M140i Questions

[R1 Dave]

Morning

I’m currently looking at (and close to buying) an M140i, it’s a 2017 car but on a 66 plate (reg Feb 17) so I’m guessing was built sometime in 2016.

Unfortunately the original owner ordered it with RFTs (Bridgestone) and all the reviews I’ve read suggest that they’re nigh on unbearable? Are there are differences to the vehicle setup at the factory when compared to a non-RFT specced car? I’d be looking to change them at the first opportunity so don’t want to buy the car and find it’s got a different setup, forcing me to stay with RFTs? I’ve tried calling BMW Technical but all I get is “I’m unaware of any differences” or “it won’t cause you any issues”; no-one is willing to actually confirm that they’re the same spec and when pushed admit that they don’t actually know!

Also, does Bluetooth audio streaming come standard on this model/year?

Thanks

Dave

[Mike335i]

Car will be the same, don't worry about that. Tyres won't be THAT bad, why not try it out first?

I think Bluetooth streaming was standard, but I can't be sure. I learned a while ago that very little was standard on BMWs so double check, although I think things might have moved in a little.

[Smuler]

R1 Dave said:

Morning

I’m currently looking at (and close to buying) an M140i, it’s a 2017 car but on a 66 plate (reg Feb 17) so I’m guessing was built sometime in 2016.

Unfortunately the original owner ordered it with RFTs (Bridgestone) and all the reviews I’ve read suggest that they’re nigh on unbearable? Are there are differences to the vehicle setup at the factory when compared to a non-RFT specced car? I’d be looking to change them at the first opportunity so don’t want to buy the car and find it’s got a different setup, forcing me to stay with RFTs? I’ve tried calling BMW Technical but all I get is “I’m unaware of any differences” or “it won’t cause you any issues”; no-one is willing to actually confirm that they’re the same spec and when pushed admit that they don’t actually know!

Also, does Bluetooth audio streaming come standard on this model/year?

Thanks

Dave

If you can get the last 7 digits of the VIN. put them in a site like this should give you build date


http://bimmer.work/

swapping to standard tires has never been a problem. why not try and negotiate a change as part of the deal.

I don't know about audio streaming, maybe the build sheet will confirm as it list all options.

[R1 Dave]

Thanks for the advice. I’ve tried getting the tyres changed as part of the deal but it’s a no-go sadly. I have managed to get a definitive answer from BMW now which I paste below for anyone else interested;

“I have just checked with our parts manager and he has cross referenced suspension parts on an M140i with and without runflats and all parts are exactly the same for both, there would be no difference in suspension whether the car had been spec’d with runflats or not.”

Thanks for all the help

Dave

[AllyBassman]

If it's the right car for you, don't be put off by the tyres. These cars sell well used, the dealer won't care about your tyre preference.

Depending on how much tread is left, buy some new non-rft's and sell the current tyres as part worns!

[R8Steve]

Bluetooth audio streaming is standard on them.

If you use spotify you can access it via an app on the media system.

[ManOpener]

AllyBassman said:

If it's the right car for you, don't be put off by the tyres. These cars sell well used, the dealer won't care about your tyre preference.

Spot on. I've just gone through a very similar experience in purchasing an M140i, and runflats versus conventional tyres was something I explored. To be honest, though, the April 2017 registered car I eventually settled on with RFTs wasn't much worse (ride or handling) than the year older M135i I tested which was on Goodyear Eagles (though how much of that was suspension revisions I don't know).

M135i and M140i don't tend to stick around long at the dealers. It took my dealer (small regional group, not a big US dealer network) about three weeks to source me a car with the right spec, and my requirements weren't particularly exacting (8-speed ZF, 5 door, heated seats, not in grey or silver) and they were very surprised they'd managed to do so as quickly as they had.

Stick £20 a week in a pot and buy yourself four new non-run-flat tyres a few months down the line when it's summer and you're more likely to enjoy the performance .That's my plan.

[R1 Dave]

Thanks for the advice. Especially glad to hear it’s not actually all that bad on the RFTs, I’ll just wear them out and put some decent rubber on come spring. To clarify, the reason I couldn’t just have a drive to check the tyre issue is the car is 4hrs drive away and when I tried to get a drive in one more local to me the dealer claimed he’d walked round the forecourt and couldn’t find it!! I suspect they get a lot of test pilots for these cars and he obviously thought I was one of them sadly.

Aside from the tyres and a lack of rear park sensors (who doesn’t spec those!!?) it’s ideal. I’d like an auto (as I think it’ll help residuals) but I don’t want to spend the extra and I rather like a manual box anyway.

As an aside, is the Service pack good value on these? The car is just under 12 months old so I’ve got the option of putting the pack on for £299, the car has 7k miles on it and I do about 8k a year. I’m unable to find the servicing prices anywhere so no idea if this represents good value or not?

[ManOpener]

I'd assumed PDC was standard on all of them until I started looking. It's on mine, but I think that's part of the strangely named "comfort" pack, which as far as I can tell has naff all to do with "comfort" given it just adds PDC and cruise control, the absence of which are faintly ridiculous in the first place.
I went for the service pack. Your mileage (both current and in future use) is very similar to mine.

-Edit

Fixed price servicing info here

https://www.bmw-service.co.uk/value_service

Edited by ManOpener on Wednesday 14th February 17:07

[R1 Dave]

ManOpener said:

I'd assumed PDC was standard on all of them until I started looking. It's on mine, but I think that's part of the strangely named "comfort" pack, which as far as I can tell has naff all to do with "comfort" given it just adds PDC and cruise control, the absence of which are faintly ridiculous in the first place.
I went for the service pack. Your mileage (both current and in future use) is very similar to mine.

-Edit

Fixed price servicing info here

https://www.bmw-service.co.uk/value_service

Edited by ManOpener on Wednesday 14th February 17:07

Thanks. I couldn’t give a damn about cruise control but I’m so used to rear sensors it’ll take some getting used to without them!