsche you're already at £12k more...

Edited by E38Ross on Tuesday 27th August 10:40

[big_rob_sydney]

What are the "judging" criteria? If its about "bald performance", then just pull out the measurable stats. Easy.

If you want to start with the BS of non-performance when measuring a performance car, then you're welcomed to it.

The stopwatch doesnt lie, unlike every man and his dogs "opinion".

[fourscore]

I'd be interested in seeing a comparison twixt this and the 135iMSport coupe...

[e21Mark]

I'd like to drop that engine into my E21.

[C.A.R.]

The article does make the M135i sound quite heroic among cars. The one thing that would probably persuade potential buyers in the direction of the other cars mentioned however is their own eyesight.

A looker it ain't.

[Johnnytheboy]

Comparison between this and a GT86 will get people talking

There's a mild facelift due next year, I wonder if it will make it any less ugly?

[corden]

Yup. This should be good.

[Tib]

That headline picture just reminded me of how god ugly these cars are.

I might one day in the far future be tempted to consider an older shape 135i coupe though...

[METHS]

E38Ross said:

sounds interesting.....though comparing it against a cayman may be a bit much. why?

it's literally an extra 1/3 of the cost - that's massive in this price bracket and that's before you start adding the options (which are more expensive on the porsche) AND it has no back seats.....you should bloody hope the porsche is considerably better to drive, otherwise where is your extra £10+k and less practicality going? i mean, the porsche doesn't even come with leather as standard, which is another £2k so if you want leather seats on your porsche you're already at £12k more...

Or maybe you were looking at a cayman but decided that the BMW is so much better value and more practical?

[Wolands Advocate]

There's a lot of focus on the performance of the M135i, but I am also increasingly impressed with the economy of my manual M135i (and the auto is supposed to give even better mpg). For the performance on offer, it's really very good.

We went to Le Touquet over the long weekend and managed the whole trip on 3/4s of a tank (and it's a tiny 52 litre tank), so when we got back last night I made a point of checking the journey trip reading for the last leg back from the Eurotunnel terminal in Folkestone to central London (ie m/way + slog into centre of London) and … it showed an impressive average of 38.5mpg, which is not bad given I wasn't pussyfooting about:

[TheRoadWarrior]

It's an interesting car, and going on the stats at least it's hard to beat.

Not sure it ticks the 'emotional attachment' box tho....

[kambites]

Since when has 52 litres been a "tiny" tank? I don't think I've ever owned a car with a tank significantly bigger than that.

Should be an interesting set of articles.

[E38Ross]

kambites said:

Since when has 52 litres been a "tiny" tank? I don't think I've ever owned a car with a tank significantly bigger than that.

Should be an interesting set of articles.

bah, a big manly 85 litre tank on my car. it's quite painful come refuelling time

[Dagnut]

Wolands Advocate said:

There's a lot of focus on the performance of the M135i, but I am also increasingly impressed with the economy of my manual M135i (and the auto is supposed to give even better mpg). For the performance on offer, it's really very good.

We went to Le Touquet over the long weekend and managed the whole trip on 3/4s of a tank (and it's a tiny 52 litre tank), so when we got back last night I made a point of checking the journey trip reading for the last leg back from the Eurotunnel terminal in Folkestone to central London (ie m/way + slog into centre of London) and … it showed an impressive average of 38.5mpg, which is not bad given I wasn't pussyfooting about:

I think it's amazing..real world figures are standing up with this car..the GT86 wouldn't do this, mainly because you would be ringing the bks off it to get anywhere. Anyone with experience of circa 300hp, circa 1500kg cars has to be amazed with 38mpg..it's a huge leap forward

[kambites]

E38Ross said:

kambites said:

Since when has 52 litres been a "tiny" tank? I don't think I've ever owned a car with a tank significantly bigger than that.

Should be an interesting set of articles.

bah, a big manly 85 litre tank on my car. it's quite painful come refuelling time

Mine is 32 litres.

[Wolands Advocate]

kambites said:

Since when has 52 litres been a "tiny" tank? I don't think I've ever owned a car with a tank significantly bigger than that.

Should be an interesting set of articles.

It's a tiny tank for a car with a 3.0 straight six. Pretty sure most of my recent previous cars have had tanks of between 60 and 70 litre capacity (135i coupe and Z1 excepted).