Out with the new and in with the old; my 130i LE
Discussion
Court_S said:
The later N55 seems to have less issues. The N54 is more tuneable if that’s your bag, but can be a bit more of a headache.
To be honest, by now most N53’s should have had the usual issues dealt with.
Thanks Sam! Great work on getting the gasket changed, hope that fixes your issue. Great to see the photos and process too, you never know when it may come in handy for someone else.To be honest, by now most N53’s should have had the usual issues dealt with.
Very important job…fitted another one of these because I broke the last one when I did the fuel filler pot.
Gave the old girl a quick clean before holiday.
Before filling it up with stuff for our trip to Devon. Managed to squeeze a weeks worth of crap in.
Everything in the boot other than the dog bed. It’s times like this when I miss my old Octavia vRS because that thing was huge and brilliant for swallowing family junk for holiday.
Gave the old girl a quick clean before holiday.
Before filling it up with stuff for our trip to Devon. Managed to squeeze a weeks worth of crap in.
Everything in the boot other than the dog bed. It’s times like this when I miss my old Octavia vRS because that thing was huge and brilliant for swallowing family junk for holiday.
Everytime we go on holiday now I always feel like we need a bigger car! It amazes me how we always manage to pack the Merc(SUV) jam packed full of crap when we go away. It's madness!
It makes me wonder how we all did it when I was growing up, when there were 4 of us(plus the dog) and we managed in an Escort XR3!
I love how you've cleaned the car to go away in it Sam, and that is something that I always like to do as well.
It makes me wonder how we all did it when I was growing up, when there were 4 of us(plus the dog) and we managed in an Escort XR3!
I love how you've cleaned the car to go away in it Sam, and that is something that I always like to do as well.
Court_S said:
Very important job…fitted another one of these because I broke the last one when I did the fuel filler pot.
Gave the old girl a quick clean before holiday.
Before filling it up with stuff for our trip to Devon. Managed to squeeze a weeks worth of crap in.
Everything in the boot other than the dog bed. It’s times like this when I miss my old Octavia vRS because that thing was huge and brilliant for swallowing family junk for holiday.
I've said it before but i think it needs said again - thats a stunning car. Cars like that definitely call in to question the need to ever spending more on a car.Gave the old girl a quick clean before holiday.
Before filling it up with stuff for our trip to Devon. Managed to squeeze a weeks worth of crap in.
Everything in the boot other than the dog bed. It’s times like this when I miss my old Octavia vRS because that thing was huge and brilliant for swallowing family junk for holiday.
cerb4.5lee said:
It is minty mint I agree.
It is a car that I've always wanted to experience as well.
I very nearly bought one at 3 years old as an AUC. We had the Z4 Coupe my wife had bought new at the time and i was jumpy about having two three litre petrol cars as we did fair miles at the time. Wish i had though.It is a car that I've always wanted to experience as well.
cerb4.5lee said:
Everytime we go on holiday now I always feel like we need a bigger car! It amazes me how we always manage to pack the Merc(SUV) jam packed full of crap when we go away. It's madness!
It makes me wonder how we all did it when I was growing up, when there were 4 of us(plus the dog) and we managed in an Escort XR3!
I love how you've cleaned the car to go away in it Sam, and that is something that I always like to do as well.
I know. There’s only three of us and a smallish dog.It makes me wonder how we all did it when I was growing up, when there were 4 of us(plus the dog) and we managed in an Escort XR3!
I love how you've cleaned the car to go away in it Sam, and that is something that I always like to do as well.
The vRS made us pretty lazy when it came to packing. It became a case of if in doubt is coming!
It needed a clean; it was plastered in bugs after a few mountain bike rides.
Deep Thought said:
I've said it before but i think it needs said again - thats a stunning car. Cars like that definitely call in to question the need to ever spending more on a car.
Thanks, I’m very fond of it, I know there wasn’t much love of the 1 series but I think the three door LE is good looking car with those wheels etc.It seems like a lot of car for not a lot of cash to be honest.
It made the six and a half hour trip to Devon (M5 was nailed) just fine. Despite me fiddling with it recently, it didn’t s
t itself which is good. It was pretty damn good on fuel on the way down too.Court_S said:
Very important job…fitted another one of these because I broke the last one when I did the fuel filler pot.
Well stone me I didn't even know it should have that! Have a great holiday.Mine had its safety recall today and has just enjoyed a complimentary BMW wash. They filled up my washer fluid too and gave me some rhubarb & custards to "thank me for my business". I didn't spend a penny...
WhisperingWasp said:
Well stone me I didn't even know it should have that! Have a great holiday.
Mine had its safety recall today and has just enjoyed a complimentary BMW wash. They filled up my washer fluid too and gave me some rhubarb & custards to "thank me for my business". I didn't spend a penny...
Most perish / snap over the years. It bugs me so I buy Chineseium replacements on eBay which are about £3 delivered.Mine had its safety recall today and has just enjoyed a complimentary BMW wash. They filled up my washer fluid too and gave me some rhubarb & custards to "thank me for my business". I didn't spend a penny...
No attempted upsells from the dealer? Not a bad result!
Court_S said:
Most perish / snap over the years. It bugs me so I buy Chineseium replacements on eBay which are about £3 delivered.
No attempted upsells from the dealer? Not a bad result!
Well I did have a voicemail this morning from a sales guy who knew I was coming in, wanting to take me out in the new M135i. I'll stick to our 6cyl RWD cars thanks!No attempted upsells from the dealer? Not a bad result!
Also had a few ambers on the health check but no push from them at all. Tbh the service was great there and the place is like Piccadilly Circus, they must do a great trade.
Court_S said:
It made the six and a half hour trip to Devon (M5 was nailed) just fine. Despite me fiddling with it recently, it didn’t st itself which is good. It was pretty damn good on fuel on the way down too.
I'm really chuffed that it made it down there for you bud without any issues. t itself which is good. It was pretty damn good on fuel on the way down too.Enjoy your holiday.
So, we made it back yesterday after another mammoth drive back courtesy of traffic. Pretty much from the moment we got onto the M5 there was traffic all the way up the M5 and along the M42. It took six and a half hours do drive 220 miles….joy.
The little 130 took it all in its stride though carrying myself, my other half, our six year old and the dog plus all of our crap. It covered 600 miles or so averaging just shy of 29mpg which I thought was pretty good given the amount of traffic we sat in there and back.
I can’t decide how much like having an oil temperature gauge though because a few times the temp did nudge up higher than where it usually sits when sat in traffic in 30 degrees of heat on the way down there. It dropped quick enough but I did have images of the car overheating and us being stranded on the M5 by Bristol with my other half asking why I changed a two year old car with warranty and BMW assist for a 14 year old stbox. Luckily it never came to that.
After some questionable weather, particularly on the way home the car was pretty grotty. And on the inside I seemed to have accumulated a beach. Joy.
Having given it a clean, it’d gained quite a lot of scratches, particularly on the passenger side from the Devon lanes. Waze seemed to have a thing for very very narrow ones which battered the car a bit. So I ended up giving it a quick once over on the sides with my DA and some Scholl S20 then a couple of coats of Soft 99 wax. Looks nice again.
Overall, I’m still really happy with the car. Not sure I have much faith in the oil measuring though; after the trip down it moved slightly off max but yesterday it was back up to max. The valvetronic code hasn’t made a return since I changed the gasket either.
The little 130 took it all in its stride though carrying myself, my other half, our six year old and the dog plus all of our crap. It covered 600 miles or so averaging just shy of 29mpg which I thought was pretty good given the amount of traffic we sat in there and back.
I can’t decide how much like having an oil temperature gauge though because a few times the temp did nudge up higher than where it usually sits when sat in traffic in 30 degrees of heat on the way down there. It dropped quick enough but I did have images of the car overheating and us being stranded on the M5 by Bristol with my other half asking why I changed a two year old car with warranty and BMW assist for a 14 year old s
tbox. Luckily it never came to that.After some questionable weather, particularly on the way home the car was pretty grotty. And on the inside I seemed to have accumulated a beach. Joy.
Having given it a clean, it’d gained quite a lot of scratches, particularly on the passenger side from the Devon lanes. Waze seemed to have a thing for very very narrow ones which battered the car a bit. So I ended up giving it a quick once over on the sides with my DA and some Scholl S20 then a couple of coats of Soft 99 wax. Looks nice again.
Overall, I’m still really happy with the car. Not sure I have much faith in the oil measuring though; after the trip down it moved slightly off max but yesterday it was back up to max. The valvetronic code hasn’t made a return since I changed the gasket either.
I had my 135i backbox fitted today to my 130i.
It’s quite a bit bassier on start up and had added some extra noise. The car already had the golf tee mod done which I’ve carried over. The tips are bigger than the old ones (it came with brand new shadow tips, not my first choice but they’ll be fine for now).
With the window down slightly there were a few crackles on the overrun but nothing too silly. It’s a notable improvement without being OTT and with the windows up it’s perfectly send enough for a longer journey.
If it stops raining I’ll try and grab a start up video to compare to I’ve of the stock exhaust.
It’s quite a bit bassier on start up and had added some extra noise. The car already had the golf tee mod done which I’ve carried over. The tips are bigger than the old ones (it came with brand new shadow tips, not my first choice but they’ll be fine for now).
With the window down slightly there were a few crackles on the overrun but nothing too silly. It’s a notable improvement without being OTT and with the windows up it’s perfectly send enough for a longer journey.
If it stops raining I’ll try and grab a start up video to compare to I’ve of the stock exhaust.
Thanks Lee.
I’ve tried to use my phone for some comparisons.
Here’s the cold start with the stock backbox with the golf tee mod already done
https://youtu.be/Zfh9MAoVQHU
And here’s a cold start with the 135i backbox
https://youtu.be/_RyGPq9wkkE
It’s louder in person I think. Apparently according to my other half, it’s notably louder on start up inside the house. It’s off to the body shop in the morning so it’s going to be a few days before I get to try it out a bit more.
I’ve tried to use my phone for some comparisons.
Here’s the cold start with the stock backbox with the golf tee mod already done
https://youtu.be/Zfh9MAoVQHU
And here’s a cold start with the 135i backbox
https://youtu.be/_RyGPq9wkkE
It’s louder in person I think. Apparently according to my other half, it’s notably louder on start up inside the house. It’s off to the body shop in the morning so it’s going to be a few days before I get to try it out a bit more.
A few weeks ago I had a parking faux pas rushing to drop the little ’un off to his swimming lesson. The sensors didn’t pick up the bollard that I’d not seen and my rear bumper ended up looking like this:
I was not a happy bunny. It also had a few age related marks on the loading lip and on the drivers side.
So it was always going to get painted at some point, it just meant that the paint moved up the priority list.
I dropped the car off on Monday and picked it up this afternoon. Whilst it was there, I had the rear diffuser painted in dark shadow metallic with a gloss finish because hated the stock satin finish.
I’ll give it a proper clean tomorrow before heading down to C&M for dinner.
I was not a happy bunny. It also had a few age related marks on the loading lip and on the drivers side.
So it was always going to get painted at some point, it just meant that the paint moved up the priority list.
I dropped the car off on Monday and picked it up this afternoon. Whilst it was there, I had the rear diffuser painted in dark shadow metallic with a gloss finish because hated the stock satin finish.
I’ll give it a proper clean tomorrow before heading down to C&M for dinner.
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