Discussion
Ive been looking around for something my missus can daily instead of my Impreza Type r. She hates driving the impreza as its low, loud, uncomfortable and attracts a lot of attention. Plus she needs a cushion on the driver seat to see over the dash.
Tasked to find a car that is reliable, practical, cheap, plain looking and cheap to insure/tax. Armed with a budget of <£5 I fired up ebay, autotrader, facebook and PH.
First thing I noticed is £2k cars are now £4k, £4k are £6k. You certainly don’t get the VFM you used to.
Secondly, there are loads of dogs out there. For every 10 cars I looked at online 1 was deemed good enough to view.
Thirdly, if you’re selling a car pick up the phone and answer messages. If the cars not available pull the add.
Being a petrolhead I naturally looked at the sporty end of the spectrum. The missus made approving noises to an abarth 595. Looked at one and it was too small.
Alfa mito, too small. Mk5 golf gti, rusty. Focus st, rusty and ragged. Clio RS, too expensive for nice ones. Nissan r32 gtr, not without selling the impreza first and also meeting none of the criteria set out when embarking on a new sensible daily for the missus.
Watching YouTube on a lunch break in the tesla (best thing about it) an old topgear clip with the alfa 147 gta, golf r32 and the bmw 130i popped up. Alfa quick search later and the alfa ruled out due to cost, golf ruled out due to mk4 golf, which left the BMW 130i. The missus gave it the approving shrug.
Not many for sale even less in my budget which weren’t fit for the scrap yard or broken for spares. 13 owners was a highlight.
One in budget appeared on the dreaded facebook marketplace. Not in Birmingham or Bradford, check.
Pictures look tidy enough, check.
Seller seems honest in his appraisal of the condition, check.
30 minute drive away, check.
Worth a bit more time, spoke to the seller and arranged a viewing for the next day.
When viewing the car so many people fail the basics. Car clean, engine cold, as described over the phone/messages. Good start.
Test drove and nothing really of note. Slight banging over speed bumps. Sounds like exhaust knocking. Nothing major.
Price agreed in principle.
Drove home to have a think about it (I’m extremely impulsive and make reckless decisions when it comes to cars).
I’m now the proud owner of a BMW 130i.
Drove home was good. Its a lovely place to sit. Feels like a 7 series compared to the Impreza. Its much closer to my tesla y than my Impreza. Impreza is hard core, hair on fire, rally stage of a car. It’s noisy, smelly stupid fast and brilliant. But not a car to daily.
This fits the bill brilliantly. Its also had all the common issues sorted. I can safely say it a leak free BMW. At least for a few weeks/months.
It was in budget with £1k left over. Current to do list is as follows. Its got some rust on the front lhs wing. Came with a spare to fit when I get time. Two 5p sized dents in the doors. 2 stone chips with failing lacquer.
Full service, spark plugs and replacement of all the fluids. Injectors cleaned and bench tested.
Refurbish wheels.
Replace tired steering wheel and a couple plastic trim pieces.
Not a lot at all. Nothing more than a couple weekends and it will be mint.
Over the moon with it.
Tasked to find a car that is reliable, practical, cheap, plain looking and cheap to insure/tax. Armed with a budget of <£5 I fired up ebay, autotrader, facebook and PH.
First thing I noticed is £2k cars are now £4k, £4k are £6k. You certainly don’t get the VFM you used to.
Secondly, there are loads of dogs out there. For every 10 cars I looked at online 1 was deemed good enough to view.
Thirdly, if you’re selling a car pick up the phone and answer messages. If the cars not available pull the add.
Being a petrolhead I naturally looked at the sporty end of the spectrum. The missus made approving noises to an abarth 595. Looked at one and it was too small.
Alfa mito, too small. Mk5 golf gti, rusty. Focus st, rusty and ragged. Clio RS, too expensive for nice ones. Nissan r32 gtr, not without selling the impreza first and also meeting none of the criteria set out when embarking on a new sensible daily for the missus.
Watching YouTube on a lunch break in the tesla (best thing about it) an old topgear clip with the alfa 147 gta, golf r32 and the bmw 130i popped up. Alfa quick search later and the alfa ruled out due to cost, golf ruled out due to mk4 golf, which left the BMW 130i. The missus gave it the approving shrug.
Not many for sale even less in my budget which weren’t fit for the scrap yard or broken for spares. 13 owners was a highlight.
One in budget appeared on the dreaded facebook marketplace. Not in Birmingham or Bradford, check.
Pictures look tidy enough, check.
Seller seems honest in his appraisal of the condition, check.
30 minute drive away, check.
Worth a bit more time, spoke to the seller and arranged a viewing for the next day.
When viewing the car so many people fail the basics. Car clean, engine cold, as described over the phone/messages. Good start.
Test drove and nothing really of note. Slight banging over speed bumps. Sounds like exhaust knocking. Nothing major.
Price agreed in principle.
Drove home to have a think about it (I’m extremely impulsive and make reckless decisions when it comes to cars).
I’m now the proud owner of a BMW 130i.
Drove home was good. Its a lovely place to sit. Feels like a 7 series compared to the Impreza. Its much closer to my tesla y than my Impreza. Impreza is hard core, hair on fire, rally stage of a car. It’s noisy, smelly stupid fast and brilliant. But not a car to daily.
This fits the bill brilliantly. Its also had all the common issues sorted. I can safely say it a leak free BMW. At least for a few weeks/months.
It was in budget with £1k left over. Current to do list is as follows. Its got some rust on the front lhs wing. Came with a spare to fit when I get time. Two 5p sized dents in the doors. 2 stone chips with failing lacquer.
Full service, spark plugs and replacement of all the fluids. Injectors cleaned and bench tested.
Refurbish wheels.
Replace tired steering wheel and a couple plastic trim pieces.
Not a lot at all. Nothing more than a couple weekends and it will be mint.
Over the moon with it.
Look in a nice colour to match the scooby
N52 is ab absolute honey likes to rev - pretty bullet proof with a few oil related things to watch as it will quickly try and mark it's territory
Oil cooler gasket
Sump level sensor gasket
Rocker cover gasket
Thermostat and water pump seem to be 100K consumables
Ditch the run flats for a much nicer ride
N52 is ab absolute honey likes to rev - pretty bullet proof with a few oil related things to watch as it will quickly try and mark it's territory
Oil cooler gasket
Sump level sensor gasket
Rocker cover gasket
Thermostat and water pump seem to be 100K consumables
Ditch the run flats for a much nicer ride
B'stard Child said:
Look in a nice colour to match the scooby
N52 is ab absolute honey likes to rev - pretty bullet proof with a few oil related things to watch as it will quickly try and mark it's territory
Oil cooler gasket
Sump level sensor gasket
Rocker cover gasket
Thermostat and water pump seem to be 100K consumables
Ditch the run flats for a much nicer ride
Its had the common oil leaks seeing to last year. N52 is ab absolute honey likes to rev - pretty bullet proof with a few oil related things to watch as it will quickly try and mark it's territory
Oil cooler gasket
Sump level sensor gasket
Rocker cover gasket
Thermostat and water pump seem to be 100K consumables
Ditch the run flats for a much nicer ride
It’s on a 140k so hopefully the water pump has been done. Need to look through the documentation properly. Its had 2k worth of work done in the last year.
Seller didn’t want to sell but new company car and no room on the driveway for a 4th car meant this had to go.
That engine bay looks absolutely mint for 140k!
Good purchase, I had an E82 125i (the same engine but detuned, I'd always been under the impression it was making 130i power during my ownership but turned out it wasn't... story for another day
) until recently and absolutely loved it, even my strangled N52 was a wonderful engine to use and in 4 years and 35k I only had a proper failure to proceed once when the starter let go. I got it fairly comfortably to 150mph indicated on a German Autobahn, and 41mpg indicated on a long run... I don't think there's many other engines that sound as good as an N52 and can do both those things!
B'Stard Child is far more experienced at N52 ownership (and spannering) at me so I'd echo everything he said- worth getting an OBD2 reader and Bimmerlink for code reading, and Bimmercode if there's any tweaks you want to make (digital speedo, folding the mirrors on the key for example)- avoid Carly as it's a yearly subscription that costs more per year than a lifetime licence for Bimmerlink and Bimmecode! If your waterpump is starting to go then it'll probably be showing some codes for communication errors and the like, so worth having as an early warning mechanism. IIRC Pierburg are the OE supplier and significantly cheaper than genuine BMW.
Good purchase, I had an E82 125i (the same engine but detuned, I'd always been under the impression it was making 130i power during my ownership but turned out it wasn't... story for another day
) until recently and absolutely loved it, even my strangled N52 was a wonderful engine to use and in 4 years and 35k I only had a proper failure to proceed once when the starter let go. I got it fairly comfortably to 150mph indicated on a German Autobahn, and 41mpg indicated on a long run... I don't think there's many other engines that sound as good as an N52 and can do both those things!B'Stard Child is far more experienced at N52 ownership (and spannering) at me so I'd echo everything he said- worth getting an OBD2 reader and Bimmerlink for code reading, and Bimmercode if there's any tweaks you want to make (digital speedo, folding the mirrors on the key for example)- avoid Carly as it's a yearly subscription that costs more per year than a lifetime licence for Bimmerlink and Bimmecode! If your waterpump is starting to go then it'll probably be showing some codes for communication errors and the like, so worth having as an early warning mechanism. IIRC Pierburg are the OE supplier and significantly cheaper than genuine BMW.
Sofa said:
That engine bay looks absolutely mint for 140k!
Good purchase, I had an E82 125i (the same engine but detuned, I'd always been under the impression it was making 130i power during my ownership but turned out it wasn't... story for another day) until recently and absolutely loved it, even my strangled N52 was a wonderful engine to use and in 4 years and 35k I only had a proper failure to proceed once when the starter let go. I got it fairly comfortably to 150mph indicated on a German Autobahn, and 41mpg indicated on a long run... I don't think there's many other engines that sound as good as an N52 and can do both those things!
B'Stard Child is far more experienced at N52 ownership (and spannering) at me so I'd echo everything he said- worth getting an OBD2 reader and Bimmerlink for code reading, and Bimmercode if there's any tweaks you want to make (digital speedo, folding the mirrors on the key for example)- avoid Carly as it's a yearly subscription that costs more per year than a lifetime licence for Bimmerlink and Bimmecode! If your waterpump is starting to go then it'll probably be showing some codes for communication errors and the like, so worth having as an early warning mechanism. IIRC Pierburg are the OE supplier and significantly cheaper than genuine BMW.
Have you not got that mapped yet!!!!Good purchase, I had an E82 125i (the same engine but detuned, I'd always been under the impression it was making 130i power during my ownership but turned out it wasn't... story for another day
) until recently and absolutely loved it, even my strangled N52 was a wonderful engine to use and in 4 years and 35k I only had a proper failure to proceed once when the starter let go. I got it fairly comfortably to 150mph indicated on a German Autobahn, and 41mpg indicated on a long run... I don't think there's many other engines that sound as good as an N52 and can do both those things!B'Stard Child is far more experienced at N52 ownership (and spannering) at me so I'd echo everything he said- worth getting an OBD2 reader and Bimmerlink for code reading, and Bimmercode if there's any tweaks you want to make (digital speedo, folding the mirrors on the key for example)- avoid Carly as it's a yearly subscription that costs more per year than a lifetime licence for Bimmerlink and Bimmecode! If your waterpump is starting to go then it'll probably be showing some codes for communication errors and the like, so worth having as an early warning mechanism. IIRC Pierburg are the OE supplier and significantly cheaper than genuine BMW.
88K engine bay (mine after recent work on oil cooler gasket and sump level sensor resulted in a wipe down with an oily rag)
Great choice, do you know what options you've got? LCI so will be easier to fit android/carplay head unit if you need one.
I've had mine 2.5 years now, Bimmerlink is a good investment, keep on top of the engine consumables and it seems fairly robust. Front wings and rear subframe for corrosion, there's a lot of parts you can fit from other BMW models of the same era as well if you end up wanting more.
I've had mine 2.5 years now, Bimmerlink is a good investment, keep on top of the engine consumables and it seems fairly robust. Front wings and rear subframe for corrosion, there's a lot of parts you can fit from other BMW models of the same era as well if you end up wanting more.
They're a superb car Sam; it'll serve you well - keep the oil & filter fresh, give it an Italian tune-up every so often and it'll keep going & going
I'd highly recommend the front 340mm Brembo brake upgrade if you can; that and with new discs, pads and HEL braided lines all round really improved the brake feel on my 130i when I had it
Fitting some lighter wheels makes a huge difference too; the OEM wheels for these cars are lardy!
I'd highly recommend the front 340mm Brembo brake upgrade if you can; that and with new discs, pads and HEL braided lines all round really improved the brake feel on my 130i when I had it
Fitting some lighter wheels makes a huge difference too; the OEM wheels for these cars are lardy!
Sko77y said:
Great choice, do you know what options you've got? LCI so will be easier to fit android/carplay head unit if you need one.
I've had mine 2.5 years now, Bimmerlink is a good investment, keep on top of the engine consumables and it seems fairly robust. Front wings and rear subframe for corrosion, there's a lot of parts you can fit from other BMW models of the same era as well if you end up wanting more.
It’s pretty basic I think. I have done zero research on whats standard on a 130i and whats extra. I've had mine 2.5 years now, Bimmerlink is a good investment, keep on top of the engine consumables and it seems fairly robust. Front wings and rear subframe for corrosion, there's a lot of parts you can fit from other BMW models of the same era as well if you end up wanting more.
It has auto lights/wipers.
Xenon headights.
CC
Heated seats.
It doesn’t have idrive and has a cubby in the dash.
Radio is business.
It does have the bmw performance back box.
I do want to fit carplay but don’t want to fit a massive 12inch screen on the dash. A smaller 7 inch screen would be better as not to obstruct the view too much.
Cant find a button to fold the wing mirrors so assume they are manually folding.
Lovely - I've had a 125i as well for 12 years now and put 130k miles on it, and it really hasn't caused too much bother. I've had to do the starter and water pump, plus a couple of coils and oil gaskets.
Most common thing I've had to fix has been ABS Sensors, pretty sure I've replaced them all round and a couple of them twice, however they aren't an expensive fix.
Most expensive outlay has been fuel, as it's taken nearly 35k in SUL since I've had it - thank God for a fuel card
Most common thing I've had to fix has been ABS Sensors, pretty sure I've replaced them all round and a couple of them twice, however they aren't an expensive fix.
Most expensive outlay has been fuel, as it's taken nearly 35k in SUL since I've had it - thank God for a fuel card
danb79 said:
They're a superb car Sam; it'll serve you well - keep the oil & filter fresh, give it an Italian tune-up every so often and it'll keep going & going
I'd highly recommend the front 340mm Brembo brake upgrade if you can; that and with new discs, pads and HEL braided lines all round really improved the brake feel on my 130i when I had it
Fitting some lighter wheels makes a huge difference too; the OEM wheels for these cars are lardy!
In the last year its had new pads and discs. I'd highly recommend the front 340mm Brembo brake upgrade if you can; that and with new discs, pads and HEL braided lines all round really improved the brake feel on my 130i when I had it
Fitting some lighter wheels makes a huge difference too; the OEM wheels for these cars are lardy!
As much as I would love to modify it with and LSD, M3 arms, carbon air box, bigger brakes, nitron r1…. It’s my missus daily driver. So its a no on any mods.
I will however get it running the best I can. The steering wheel is slightly off centre.
Some bits of trim needs replacing due to age and scratches.
I’m compiling a complete selection of oils, filters, plugs and anything else I think it needs to give it a decent service.
I’ll also nip into BMW trafford park to get some car mats for it. Its got some cheap and nasty ones in there.
I have a couple of cheap diag tools but will look into bimmerlink.
sam.rog said:
danb79 said:
They're a superb car Sam; it'll serve you well - keep the oil & filter fresh, give it an Italian tune-up every so often and it'll keep going & going
I'd highly recommend the front 340mm Brembo brake upgrade if you can; that and with new discs, pads and HEL braided lines all round really improved the brake feel on my 130i when I had it
Fitting some lighter wheels makes a huge difference too; the OEM wheels for these cars are lardy!
In the last year its had new pads and discs. I'd highly recommend the front 340mm Brembo brake upgrade if you can; that and with new discs, pads and HEL braided lines all round really improved the brake feel on my 130i when I had it
Fitting some lighter wheels makes a huge difference too; the OEM wheels for these cars are lardy!
As much as I would love to modify it with and LSD, M3 arms, carbon air box, bigger brakes, nitron r1 . It s my missus daily driver. So its a no on any mods.
I will however get it running the best I can. The steering wheel is slightly off centre.
Some bits of trim needs replacing due to age and scratches.
I m compiling a complete selection of oils, filters, plugs and anything else I think it needs to give it a decent service.
I ll also nip into BMW trafford park to get some car mats for it. Its got some cheap and nasty ones in there.
I have a couple of cheap diag tools but will look into bimmerlink.
I ran mine on 5W40 with Ceratec FYI - it made it quieter and smoother; well worth it
And Bimmerlink and Bimmercode will do the job nicely; well worth buying IMO - just get the VGate dongle off Amazon for c£24
Got 235k on mine, vast majority of those I put on, fantastic car. Check for rust underneath the back, a quick lanoguard job will avoid all the faff im dealing with at the moment replacing the subframe and undercoating the body... basically the same thing AutoAlex just did.
danb79 said:
I'd highly recommend the front 340mm Brembo brake upgrade if you can; that and with new discs, pads and HEL braided lines all round really improved the brake feel on my 130i when I had it
The blue 135i brakes? Does it change the pedal throw/feel at all? Gassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff