2013 BMW 125i 6 on the floor (N52)

[B'stard Child]

Because I'm a bit a a sad b'stard and I keep spreadsheet on this and my other vehicles

Scores on the doors for a years motoring since last MOT (Fuel only)

Cat	Miles	Cost	Litres
Monthly	350	£93.52	60
Weekly	81	£21.58	14
Day	12	£3.08	2
Year	3,058	£817.04	526
PPM	£0.26	-	-
MPG Avg	26.43	-	-

Avg Mpg 26.4 and fuel costs 26p per mile

Best Tank Mpg - 34.4
Worst Tank Mpg - 17.2 (actually 4 tanks with similar mpg during Nov Dec and Jan, mainly due to my very short commute)

Longest distance from a Single Tank - 373 miles

Running costs in PPM for servicing, MOT, VED, Insurance and Servicing 21p Per Mile

[B'stard Child]

Gallons Per Mile said:

Nice stats. I keep similar but don't include fuel, insurance and tax in my PPM, just the cost of the car and maintenance to it.

I don't include depreciation either I keep an eye on that elsewhere - I write down 20% per year which might be a bit savage but I've always used that % and as I normally keep cars for longer than most it means if I do sell one I normally get a nice surprise v my write down value

[B'stard Child]

Gallons Per Mile said:

I never think about depreciation! I don't think I've ever bought a car new or expensive enough to depreciate though...

You'd laugh at my depreciation file I shared it once before and a few PH'rs thought I the current values were "sale" prices

Basically it's all the cars with value written down by 20% every year and at the bottom approx value if I was to sell

As long as the "fleet value" exceeds the depreciation loss per year I don't have an issue with depreciation.

This may be due to just one car which over 22 years of ownership has been written down to £110.63

[B'stard Child]

BoRED S2upid said:

Very nice OP. Looking at one of these next. Quick question what’s the 120i engine like instead of the 125? Looks like you lot have hoovered up most of the 125’s when there are a few 120’s out there amongst the hundreds of diesels.

A mate has a 2.0 petrol 1 series - it's OK but I can't say I'm a fan - I think they have cam chain issues too

If I had a longer commute (I will admit I could walk to work but don't) then I'm pretty sure the average mpg would be in low 30's

The N52 really is a lovely engine and it makes the car for me although I keep looking at 135i's and thinking about a change but in the current climate and the difficulty of finding a nice one (in the right colour combo to keep Mrs BC happy) I'm effectively not looking seriously

[B'stard Child]

JakeT said:

Nice stuff. Reasonable, too. In my profile are costs for my car, some of which was very extravagant, elective spending. I think I’m in at 32ppm in total, which I can’t complain at. Cheaper than Golf, anyway.

You can't say that with GPM about

[B'stard Child]

Gallons Per Mile said:

I think he meant the game, rather than 'a Golf'.

There is a game called golf - does it involve a bat and a ball???

[B'stard Child]

JakeT said:

B'stard Child said:

JakeT said:

Nice stuff. Reasonable, too. In my profile are costs for my car, some of which was very extravagant, elective spending. I think I’m in at 32ppm in total, which I can’t complain at. Cheaper than Golf, anyway.

You can't say that with GPM about

Never did look good in Pringle and spiky shoes.

GPM wears that ??

[B'stard Child]

Posted in the Dirty Winter Car thread but I'll stick it in here

Had to do 180 miles today - roads were proper manky and it shows



Bonnet trails



Even the wheels got dirty



And the arse is proper filthy



I thought the bird that shot in front of me on the way home had got away with it as I didn't hear a thump - turns out it didn't



It's bloody cold so I'm not cleaning it

And yes it's been too cold to put the winters on it and other tasks have been priority

[B'stard Child]

Court_S said:

It’s self defeating cleaning cars at the mo with the road salt, albeit I’m stupid enough to try and fight it!

I rarely wash cars in the winter - it's fking unpleasant

Court_S said:

Yesterday was worse than today here; the snowfoam froze a few minutes after hitting the floor. No such issues today.

I scraped the thick ice off the car this morning before going out it was still on the drive when I got home Mrs BC may well have slid a little on it

[B'stard Child]

Mr Tidy said:

B'stard Child said:

Posted in the Dirty Winter Car thread but I'll stick it in here

Well you are living up to your user name! BMW never made a 130i Coupe.

No BMW made a coupe badged as 125i with a 3.0 24v engine from the 130i and strangled the throttle map down to achieve 215 bhp rather than 265 bhp the engine could provide when allowed to breathe freely

I fixed it for BMW :-)

YW

[B'stard Child]

Fail to proceed

Pot hole tyre wheel interface - rim has a bit of dint in it and the tyre bead seal has been broken

[B'stard Child]

Had to take Mrs BC for a consultation in a nearby city - cruised all the way there at a steady 80 and all was well left the dual cabbageway on a slip road to negotiate a roundabout and the dash lit up like a christmas tree before settling down to a disco traction control light and a corresponding misfire - all was clearly not well

Switching off the TC got rid of the apparent misfire and smooth running returned

Sat in a hospital car park regretting not having my code reader in the glovebox.

I’ll see if it returns on the journey home but it’s the first time it’s put a foot wrong since purchase and the symptoms aren’t something I’ve ever seen before - proper weird

[B'stard Child]

helix402 said:

Wheel speed sensors can do odd things on these. I had one fail-no dash lights, just limited top speed (not 155!) and no cruise control over a certain speed.

Ok thanks for the info - I know the toothed wheels sometimes split taking out the sensor but last time I had the wheels off they all looked fine.

No noise before it - it was almost like the car thought it was on ice and then not and then on ice again

[B'stard Child]

OK happened 3 times on the way home consistent factors are only on the right turns on roundabouts never on left turns and always when in lower gears (I guess thats probably more to do with a roundabout restricting speed) next job find my bloody code reader!!!!

[B'stard Child]

bodhi said:

I had exactly the same problem with mine 3 or 4 years ago where the traction control would cut in on the motorway for no apparent reason - it was the reluctor rings on mine which had corroded. Wasn't a terribly expensive fix from memory as the driveshafts can usually be saved.

It should be fine to drive with all the DTC stuff off however. Seemed to handle better when I did it too

Ace - I’ll try to inspect them at the weekend

Got a Brabus Smart car subframe to weld up tomorrow (not mine long story) and then I can return it to Will and he can plug his laptop in if I don’t find my code reader

[B'stard Child]

bodhi said:

Disco You said:

Apologies because I am sure you already explained this elsewhere in the thread, but what are the differences between the 125i and 130i? I expect it isn’t purely software?

In terms of the engines themselves that really is the only difference - BMW put the engine from the 130i Hatch in the 125i Coupé, and artificially restricted it so it didn't tread on the toes of the 135i at the time. It means for about 300 notes you can pay someone with a laptop to get rid of the artificial restriction.

There are a couple of other differences - 125i has a short ratio box and the 130i has bigger brakes, but they can be fitted to the 125i as well.

Brakes are easy actually only need the discs and the caliper carriers (calipers & pads are the same)

I thought the gearing was due to the 130i having a shorter diff so more revs for same speed with same box

[B'stard Child]

Mystery solved



Steering angle sensor seems to be the culprit so I’ll get that ordered at BMW tomorrow

[B'stard Child]

TwoStrokeNut said:

It is a different gearbox ZF GS6-37BZ/DZ for the 130i and the lower duty Getrag GS6-17BG for the 125i.

Did not know that - mine seems to cope fine with 130i map

[B'stard Child]

dhibbert said:

The issue is normally down to one of the wheel speed sensors.

As you’ve discovered it cuts power when turning a corner etc. if you disable the TC it should lose the jerkiness until fixed. It cuts power as the cars ECU must think the car is breaking traction.

I’ve seen it a couple of times on the same generation 1 series.

Yep fully expected it to be a wheel sensor but it’s not - it’s the steering angle sensor starting to go bad

[B'stard Child]

OK back over to my mate Will’s garage (cos pit)

Oil and Filter change - filter was again distorted but not as bad as last time

Just had enough oil left in my 25 litre drum for a litre top up if it needs it.

Decided to bleed the clutch as when I ditched the CDV I did a hot swap and there has always been a little free play at the top of the clutch pedal travel since.

Bleed a little tiny bit of air out with a vacuum bleeder from underneath the car and got a completely floppy pedal and no clutch at all. Oooops why???

Turns out the reservoir for the clutch is the compartment closest to the bulkhead and has the capacity of a thimble - the little bit of fluid I had pulled had took the level below the feed pipe and I’d introduced air into the master cyl

What followed was a lot of faffing about trying to get a good clutch pedal feel again - 1 litre of dot 5.1 consumed and I’m not sure it’s much better than it was before

So advice to anyone else is use a pressure bleed with a fluid reservoir cos it’s a two person job to keep up with adding fluid at the top if you are under the car with a vacuum bleeder!!!!!