Looking at M140i - few questions

[ShineyT]

Hi all,

Looking at picking up an M140i to go alongside my F Type as a more daily driveable car and have a few questions!

• What is the spec that comes as standard on the Shadow Edition? Struggling to find a list of the differences between it and the standard M140i.
• Seen a lot of mentions of the adaptive suspension being a must have, but how essential is it really? Most cars seem to be very low spec from what I can see and this option in particular is few and far between.
• Any options I should definitely look to have for a daily driven car, c.5-6k miles a year? H&K audio much better than standard system?
• Any difference between years? Or is a 2016 same as 2019?
• Any highly recommended mods?
• Anything else I should be aware of or consider?

Any help much appreciated.

Thanks

Edited by ShineyT on Friday 22 October 17:31

[Court_S]

Shadow edition cars had the following extra;

Sun protection glass, HK stereo and cruise were all standard extra equipment plus there were cosmetic bits like black grilles, smoked rear lights, dark tail pipes, darker alloys.

My must haves would be the pro nav, heated seats and CarPlay, although the latter is an easy retrofit which I had to do after not speccing it.

When I looked at used cars adaptive dampers were like rocking horse st; despite forums etc saying it’s a must have no on really spec’d it. Personally from what I’ve heard you’d be better off with some Bilstein dampers because the adaptive seem to get criticised for being too soft even in sport mode.

They definitely benefit from a damper upgrade because the stock ones are a bit crap.

[rs990]

Court_S said:

My must haves would be the pro nav, heated seats and CarPlay,

I often see pro-nav listed as a must have, but beyond the larger screen I don't know what else worthwhile it brings to the table. I find the BMW navigation RTTI useless in London so I rely on Tomtom or Waze for navigation.

When I specced my car from new, I went for the standard nav and spent that saving on a sunroof, and I use that more in an average summer week than I have used the navigation in over 4 years.

Heated seats are a must have with leather, and HK is a lot better than the standard audio, though not at the same level as the offering in the larger cars in the BMW range.

[Court_S]

rs990 said:

I often see pro-nav listed as a must have, but beyond the larger screen I don't know what else worthwhile it brings to the table. I find the BMW navigation RTTI useless in London so I rely on Tomtom or Waze for navigation.

When I specced my car from new, I went for the standard nav and spent that saving on a sunroof, and I use that more in an average summer week than I have used the navigation in over 4 years.

Heated seats are a must have with leather, and HK is a lot better than the standard audio, though not at the same level as the offering in the larger cars in the BMW range.

I used to like the split screen function, being able to have the map on display as well as your music etc. On earlier cars it looked a million times better too; the two plastic inserts to reduce the screen size looked so crap. The bigger screen was nicer, showing a bigger etc.

[SteBrown91]

For me when I was looking for my old 3 series, Pro nav was a must. The cars are designed for the big screen so the smaller one just looks a bit naff. You also get the bigger idrive controller wheel, Spotify integration, carplay prep etc etc

[un1eash]

The Shadow Edition was darker Orbit Grey wheels as standard, darkened LED rear lights, dark surround on the headlights, gloss black kidney grills, sun protection glass, harman kardon speaker system, rear parking sensors and cruise control with braking function.

Most cars are standard as there were a lot sold on PCH and towards the end on PCP at £349 down £349 a month.

[Court_S]

un1eash said:

The Shadow Edition was darker Orbit Grey wheels as standard, darkened LED rear lights, dark surround on the headlights, gloss black kidney grills, sun protection glass, harman kardon speaker system, rear parking sensors and cruise control with braking function.

Most cars are standard as there were a lot sold on PCH and towards the end on PCP at £349 down £349 a month.

Some options though bought the costs down. Mine was slightly cheaper with the pro nav than without it. Stuff like nice paint added to the costs.

[TimewarpUK]

I had the adaptive suspension on my old m140i. I would say a must have if you do long journeys, but then again I didn't have an m sport suspension one to compare (apart from the m135i I test drove).

I had most of the other toys added, bar sunroof (I don't see the point with aircon) and speed limit display. Mine was a 2016 non-shadow. The only features I might not have had if I bought again were parking assistant, electric seats and through load.

[mooseracer]

Standard Nav on my lci2 does me fine....pro Nav is certainly a must have come resale time though. I specifically wanted a 2018, pre-ppf, 3 door manual so, combined with my impatience, there weren't a lot for me to chose from.

Sorting the suspension should be high on your list of modifications, then it can handle a cheeky remap no problem.

[CRA1G]

For me.... Sun Roof,Heated Seats/Steering Wheel are a must...! Had it on the 240,got it on the M2 and spec'd it on the New 240 X Drive due Jan... but I am of more mature years...

[okenemem]

Wavetrac ATB LSD

[Sam.F]

For a daily driver I guess you won't be into the idea of fettling the suspension etc so I'd definitely say look for one with adaptive. Without it the standard setup would be intolerably jiggly for day to day schlepping around.

Depending on the vintage being looked at, be aware that a lot of 2017 cars will be on RFTs as there was a shortage of MPSS at that time, also if you want noise then definitely a pre-PPF car is better (though the B58 was never the most sonorous engine) and definitely I found that between 2017 and 2019 they really blunted the auto 'box, the changes are much slower and gentler on newer cars which I wasn't really a fan of...

The standard stereo is absolutely pants, the HK is definitely necessary

[Court_S]

Sam.F said:

For a daily driver I guess you won't be into the idea of fettling the suspension etc so I'd definitely say look for one with adaptive. Without it the standard setup would be intolerably jiggly for day to day schlepping around.

Depending on the vintage being looked at, be aware that a lot of 2017 cars will be on RFTs as there was a shortage of MPSS at that time, also if you want noise then definitely a pre-PPF car is better (though the B58 was never the most sonorous engine) and definitely I found that between 2017 and 2019 they really blunted the auto 'box, the changes are much slower and gentler on newer cars which I wasn't really a fan of...

The standard stereo is absolutely pants, the HK is definitely necessary

Adaptive seems to be a pretty rare option. When I was looking at used cars, I didn’t see one car with it actually spec’d. A fair few of those who actually do have it don’t seem all that impressed with it, with some going as far as replacing it with a passive system and having it coded out.

I think with both options, they’re the biggest shortcoming of the car. Although it wasn’t until I started to use mine for more than just commuting etc that I got hacked off with it.

[rasto]

I have adaptive although the salesman tried to persuade me I didn't need it. I use it a fair amount, mostly leave it in comfort mode but if I'm having a 'play' then sport. The difference is very noticeable so I'm glad I have the choice.

As for other options, I went pretty much fully loaded so heated seats, sun roof, reversing camera, parking sensors, pro nav & HK. The only things I didn't need were electric seats and heated steering wheel.

Its a good daily (or weekly since the pandemic) but I would also have thought an f-type would be fine as a daily too?

Forgot to mention tyres, although the MPSSs are great in the summer they don't inspire much confidence in wet/cold/winter conditions. I replaced mine with MP4s which are a much better 'daily' tyre for most conditions.

Edited by rasto on Sunday 24th October 08:59

[R1 Dave]

People say pro nav and adaptive are must haves. I have neither and don't agree. I drive a 3 series at work with pro nav and other than a nicer looking screen I don't see much benefit.

The standard suspension is far from perfect but I don't see that the adaptive really addresses the faults. I'm told a Bilstein setup is the best solution.

H&k - I have this and it's excellent.

[rasto]

Maybe it comes down to how you plan to use the car? I don't do track days and am not looking for 'ultimate' handling/performance. I'm not interested in changing bits of the car, it's fine as it is for my purposes but I can see that some people enjoy doing this.

Edited by rasto on Sunday 24th October 14:24

[Sicksilinda]

One extra on the Shadow Edition not mentioned yet is ‘Sport lighting’. I struggled to find what it was on mine. It’s very simply a choice between classic amber light or white light on the interior lighting.

Also the LCI model (67 onwards) I believe has virtual dash.

I love mine by the way. It’s a beast.

[SteBrown91]

Sicksilinda said:

One extra on the Shadow Edition not mentioned yet is ‘Sport lighting’. I struggled to find what it was on mine. It’s very simply a choice between classic amber light or white light on the interior lighting.

Odd, my 16 plate 3 series had this as standard, assumed it would also be standard on the 1 series

[Court_S]

Sicksilinda said:

One extra on the Shadow Edition not mentioned yet is ‘Sport lighting’. I struggled to find what it was on mine. It’s very simply a choice between classic amber light or white light on the interior lighting.

Also the LCI model (67 onwards) I believe has virtual dash.

I love mine by the way. It’s a beast.

LCI was 2015. The updated dash is known as LCI2 and its not a virtual dash it just mimics. Personally I really liked it and thought it managed to to look clean and modern but classic as well. Quite a few seem to hate it though.

[simonwhite2000]

Do the latter cars have an OPF filter? Worth considering if you value a decent noise